We’re lucky and privileged to have beautifully dark night skies in the Nederland area. Here, with our naked eyes, we can see the glowing Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Great Nebula in Orion. Most people nowadays can’t see these, their nights having been washed out by light pollution.

This column previews monthly what’s up (literally) in the sky. Most viewing can be done with just your eyes while reclining on a full-length lawn chair. A good-quality pair of tripod-mounted binoculars (with at least 50 mm lens diameter) can help. Binoculars may be a better investment than a telescope because they are easier to set up, look through, and aim and track on sky objects.

Here’s what’s coming in October skies

The sun, spending the month in Virgo, drops rapidly southward after September’s fall equinox. Rapidly lengthening nights now dominate days, with 13 hours of darkness and 11 hours of daylight at mid-month.

The moon’s dates are: First Quarter, October 3; Full, October 9; Last Quarter, October 17; New, October 25.

Upcoming Visible Eclipses: Look forward to a total lunar eclipse in the wee hours of November 8. The moon, low in the west, will begin to darken at 2:15 a.m. in its upper-left quadrant. By 4 a.m. the eclipse will be total. By 6 a.m. the moon will be clear again, just before it sets.

October Meteor Showers: The Draconid shower peaks during evenings of October 8-9, but the full moon will wash it out. The Orionid shower is October 20-21, peaking in the small hours of the morning. To see it, stretch out in a lawn chair with a warm drink and warm clothing. A thin crescent moon will make for good viewing this year.

Best Sky Viewing Nights (Minimal Moon): October 1-2 and October 18-31.

Sunset (Mid-Month): The Milky Way (our galaxy) arcs spectacularly across the sky’s dome, from southwest to northeast. Test your eyesight (or your binoculars) by finding M31, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda, looking like an illuminated cloud. At about 2.5 million light years away, this is the most-distant object you can see with your naked eyes. The Summer Triangle of Deneb, Altair and Vega is overhead. Red giant Arcturus and constellation Ursa Major, (the Big Bear, aka the Big Dipper) are setting low in the west and northwest respectively. Constellation Sagittarius (the Archer) with many nebulae is due south; and Libra (the Scales) is in the southwest with its two prominent stars, Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi.

Midnight (Mid-Month): Vega sets in the west. Capella blazes brightly in the northeast. Castor (higher) and Pollux (lower) are rising almost due east. Orion rises in the east with its three belt stars (Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, from lowest to highest) forming a vertical line. Reddish Betelgeuse is leftward and white-hot Rigel is rightward. The red giant star Fomalhaut (pronounced foam- a-lot) is prominent in the southwest.

Sunrise (Mid-Month): Capella is in the northwest. Spica is low in the southeast. Ursa Major has risen back up, into the northeastern sky. Castor (to the north) and Pollux (to the south) are overhead in Gemini. Just below them to the south, Procyon (Before the Dog) shines in Canis Minor. Sirius (the Dog Star, which rises just after Procyon) follows its eternal chase behind Orion in the southwest.

Mercury is in the east just before sunrise, leading the about-to-rise sun. October 13-16 will be the best dates for seeing Mercury in the morning sky this year.

Venus is technically in the morning sky, but is lost in the sun’s glare this month.

Mars shines red in the eastern evening sky in Taurus, becoming brighter through October. It is low in the east at 10 p.m. on October 15, rising earlier each night through the month. Viewing in telescopes improves through the month. Look for Mars near the waning gibbous moon, low in the eastern sky just before sunrise on October 14 and 15.

Jupiter is bright-white in the evening sky in Pisces. It rises in the east at about sunset at the beginning of the month, and then climbs higher in the evening sky every night. Jupiter and its four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) will be good for viewing with even the smallest telescopes, good binoculars (on a tripod) and long telephoto lenses (400 mm or more) all month.

Saturn is a dull yellow (saturnine) in the evening sky in Capricornus, low in the southeast at sunset earlier in the month and then more toward the south (moving rightward) at sunset as the month progresses. With its large moon Titan, it is close enough to have good telescope viewing this month.

Notable Space Missions and Launches: A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is slated for launch on October 3 from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station. The four-member crew will include an American pilot and commander and two mission specialists from Japan and Russia.

Frank Sanders, a spectrum scientist with the US Department of Commerce, can be contacted with astronomy-related queries at backyardastronomy1@gmail.com.