Astroblog: Thursday October 30 to Thursday November 6

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Thursday October 30 to Thursday November 6

The First Quarter Moon is Thursday October 30. The Full Moon is Wednesday November 5. This a perigee ("super") Full Moon. Mercury is rising in the evening twilight and is close to delta Scorpii on the 1st and 2nd. Saturn is past opposition, and is close to the waxing moon on the 2nd. Jupiter is visible in the morning sky near the bright star Pollux. Comet C/2025 R2 (Swan) is visible in binoculars in Aquarius.

The First Quarter Moon is Thursday October 30. The Full Moon is Wednesday November 5. This a perigee ("super") Full Moon. Perigee is November 6.

North-eastern twilight sky on the morning of Saturday, November 1 as seen from Adelaide at 05:15 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Jupiter is passing through Gemini and is near the bright star Pollux. Jupiter forms a slightly battered line with the bright stars Castor, Pollux and Procyon.

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).

North-western sky on Sunday, November 2 as seen from Adelaide at 21:20 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Saturn is close to the waxing Moon. Comet C/2025 R2 (Swan) is near alpha Aquairii (Sadalmelik).

The insets shows the telescopic view of Saturn and the binocular view of the comet at this time.

Comet C/2025 R2 (Swan) is around magnitude 6 (binoculars only), but it is well placed near some very bright guide stars. It will will start to fade and the waxing moon will make it harder to see.

More information and printable charts here. https://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2025/10/comet-c2025-r2-swan-is-now-at-its.html

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

Western sky on the evening of Saturday, November 1 as seen from Adelaide at 20:45 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Mercury is is close to delta Scorpii and is easily seen in the late twilight. Mars is below.

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

Northern sky on the evening of Wednesday November 5 as seen from Adelaide at 23:49 ACDST at the moment of Full Moon. Exact Perigee is on the 6th 09:30 ACDST +9h from full.

A full Moon at perigee has been called a "Super Moon", this is not an astronomical term (the astronomical term is perigee syzygy, but that doesn't trip off the tongue so nicely), but an astrological one first coined in 1979 (see here).

The differences are in Full Moon size are subtle.

It requires a keen eye and good memory to distinguish a perigee "super" Moon from more ordinary moons, the best contrast is with the apogee "mini" moon of April 13.

Still, it is a good excuse to get people out and looking at the Moon, which will be beautiful . Make sure you are not fooled by the Moon Illusion.

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.

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, November 1 as seen from Adelaide at 21:19 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Mercury is in the north-west. Saturn is in the north

Bright Achernar is rising from the Southern horizon. Scorpius is setting in the west and the galactic core is in th western sky.

The Southern Cross is sinking in the Southern sky. The moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming harder to see.

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

Mercury is rising in the evening twilight and is close to delta Scorpii on the 1st and 2nd.

Venus is lost in the twilight glow.

Mars is in Libra below Mercury.

Jupiter climbs in the morning twilight. Jupiter forms a slightly battered line with the bright stars Castor, Pollux and Procyon.

Saturn was is close to the waxing moon on the 2nd.

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