The bright “star” ascending in the east at nightfall this month is really a planet, the largest of the planets in our solar system, Jupiter. This planet’s opposition – when Earth flew between Jupiter and the sun – was on September 26. A dark sky reveals the bright planet directly south of the Great Square of the constellation Pegasus. In addition, between the Great Square and bright planet is a pretty, but faint group of 6 stars known as the Circlet in the constellation Pisces. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
Visible planets (evening)
Saturn is high in the sky after sunset – golden in color, shining steadily – perfect for observing all evening. Saturn sets around 2 a.m. local time. Jupiter is brighter than all the stars. It’s ascending in the east after sunset, visible all night. Mars rises in the east around 10 p.m. (that’s local time, the time on your clock). It’s very red now and brighter than most stars, racing towards its December 8 opposition, when Earth will fly between Mars and the sun.
Visible planets (morning)
On October mornings, three bright planets arc across the sky: Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. Mercury in early October is just beginning its best morning apparition of the year for Northern Hemisphere observers. You’ll find it bright in the east before sunup. Jupiter spends all night arcing across the sky. It’s in the west before sunup, brighter than all the stars. Mars shines down from high in the sky at sunup.
Where is Venus?
Venus, the brightest planet and next planet inward from Earth in orbit around the sun – will go behind the sun as seen from Earth on October 22. So presently, Venus is hidden in the sun’s glare now. Later, it’ll return to our evening sky before the year ends.
Note: Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
October mornings: Mercury for the Northern Hemisphere
Mercury lies in the east before sunrise the first half of October, from around the world. But it’s hard to see from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, however. Meanwhile, it’s beginning its best morning apparition of 2022 for the Northern Hemisphere. The little planet reaches its greatest angular distance from the sun on October 8, 2022. So now, it’s at its greatest distance from the sunrise and at its highest position above the dawn horizon. Additionally, higher in the morning sky is Regulus, brightest star in Leo the Lion. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
October mornings: Mercury for the Southern Hemisphere
From the Southern Hemisphere, Mercury peeks above the eastern horizon just before sunrise in the first half of October 2022. In this case, because the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – is tilted sharply with respect to the horizon, the little planet doesn’t rise very high before sunrise. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
October 20 morning: Moon near Regulus
The morning of October 20, 2022, finds the waning crescent moon hanging near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion. We typically think of Regulus as a spring star. And indeed, it’ll be in our evening sky six months from now! Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
Around October 23: Saturn ends retrograde
As evening falls throughout October 2022, look for bright golden Saturn in the southern sky. The planet is “stationary” – ending its westward or retrograde motion – on October 23. The end of retrograde motion, however, marks the end of the best months to see Saturn. From here on, the planet will be moving eastward in front of the stars again (its normal direction). However, it’ll be shifting westward from night to night, with respect to the meridian (a line in our sky, running due south to due north), as Earth moves around the sun. So, by the year’s end, Saturn will be near the sunset, not visible for long each evening. Also, if you have a dark sky, you can see that Saturn shines in the dim but pretty constellation Capricornus the Sea-goat, which has the shape of an arrowhead. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
October 23 and 24 mornings: Moon near Mercury
The slender waning crescent moon floats above the eastern horizon in the morning twilight October 23, 2022. On the following morning, it lies just above the horizon and above the sometimes difficult-to-spot Mercury. Moreover, the beautiful glow you see on the unlit portion of the moon is earthshine. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
The instant of new moon is 10:49 UTC (5:49 a.m. CDT) on October 25
November evenings: Saturn after sunset to around midnight
In November 2022, watch for Saturn from sunset until it sets around midnight. Golden Saturn – faintest of the bright planets – shines in the dim, but pretty constellation Capricornus the Sea Goat. In dark skies, you can see Capricornus as an arrowhead pattern. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November evenings: Bright Jupiter in Pisces
Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet, is the brightest “star” in the November evening sky. You can’t miss it! If you have a dark sky, you can see it lies below the western side of the Great Square, a group of 4 stars in Pegasus. Also, between the Great Square and the bright planet is a pretty, but faint group of 6 stars known as the Circlet in the constellation Pisces. If you have dark enough skies, you can also look for M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. Here’s how to find it using the Great Square. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November evenings: Mars in Taurus
On November evenings, bright red Mars slides between the stars of the Horn of Taurus. Mars is well placed for observing all night since it rises in the early evening. By the way, Mars will be closest to Earth for this 2-year period on November 30, 2022. Then it will be 50.6 million miles (81.4 million km) away. Mars will continue to brighten between now and December 8, 2022, when it will reach its once-in-2-years opposition. Also, you’ll notice lovely Pleiades glowing higher in the sky. And the nearby red star Aldebaran can guide you to a “V” shape star cluster, known as , Hyades. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
The 1st quarter moon lies close to the golden planet, Saturn on November 1, 2022. You can watch Saturn and the moon crossing the sky nearly all evening, traveling along the ecliptic, the same path the sun travels during the day. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 4 evening: Waxing gibbous moon near Jupiter
On the evening of November 4, 2022, the waxing gibbous moon slides by bright Jupiter. Other than the moon, Jupiter is the brightest object in the evening sky this month. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and reached opposition on September 26. So the planet is now up all evening and into the wee hours. Beautiful! Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 7 evening: Full moon near Mars and Pleiades, ready for lunar eclipse tomorrow morning!
The November 2022 full moon will rise near sunset on November 7, 2022. And fiery Mars, the Red Planet, will rise soon afterward and be near the moon during the lunar eclipse! Red Mars and a red eclipsed moon. Wow! Mars is racing towards its opposition on December 8, 2022. That’s when Earth will pass between Mars and the sun, and the distance between our 2 worlds will be closest for about 2 years. So Mars is particularly bright now … very fun to see. Also nearby, look for the delicate star cluster Pleiades and red star Aldebaran, eye of Taurus the Bull. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
On the morning of November 8, 2022, a lunar eclipse begins at 9:09 UTC (3:09 a.m. CST). The curvature of the shadow on the moon’s surface becomes visible a few minutes later. Totality lasts from 10:16 UTC (4:16 a.m. CST) to 11:41 UTC (5:41 a.m. CST). During that time, the darkened moon lies completely in the Earth’s shadow. The moon leaves the umbral shadow at 12:49 UTC (6:49 a.m. CST). People on the east coast won’t see the end of the eclipse because it happens too close to their sunrise. Also, Uranus is near the full moon and is occulted by the moon as it’s coming out of eclipse. But the brightness of the full moon will make viewing the occultation next to impossible. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 8 and 9 evenings: Moon near Pleiades
The waxing gibbous moon lies near the delicate Pleiades on the evening of November 8, 2022, and then moves to the east as a waning gibbous moon on November 9, 2022. Also, 2 obvious red “stars” are visible – Aldebaran and Mars. Aldebaran is the fiery red eye of Taurus the Bull. Mars is racing towards opposition on December 8, 2022. That’s when Earth will pass between Mars and the sun, and the distance between our 2 worlds will be closest for about 2 years. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 8-9 overnight: Uranus reaches opposition
Uranus reaches opposition on the overnight of November 8 – more specifically on November 9, 2022 at 8 UTC (2 a.m. CST). At that time, it lies opposite the sun in the sky. Uranus is also at its nearest point from Earth being over 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers) distant. With the bright, waning gibbous moon glowing so closely to it in the sky, the planet will be challenging even through binoculars. Pleiades glimmers east of the pair with reddish Mars and Aldebaran shining brightly nearby. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 10 and 11 evenings: Moon near Orion and Mars
The evenings of November 10 and 11, 2022, finds the waning gibbous moon glowing near the stars of the constellation Orion the Hunter. Mars, the red planet, is now brighter than 2 nearby red stars – Aldebaran in Taurus and Betelgeuse in Orion – because Mars is drawing ever-nearer to its opposition on December 8, 2022. That’s when Earth will pass between Mars and the sun, and the distance between our 2 worlds will be least, not just this year but for about a 2-year period. The shimmering Pleiades star cluster – a true family of stars, born together in space – is also near bright red Mars. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 12 evening: Moon near Castor and Pollux
