🔠Astronomical Events Oct 5-11, 2026
Written by Mia Astrology ✨🌌
October has arrived, the nights are getting longer, the autumn sky is properly settling in, and this week manages to squeeze quite a lot into seven days without requiring us to travel across a continent, buy eclipse glasses or set an alarm for an hour that should frankly be illegal.
We begin with a beautifully bright Moon, we have the Draconid meteor shower reaching its annual maximum, Saturn is superbly placed in the evening sky, autumn constellations are taking over, and the Orionid meteor shower is quietly beginning to build in the background ahead of its peak later this month.
And this is exactly the sort of October astronomy I love, because you can actually go outside at a reasonable hour, look up and find something happening.
No heroic 3:40 AM expedition required.
At least not every night.
🌕 THE MOON DOMINATES THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK
October 5–6
The Moon begins this week extremely bright, which is wonderful if you love lunar observing and slightly less wonderful if you were hoping to spend Monday evening hunting faint galaxies.
The Full Moon occurs around the beginning of this week, meaning moonlight floods much of the night sky and reduces the contrast of faint deep-sky objects.
This is not the moment to declare war on a barely visible galaxy from your suburban garden.
The Moon is going to win.
Instead, work with the sky you have.
Take out binoculars.
Look at the lunar maria — those enormous dark plains that early astronomers once thought were seas.
Trace the bright ray systems extending from impact craters.
Watch the Moon rise while it is still low enough for Earth’s atmosphere to colour it yellow, orange or occasionally deep amber.
And if you are photographing it, include the landscape.
A Full Moon floating alone against black sky is beautiful.
A Full Moon rising behind a mountain, city skyline, lighthouse or distant tree line suddenly becomes a photograph with a story.