What’s Up in the Night Sky? – October 2024

Fred Barrett | Oct 02, 2024

A promisingly visible comet, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) will be in sight in the west shortly after the Sun sets on October 9. Look towards the eastern side of Virgo preferably with binoculars. Follow it during the next hour and you will observe the ion tail stretch up towards the bright star Arcturus at the bottom of the constellation Bootes. Because the comet is positioned between us and the Sun, the dust tail will be very bright. A modest telescope will present fascinating structural details. I might point out that this comet was thought to have broken up as it passed behind the Sun but happily and surprisingly, that didn’t occur. Note that this comet is fast moving and you can even detect its movement against background stars as you follow it in your binoculars or telescope.

Also appearing this month is the more predictable annual Orionid meteor shower. It peaks on the evening of the 21st/22nd. As Halley’s comet swings around the Sun, it provides the debris trail for this sky show. The radiant is in the NE portion of the constellation Orion and just above the red giant star Betelgeuse. Don’t worry if your peak night ends up being cloudy, almost as many meteors streaks will appear in the days leading up to and after the peak date. Remember, the meteors can appear all over the sky with or without the radiant. The radiant in Orion rises between 9 and 10 pm. The light from a Gibbous Moon will wash out the less bright meteors and lessen the background contrast for the bright ones. Fifteen to twenty meteors an hour can be expected and also, watch for some unpredictable bursts of activity. The best time to view is after 2 am when the Earth turns its night time face towards the debris and directly into their path.

Meteors hit the atmosphere at very high velocities but air friction puts the brakes put on a fast-moving meteor pretty quickly! They decelerate from about 128,000 Km per hour meteors to a sedate 450 Km/hr. Getting hit by a meteor is survivable but it would probably leave you with a painful, mega nasty, multi coloured bruise to brag about.

Mercury and Venus are in the west shortly after sunset. Mercury is a challenge but Venus is pretty obvious. Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter rise up in that order by midnight. Mars shows up about midnight early in October in the east and about an hour earlier by the end of the month. In the hours before dawn, Mars rises quite high in the southeast and surface features can be observed quite easily through a modest scope. Things only get better as opposition approaches in January.

Highlights this month:

October 2: New Moon. The Moon is at apogee – 404,155 Kilometres. October 5: Moon passes 5 degrees south of Venus at 4 pm. Try and find bright Venus in daylight using the Moon as your guide. October 9: Good time to spot Comet A3. October 10: First quarter Moon. October 16: Moon is at perigee – 355,100 Kilometres. October 17: Full Moon. This is the Full Hunter’s Moon. Also called the Falling Leaves Moon. Game is fat after a summer of feeding in preparation for winter and it’s the time to go out and hunt some to see you through the winter. Although I do most of my hunting in the supermarket and I’ve been feeding well over the summer, maybe I should be careful about going out in the woods for a walk – orange hunting vests for me and my dog Maggie are probably in order. I could hide in the falling leaves if a shot goes past! October 21: Orionid meteor shower peaks. Mars passes 6 degrees south of Pollux, one of the Gemini twins, at 2 am. Moon passes 6 degrees north of Jupiter at 4 am. October 24: Last quarter Moon occurs. October 29: Moon is at apogee – 403,803 Kilometres.

Have fun with Mars and meteors and a nice comet and keep looking up!

Don’t forget to check out events at the North Frontenac Astronomy Park and also check the Lennox and Addington Dark Sky Viewing Area for observing opportunities in the coming months.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) website https://rasc.ca has a listing of astronomy events for Ontario and the Kingston branch of the RASC website lists events happening, especially in our area.

Feel free to contact me with questions or observations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

I would like to know how you have done with your observing. Watch for meteors or auroras to tingle your spine!