The coming weeks are great for catching the zodiacal light or false dawn from northerly latitudes? Southern Hemisphere? Look for the false dusk.

Photos from the EarthSky community of the bright planet Mars, at its best. Earth passed between Mars and the sun - bringing the planet to a once-in-two-years opposition - on October 13, 2020.

Astronomers have spotted a rare blast of light from a star being ripped apart by a supermassive black hole. The phenomenon - known as a tidal disruption event - is the closest such flare recorded to date at just over 215 million light-years from Earth.

The James Webb Space Telescope - successor to the Hubble - just passed a series of environmental testing trials, designed to simulate the rigors of its anticipated launch in 2021.

Earth passes between Mars and the sun, at opposition, on October 13, 2020, yet the Earth and Mars actually come closest together on October 6, 2020.

Today, most life on Earth is supported by oxygen. But ancient microbial mats existed for a billion years before oxygen was present in the atmosphere. So what did life use instead?

Watch for the moon, Venus and the bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo the Lion, as they beautify the eastern sky before sunup on October 12, 13, 14 and 15, 2020!

Interstellar space isn't just vacuum. It's full of gases, elements, and dust - very thinly spread, to be sure - but the building blocks of stars and planets.

Last quarter moon comes on October 10. That morning, the moon will be in front of Gemini the Twins. The next morning - October 11 - the moon will be in front of Cancer the Crab.

The ice-covered Grímsvötn volcano produced an unusually large and powerful eruption in 2011. Now, says this volcanologist, there are clear signs that Grímsvötn is getting ready to erupt again.