October will provide a bumper crop of celestial happenings that will keep sky watchers busy, including solar and lunar eclipses, planet sightings, and an impressive meteor shower, astronomers say.
The first event to draw people outdoors will come Oct. 8 with the year's second total eclipse of the moon, starting around 4:15 a.m. EDT and reaching totality from 6:25 a.m. for about an hour.
Following the year's first such eclipse last April, this one will be visible over the western sections of North and South America and the Asia-Pacific region and
Europa and Africa will miss out of this one, however.
It will be the sun's turn Oct. 23, as a partial eclipse will see the shadow of the moon cross the Earth's surface, with the best viewing again occurring in western areas of North America.
Just days before, meteors will get their turn in the spotlight as one of the best and most reliable of the annual showers, known as the Orionids, will light up the skies Oct. 21 and 22.
After midnight on both nights, Northern Hemisphere viewers encountering clear skies away from city lights may be treated to around 20 meteors an hour as they look to the horizon in the southeast.
"Orionid meteors are known for their brightness and for their speed. These meteors are fast -- they travel at about 148,000 mph into the Earth's atmosphere," NASA scientists writing on the agency's Orionids website said.
The Orionid shower is created when the Earth passes through debris cast off by Halley's Comet.
"Fast meteors can leave glowing 'trains' (incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor), which last for several seconds to minutes," the NASA researchers wrote. "Fast meteors can also sometimes become fireballs: Look for prolonged explosions of light when viewing the Orionid meteor shower."
Finally, several of the solar system's planets will present themselves at their best in October, astronomers note.
Early in the month, Saturn and Mars will be visible together near the horizon in the evenings' southwest skies, while predawn hours will feature a chance for good views of Jupiter.
Another October celestial display won't be directly visible from Earth, since it's occurring around Mars, but orbiting spacecraft and rovers on the surface will be capturing images of a close flyby of a comet and broadcasting the images back to us.
On Oct. 19, Comet Sliding Spring will pass within 83,000 miles of Mars, much closer than the 238,900 miles distance at which our Moon orbits the Earth.
All in all, October looks to be rewarding for sky watchers willing to lose a little sleep.
