Saturn at its Best | 4th October
This is the month to view Saturn! The image above is for about 7pm in the early evening of 4th September. On this date, Saturn is at what is called "opposition" and means its closest to Earth for the year. It also means that this is the ideal time to view Saturn...
Mercury, Moon and Venus | 12th October
On this night, Mercury and Venus are the "stars" of the show! The pair of naked-eye planets appear on either side of a thin crescent Moon after sunset. Mercury is the planet above the Moon and Venus is below. If you turn around to look at the eastern horizon, see if...
Orionids Meteor Shower | 21st-22nd October
Stargazers out enjoying the Orionids Meteor Shower might expect to see up to 20 meteors per hour. It is generated from Halley's Comet. It's a well-known comet that last graced our night sky in 1986. In December 2024, the comet began its nearly 40-year journey back...
Halloween Stargazing | 31st October
Will you be trick and treating this Halloween? If you are, Saturn will keep you company as you go from door to door. After the sun sets, keep an eye out for Saturn in the eastern evening sky. Help our younger trick or treaters identify the planet. In the image above,...
Magellanic Clouds | Summer & Autumn
Visiting and staying in country WA gives you an excellent opportunity to see the Magellanic Clouds, normally made invisible by bright city lights. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (often abbreviated to LMC and SMC) are galaxies near our own Milky Way Galaxy. From...
Scorpius | Spring
Scorpius, more commonly referred to as Scorpio, is a large constellation that actually looks like its namesake! Sometimes it’s quite difficult to make out the shape of constellations, but you should have some success with Scorpius! It is visible all through spring...
Milky Way Season | April to October
Astrophotographers call the time of year between mid-autumn and mid-spring ‘Milky Way season’. This period gets its name because of how, in the southern hemisphere, it's the best time of year to see and photograph the Milky Way. When you look towards the centre, or...
Andromeda Galaxy | October – December
Andromeda is in our galactic neighbourhood of local galaxies. It’s 2.5 million light years away and yet it's the most distant object visible to the human eye. With the weather warming up, now is a great time to get out under a dark sky and explore your Universe....
Noongar calendar six seasons: Kambarang
The Noongar people are the traditional owners of the south-west of Western Australia and have been for over 45,000 years. In the Noongar calendar, the months of October and November bring the season of Kambarang. Mainstream education teaches the four seasons of...
Last Quarter
3 October
New Moon
10 October
First Quarter
19 October
Full Moon
26 October
Rises 6:56pm (AWST)