October 2026 at a glance: Oct 4: Saturn at opposition; Oct 12: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (25°); Oct 21: Orionids peak (ZHR 20+, Moon 79% lit); Oct 26: Full Hunter's Moon. Planets from New York: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
Oct4
Saturn at opposition
Oct12
Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (25°)
Oct21
Orionids peak (ZHR 20+, Moon 79% lit)
Oct26
Full Hunter's Moon
Moon phases
Moon at 0h UTC each day
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
178%
268%
3Last Quarter
445%
534%
624%
715%
88%
93%
10New
110%
122%
136%
1411%
1518%
1626%
1735%
18First Quarter
1953%
2063%
2172%
2280%
2388%
2494%
2598%
26Full
2799%
2895%
2989%
3081%
3171%
Phase
UTC
New York
London
Sydney
Last Quarter
Oct 3, 13:25 UTC
Sat Oct 3, 9:25 am
Sat Oct 3, 2:25 pm
Sat Oct 3, 11:25 pm
New Moon
Oct 10, 15:50 UTC
Sat Oct 10, 11:50 am
Sat Oct 10, 4:50 pm
Sun Oct 11, 2:50 am
First Quarter
Oct 18, 16:12 UTC
Sun Oct 18, 12:12 pm
Sun Oct 18, 5:12 pm
Mon Oct 19, 3:12 am
Full Moon
Hunter's Moon; 368,873 km away
Oct 26, 04:11 UTC
Mon Oct 26, 12:11 am
Mon Oct 26, 4:11 am
Mon Oct 26, 3:11 pm
Planets
at least 5° up, Sun 6° down
Pick a city. The chart runs from 4 pm to 8 am local time for each night of the month; coloured bars show when each planet is up in a dark sky.
From New York: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
MercuryVenusMarsJupiterSaturnMoondark sky
Planet
When
Where (local time)
Mag.
Constellation
Mercury
Not visible (not up in a dark sky)
–
0.1
Libra
Venus
Not visible (too close to the Sun)
–
-4.3
Virgo
Mars
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 1:30 am; southeast, 61° up at dawn (on the 15th)
1.0
Cancer
Jupiter
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 2:40 am; east-southeast, 51° up at dawn (on the 15th)
-1.9
Leo
Saturn
Most of the night, all month
east, 10° up at dusk; below 5° by 5:30 am (on the 15th)
0.4
Cetus
From London: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
MercuryVenusMarsJupiterSaturnMoondark sky
Planet
When
Where (local time)
Mag.
Constellation
Mercury
Not visible (not up in a dark sky)
–
0.1
Libra
Venus
Not visible (too close to the Sun)
–
-4.3
Virgo
Mars
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 1:10 am; southeast, 53° up at dawn (on the 15th)
1.0
Cancer
Jupiter
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 2:20 am; southeast, 45° up at dawn (on the 15th)
-1.9
Leo
Saturn
Most of the night, all month
east, 8° up at dusk; below 5° by 5:40 am (on the 15th)
0.4
Cetus
From Toronto: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
MercuryVenusMarsJupiterSaturnMoondark sky
Planet
When
Where (local time)
Mag.
Constellation
Mercury
Not visible (not up in a dark sky)
–
0.1
Libra
Venus
Not visible (too close to the Sun)
–
-4.3
Virgo
Mars
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 1:50 am; southeast, 59° up at dawn (on the 15th)
1.0
Cancer
Jupiter
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 2:50 am; southeast, 49° up at dawn (on the 15th)
-1.9
Leo
Saturn
Most of the night, all month
east, 10° up at dusk; below 5° by 5:50 am (on the 15th)
0.4
Cetus
From Sydney: evening: Mercury, Venus, Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
MercuryVenusMarsJupiterSaturnMoondark sky
Planet
When
Where (local time)
Mag.
Constellation
Mercury
Evening, until about Oct 29
west-southwest, 18° up at dusk; below 5° by 8:40 pm (on the 15th)
0.1
Libra
Venus
Evening, until about Oct 17
west-southwest, 8° up at dusk; below 5° by 7:50 pm (on the 15th)
-4.3
Virgo
Mars
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 3:30 am; northeast, 26° up at dawn (on the 15th)
1.0
Cancer
Jupiter
Before dawn, all month
above 5° from 4:10 am; northeast, 23° up at dawn (on the 15th)
-1.9
Leo
Saturn
All night, all month
highest (54°) around 12:00 am (on the 15th)
0.4
Cetus
Dates to note
Oct4
Saturn at opposition
Oct 4, 12:29 UTC. Saturn is opposite the Sun: up all night, rising at sunset, and at its brightest for the year. Distance 8.43 au (1,262 million km).