The evening of November 12, 2022, finds the waning gibbous moon glowing close to Castor Castor and Pollux, the twin stars of Gemini. The following evening, November 13, 2022, the waning gibbous moon moves to the other side of Castor and Pollux. Although the twin stars don’t look alike, they are quite noticeable near each other in the sky for being bright and close together. Castor is the slightly dimmer star of the pair. And Pollux is more golden in color. Also nearby is Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor the Lesser Dog. It’s sometimes called the Little Dog Star. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
On the morning of November 16, 2022, the last quarter moon lies among the stars of the Sickle asterism in Leo. You’ll notice Leo’s brightest star, Regulus. Then on November 17, 2022, the moon is still near Regulus, but on the other side of the Sickle. We typically associate Regulus the season of spring. And indeed, it’ll be back in our evening sky about 5 months from now! Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 20 and 21 mornings: Moon near Spica
On the morning of November 20, 2022, the waning crescent moon floats in the sky near the star Spica. Spica is the brightest star in Virgo the Maiden. The following morning, November 21, 2022, finds the moon on the other side of Spica shortly before sunrise. Also, the beautiful glow you see on the unlit portion of the moon is earthshine. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
The waxing crescent moon sinks among the Teapot stars of Sagittarius shortly after sunset on November 25 and 26, 2022. By the way, the thin crescent moon looks beautiful with earthshine. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
November 28 and 29 evenings: Moon near Saturn
The thick waxing crescent moon hangs low in the south after sunset on November 28 and 29 , 2022. The bright object by the moon both nights is the beautiful ringed planet, Saturn. Chart via John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
October-November-December 2022 heliocentric solar system planets
The sun-centered charts below come from Guy Ottewell. You’ll find charts like these for every month of 2022 here, in his Astronomical Calendar. Guy Ottewell explains:
In these views from ecliptic north, arrows (thinner when south of the ecliptic plane) are the paths of the four inner planets. Dots along the rest of the orbits are five days apart (and are black for the part of its course that a planet has trodden since the beginning of the year). Also, semicircles show the sunlit side of the new and full moon (vastly exaggerated in size and distance). Additionally, pairs of lines point outward to the more remote planets.
Phenomena such as perihelia (represented by ticks) and conjunctions (represented by lines between planets) are at dates that can be found in the Astronomical Calendar. Likewise, Gray covers the half of the universe below the horizon around 10 p.m. at mid-month (as seen from the equator). The zodiacal constellations are in directions from the Earth at mid-month (not from the sun).
Bottom line: In October, the morning planets are Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. In the evening, Saturn and Jupiter are visible as night falls, with Mars rising a few hours later.
Marcy Curran has enjoyed star gazing since she was a young girl going on family camping trips under the dark skies of Wyoming. She bought her first telescope in time to see Halley’s comet in 1985 on its way in to another close encounter with the sun. Her passion for astronomy eventually led her to being a co-founder of a local astronomical society. Marcy remains active in her astronomy club including being the editor of a monthly newsletter. She also contributes a monthly article to her local newspaper focusing on the stars, planets and objects currently visible in the nighttime sky. Marcy taught astronomy at her local community college for over 20 years. Marcy retired in December 2021 and is delighted to join Earthsky.org as an editor of night sky articles. Her hobbies - other than star gazing - include reading, knitting, jigsaw puzzles and photography. Marcy and her husband live in Wyoming.
“I can sometimes see the moon in the daytime” was a cosmic revelation that John Jardine Goss first discovered through personal observations when he was 6 years old. It shook his young concept of the universe and launched his interest in astronomy and stargazing, a fascination he still holds today. John is past president of the Astronomical League, the largest U.S. federation of astronomical societies, with over 20,000 members. He's earned the title of Master Observer and has authored the celestial observing guides Exploring the Starry Realm and Carpe Lunam. John also writes a monthly stargazing column, Roanoke Skies, for the Roanoke Times, and a bimonthly column, Skywatch, for Blue Ridge Country magazine. He has contributed to Sky and Telescope magazine, the IDA Nightscape, the Astronomical League’s Reflector magazine, and the RASC Observer’s Handbook.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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