What’s Up in the Night Sky – October 2025
from In-The-Sky.org
Moon Phases
New Moon – September 21
First Quarter – September 29
Full – October 6 – Full Harvest Moon
Last Quarter – October 13
New Moon – October 21
Close Encounters
September 20-21: Saturn is in opposition, shining at magnitude 0.6. The rings will still be a thin line across Saturn from the vantage point of Earth.
September 21: A partial solar eclipse will not be visible from our location. You will need to travel to Antarctica or the southern Pacific to see it.
September 22: First day of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
September 23: Neptune is at opposition, shining at magnitude 7.8 in Pisces.
September 27: Close pass of the Moon and Antares.
October 2: 1 Ceres is at opposition, shining at magnitude 7.7 in the constellation Cetus.
October 5: Conjunction of Moon and Saturn, with the Moon passing less than 4° north of Saturn.
October 13: Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter, with the Moon passing a bit more than 4° north of Jupiter.
October 19: Conjunction of the Moon and Venus, with the thin crescent Moon passing less than 4° south of Venus.
October 24: Another close pass of the Moon and Antares.
October 29: Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS makes its closest approach to the Sun. Unlikely to be visible due to the proximity (12°) of the Sun.
Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
The Orionid meteor shower begins around October 2 with a peak of 10-20 meteors per hour around October 22-23 (thin day-old-Moon that night) and winding down around November 12.
The Southern and Northern Taurids begin around October 13, have a fireball peak around November 4, and ends around the first of December. The year 2025 is identified as a swarm year so look for those fireballs on November 4th!
Planet Watch for September 20, 2025
Mercury is passing behind the Sun and is not visible.
Venus is moving closer to the morning sunrise as the month progresses, rising around 4:30am and is visible for a couple hours before the Sun rises.
Mars is in Leo and has ended its most recent apparition, being only 4° above the horizon at sunset. Mars sets at 8:13pm tonight. Mars reaches superior conjunction (when Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth) on January 9, 2026.
Jupiter rises in the night sky around 1:10am and is visible for the rest of the night.
Saturn rises in the east around 7:06pm on this day (shining at magnitude 0.7) and will reach opposition on September 21. The southern faces of the rings are coming into view, even if only at about a 3.5° tilt from our vantage point. It is visible all night long.
Uranus rises around 9:45pm on this date but not high enough for decent telescope views until around midnight. It is currently in the constellation Taurus, shining at magnitude 5.7.
Neptune rises about 7:25pm on this day and approaching its opposition date of September 23. It is currently shining at magnitude 7.8 in the constellation Pisces.