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What's Up: October 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA NASA ID: JPL-20250930-WHATSUf-0001-Whats_Up_October_2025cc What are some skywatching highlights in October 2025?  A supermoon takes over the sky, the Draconid meteor shower peeks through, and the Orionid meteor shower shines bright.  Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What's Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up.  Keywords: space , constellations , supermoon , meteor shower , Moon , draconids , orionids , moon phases , NASA , JPL , Jet Propulsion Laboratory , What's Up , planets , binoculars , telescopes , observing , stargazing , skywatching for beginners , sky chart , amateur astronomy , stars , skywatching

Transcript

00:00What's up for October?

00:04A supermoon takes over, the draconid meteor shower peeks through, and the Orionid meteors

00:10sparkle across the night sky.

00:13The evening of October 6, look up and be amazed as the full moon is bigger and brighter because

00:19it's a supermoon.

00:21This evening, the moon could appear to be about 30% brighter and up to 14% larger than

00:27a typical full moon.

00:29But why?

00:30Well, supermoons happen when either a new moon or a full moon coincides with perigee, which

00:36is when the moon is at its closest to Earth all month.

00:39So essentially, this is an exceptionally close full moon, which explains its amazing appearance.

00:45And what timing?

00:47While the supermoon appears on October 6, just a couple of days before on October 4 is International

00:53Observe the Moon Night.

00:55This is an annual worldwide event when moon enthusiasts come together and enjoy our natural satellite.

01:01You can attend or host a moon viewing party or simply observe the moon from wherever you

01:06might be.

01:08So look up and celebrate the moon along with people all around the world.

01:14If you luck into some dark sky between October 6 and 10, you might witness the first of two

01:20October meteor showers — the Draconids.

01:23The Draconid meteor shower comes from debris trailing the comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner burning

01:29up in Earth's atmosphere.

01:31These meteors originate from nearby the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon in the

01:35northern sky, and the shower can produce up to 10 meteors per hour.

01:41The Draconids peak around October 8, but if you don't see any, you can always blame

01:46the bright supermoon and wait a few weeks until the next meteor shower — the Orionids.

01:53The Orionid meteor shower, peaking October 21, is set to put on a spectacular show, shooting

01:59about 20 meteors per hour across the night sky.

02:03This meteor shower happens when Earth travels through the debris trailing behind Halley's

02:07Comet, which burns up in our atmosphere.

02:11The full duration of the meteor shower stretches from September 26 all the way to November 22,

02:17but your best bet to see meteors is on October 21 before midnight until around 2 a.m.

02:24This is because not only is this night the shower's peak, it is also the October new moon, meaning

02:31the moon will be between the Earth and the sun, making it dark and invisible to us.

02:37With a moonless sky, you are much more likely to catch a fireball careening through the night.

02:42So find a dark location after the sun has set, look to the southeast sky if you're in the

02:47northern hemisphere, or the northeast if you're in the southern hemisphere, and enjoy.

02:53Orionid meteors appear to come from the direction of the Orion constellation, but you might catch

02:58them all across the sky.

03:02Here are the phases of the moon for October.

03:04You can stay up to date on all of NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond

03:09at science.nasa.gov.

03:12I'm Chelsea Goad from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's what's up for this

03:17month.

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