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By Deane Morrison

October skies offer some of the best star watching, given their dark and often clear nights.

In the morning sky, Mars is gradually brightening as Earth gains on it in the orbital race. During October the red planet passes below the Gemini twin stars Pollux and Castor, heading toward the constellation Cancer, the crab.

Saturn shines somewhat low in the southeast to south after nightfall. Below Saturn glimmers Fomalhaut, in the extremely dim constellation Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. Fomalhaut is known as the loneliest star, there being no other bright stars in its patch of sky.

Late in the evening, brilliant Jupiter climbs over the northeastern horizon, following the lovely Pleiades star cluster and Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, the bull. The giant planet rises earlier each night; by mid-month it appears about two hours after nightfall.

The big Summer Triangle of bright stars is high in the south to southwest at nightfall. Look to the left of Altair, the lowest of its three stars, for the small, somewhat faint constellation Delphinus. Delphinus depicts a dolphin that appears to be leaping away from Altair into a dark sea. Also look above Altair for the thin constellation Sagitta, the arrow. Binoculars will help.

Watch October’s full moon rise the evening of the 16th or 17th. Or catch it in the west shortly before sunrise on the 17th, when it will be closest to full. This will be the year’s nearest full supermoon.

On Halloween we celebrate an ancient Celtic holiday that was one of four “cross-quarter” days falling midway between an equinox and a solstice. At sundown that day, all the evil spirits—which had been banished since May Day—were let loose to wreak havoc on humanity. People left bribes of food and lit candles in gourds to ward off the spirits. These traditions survive in our modern rituals of trick-or-treating and carving jack o’ lanterns.

The University of Minnesota offers public viewings of the night sky at its Duluth and Twin Cities campuses. For more information, see:

• Duluth, Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium: www.d.umn.edu/planet

• Twin Cities, Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics: www.astro.umn.edu/outreach/pubnight

• Check out astronomy programs, free telescope events, and planetarium shows at the

• University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum: www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/astronomy

Find U of M astronomers and links to the world of astronomy at: http://www.astro.umn.edu.