Oct5
The Moon near Mars (1.1°)
Oct 5, around 06h UTC. Closest as seen from Earth's centre; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°. If that moment falls in your daytime, look the evening before or after.
Oct6
The Moon near Jupiter (0.2°)
Oct 6, around 10h UTC. Closest as seen from Earth's centre; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°. If that moment falls in your daytime, look the evening before or after.
Oct7
The Moon near Regulus (0.6°)
Oct 7, around 03h UTC. Geocentric; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°.
Oct9
Draconids peak
Oct 9, around 01h UTC; up to 5 meteors an hour under ideal skies (ZHR). Moon 3% lit at the peak. Northern hemisphere.
Oct10
New Moon
Oct 10, 15:50 UTC. The dark-sky window: the best week for faint objects and meteors.
Oct12
The Moon near Venus (2.8°)
Oct 12, around 04h UTC. Closest as seen from Earth's centre; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°. If that moment falls in your daytime, look the evening before or after.
Oct12
Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (25°)
Oct 12, 10:00 UTC. Mercury is as far from the Sun as it gets on this pass, 25°, in the evening sky after sunset. Mercury is always low in twilight: look low toward the west.
Oct12
The Moon near Mercury (2.0°)
Oct 12, around 18h UTC. Closest as seen from Earth's centre; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°. If that moment falls in your daytime, look the evening before or after.
Oct14
The Moon near Antares (0.4°)
Oct 14, around 21h UTC. Geocentric; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°.
Oct21
Orionids peak
Oct 21, around 18h UTC; up to 20+ meteors an hour under ideal skies (ZHR). Moon 79% lit at the peak. Both hemispheres. Best time for your city →
Oct24
Venus at inferior conjunction
Oct 24, 14:10 UTC. Venus passes between Earth and the Sun and is lost in the glare for a while.
Oct26
Full Moon
Oct 26, 04:11 UTC. Hunter's Moon.
Oct28
The Moon near the Pleiades (0.9°)
Oct 28, around 01h UTC. Geocentric; from your location the gap differs by up to about 1°.
Times in UTC. Separations are geocentric (from Earth's centre). Pairings closer than 3° (planets) or 4° (the Moon and a planet) are listed when the planets are at least 15° from the Sun.
Dates, peaks and ZHR: International Meteor Organization calendar. “Around” marks a peak computed from the solar longitude the IMO lists. Moon: illuminated fraction at the peak.
Space station passes
The ISS and Tiangong orbits are only predictable about six weeks ahead, so pass windows for October 2026 appear here once that month is close. Today's passes: ISS tonight, Tiangong tonight.
Your hemisphere
United States
New York
6:15 pmsunset (15th)
7:08 amsunrise (16th)
9 h 50 minfull darkness
Over the month the nights are getting longer (+70 min of full darkness from the 1st to the 31st). Planets: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
Over the month the nights are getting longer (+110 min of full darkness from the 1st to the 31st). Planets: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
Over the month the nights are getting longer (+80 min of full darkness from the 1st to the 31st). Planets: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter.
Over the month the nights are getting shorter (−70 min of full darkness from the 1st to the 31st). Planets: evening: Mercury, Venus, Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. From the southern hemisphere the Moon's lit side is mirrored compared with the calendar above, and the planets arc across the northern sky.
Oct 26, 04:11 UTC (Oct 26, 12:11 am in New York, Oct 26, 4:11 am in London). Traditional name: Hunter's Moon.
When is the new Moon in October 2026?
Oct 10, 15:50 UTC. The nights around it are the darkest of the month.
What planets are visible in October 2026?
From New York: evening: Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter. From Sydney: evening: Mercury, Venus, Saturn; before dawn: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The tables above give times and directions for each city.
Are there meteor showers in October 2026?
Draconids: peak Oct 9, around 01h UTC, ZHR 5; Orionids: peak Oct 21, around 18h UTC, ZHR 20+.
Computed by us from JPL's DE440 planetary ephemeris with Skyfield: phases, positions, magnitudes (Mallama & Hilton), separations, equinoxes and solstices. Full Moon names are the traditional North American ones. Meteor showers: International Meteor Organization. Eclipses: Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC. Planet times ignore hills and buildings; a planet 5° up needs a clear, low horizon.