Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. October begins with a New Moon. It contains a second New Moon that occurs on Sunday, October 30th. There will be plenty of moonless evenings this month and since we have passed the equinox, it will also be getting dark sooner in the evening. The question is, “Will the clouds finally clear out so we can enjoy those early dark nights?” I certainly hope so. I’d love to get some new pictures of some of my favorite Fall objects and also take some time to do some serious Saturn observing before my favorite planet disappears from the evening skies for the winter. As October begins, Saturn is easy to find in the deepening twilight a half hour or so after sunset. Saturn is about 6 degrees (the width of three fingers held close together at arm’s length) above bright Antares in Scorpius, which is almost directly southwest. Antares never gets very high in the sky and at the beginning of October it is already skimming the tree tops by 8 p.m. At September’s public night at the observatory in Green Castle park, I had the pleasure of helping a young lady named Avery and her brother Dillon (and their mom, Cheri) learn to use a small refractor she had received as a birthday present. One of the first objects we aimed at, not counting the yard light we used to align the finder scope with the telescope itself, was the beautiful planet that started my passion for astronomy. It was remarkable to me how similar the view of Saturn was in her little telescope to the one I remembered from so long ago when my mom got me a telescope for my 10th birthday. Saturn looked tiny to be sure, but with its spectacular rings generously tilted our way it was unmistakable. Not a Hubble image, to be sure, but just as arresting and breathtaking for me as it was that first time in my little telescope so many years ago. Saturn will be setting sooner and sooner after sunset this month, so if you would like to get a few more good views before it leaves the evening skies, I would recommend you get out early in the month or you will just have to wait until next year. Not far to the east from Saturn is bright red Mars, just above the spout of the Teapot asterism that marks the heart of the constellation Sagittarius. You may recall that Mars was at opposition back on May 22nd. It was on that day that we zoomed along in our faster orbit and got directly between Mars and the Sun. At that time, we were separated from Mars by .54 A.U. One A.U. or Astronomical Unit, is the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun which is almost 93 million miles. After that day last spring, we continued to speed along leaving slower Mars behind putting more and more miles between us. Even though Mars is shining very brightly, we are now separated by slightly more than an A.U. (1.07 A.U. on the 1st) This means that we are as far from Mars as we are from the Sun. Think about that as you gaze at Mars this month! On October 3rd, Venus will be only about 4 degrees below a beautiful slender crescent Moon right after sunset low in the southwest. Two days later on the 5th, the Moon will visit Saturn and two days after that, the almost 1st quarter Moon will hover over and slightly west of Mars. For those early risers who love a challenge, Jupiter and Mercury will be very close just before sunrise on October 11. If you have access to a well aligned telescope, you might try aiming it at the pair in mid-morning or even early afternoon if the air is clear and steady. Both will be bright enough to see in daylight, but be careful! They will be quite close to the Sun and even a brief glimpse of the Sun through a telescope without the proper filters will damage your eyes and even cause blindness! Your best bet (and safest) though, is around 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. just as they clear the tree tops ahead of the rising Sun. Lastly, I want to mention the Orionid Meteor shower that peaks on Friday night/Saturday morning October 21-22. This shower varies quite a bit from year to year and although it is best to observe it in the hours before dawn, the Moon will be too bright this year. Nevertheless, I have seen many Orionids in the mid to late evening hours and the Moon will not be a problem then. Even though the peak is predicted for Friday night at about 9 p.m. for us, the radiant will not clear the horizon for us in Iowa until around 11 so we will not be able to see as many as people farther east since many will streak below the horizon. And, although the peak is predicted for Friday evening, Orionids and meteors for a number of other showers can be observed almost all month so if it is clear, be sure to keep your eyes looking up! Clear Skies!