Astroblog: Thursday October 2 to Thursday October 9

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Thursday October 2 to Thursday October 9

The Full Moon is Tuesday October 7. This is a perigee ("super") Full Moon. Saturday 4th is International Observe the Moon Night. Daylight savings starts on the 5th. Mercury is low in the evening twilight. Mars is lowering in the evening sky as it heads towards Libra. Saturn is past opposition, but is still visible the entire night. It is close to the waxing Moon on the 5th and 6th. Jupiter is visible in the morning sky near the bright star Pollux. Venus is deep in the twilight.

The Full Moon is Tuesday October 7. This is a perigee full Moon, with perigee on the 8th. Saturday 4th is International Observe the Moon Night.

Western twilight sky on the evening of Saturday, October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 19:01 ACST (45 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Mercury is climbing away from the bright star Spica low in the twilight. You will need a clear, level horizon to see them, and possibly binoculars.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (45 minutes after sunset).

Western sky on Saturday, October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 19:47 ACST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Comet C/2025 R2 (Swan) is in Libra above alpha Librae.. The inset is the approximate binocular view of the comet at the time.

Comet C/2025 R2 (Swan) is a recently discovered comet that is around magnitude 7 (binoculars only), but it is well placed near some very bright guide stars so it will be easy to find. It will brighten a bit as it climbs higher into the dark skies, but will not really reach visual magnitude.

More information and printable charts here. https://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2025/09/how-to-see-new-comet-c2025-r2-swan-from.html

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

North-eastern twilight sky on the morning of Saturday, October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 04:53 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Jupiter is passing through Gemini and is near the bright star Pollux. Jupiter forms a triangle with the bright stars Procyon and Betelgeuse.

The inset is the telescopic view Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Eastern sky on the evening of Sunday, October 5 as seen from Adelaide at 20:47 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Saturn is just past at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Saturn is visible all night long. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon (and also on the 6th).

The inset shows the telescopic view at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

North-western sky on Saturday, Saturday, October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 19:16 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Mars is coming closer to Libra.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 19:47 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). This is international observe the Moon night.

Mars is in the north-west. Saturn is in the east

Bright Achernar is rising from the Southern horizon. Scorpius is setting in the west and the galactic core is coming off the Zenith.

The Southern Cross is sinking in the Southern sky. The moon is full and the fainter clusters and nebula are hard to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury climbs higher in the evening twilight.

Venus is hard to see deep in the twilight glow.

Mars is passing through Virgo leaving the star Spica behind.

Jupiter climbs in the morning twilight. Jupiter forms a triangle with Procyon and Betelgeuse.

Saturn was at opposition, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth on the 21st. Saturn is visible all night long and is close to the waxing Moon on the 5th and 6th.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky