October 1 – M110 is well placed
October 2 – Moon at Last Quarter; M32 is well placed
October 3 – NGC 253 is well placed
October 4 – Close approached of the Moon and M44
October 5 – Moon at perigee
October 7 – 1 Ceres at solar conjunction; NGC 362 well placed
October 8 – New Moon; Draconids Meteor Shower – The Draconids is a minor meteor shower producing only about 10 meteors per hour. The Draconids is an unusual shower in that the best viewing is in the early evening instead of early morning like most other showers. The shower runs annually from October 6-10 and peaks this year on the the night of the 8th. This will be an excellent year to observe the Draconids because there will be no moonlight to spoil the show. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky
October 9 – The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 03:47 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere; conjunction of the Moon and mercury
October 11 – Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter
October 14 – Conjunction of Venus and Mercury
October 16 – Mercury at aphelion; Moon at first quarter; 136199 Eris at opposition
October 17 – Moon at apogee
October 18 – Close approach of the Moon and Mars
October 21, 22 – Orionids Meteor Shower – The Orionids is an average shower producing up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Halley, which has been known and observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from October 2 to November 7. It peaks this year on the night of October 21 and the morning of October 22. The nearly full Moon will block some of the fainter meteors this year, but the Orionids tend to be fairly bright so it could still be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky; Moon at aphelion
October 23 – Uranus at Opposition – The blue-green planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot in all but the most powerful telescopes
October 24 – Full Moon – Hunters Moon – The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 16:46 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Hunters Moon because at this time of year the leaves are falling and the game is fat and ready to hunt. This moon has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon
October 26 – Venus at inferior solar conjunction; NGC 869 is well placed
October 27 – NGC 884 is well placed
October 29 – 64P/Swift Gehrels reaches its brightest; Conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury
October 31 – Close approach of the Moon and M44; Moon at Last Quarter; The Moon at perigee; Fornax is well placed