Earth’s inhabitants will have the opportunity to enjoy giant planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, all night long this October, as they move Mars West every night for the next few months.
Jupiter and Saturn, the largest of the solar system’s planets, can be seen all night in October, according to NASA.
In the early evening, the two planets will appear in the southeast, slowly moving westward with the stars throughout the night.
The sky will be even more beautiful when the two planets form a triangle with the bright star Fomalhaut. The two planets will shine with a steady light, while the star will shine.
Mars steadily made its way eastward throughout the year as it usually does, relative to the background stars. But at the end of October, Mars stops this apparent motion, and then appears to reverse course.
Over the next three months, from November to late January, Mars will move westward each night. Then towards the end of January, it will reverse direction once more and continue its journey east.
This is called the retrograde motion of Mars. This happens approximately every two years, and it seems that Mars changes direction as a result of an illusion caused by the motions of our planet in its orbit, passing through the red planet in its orbit.
The sky will not only be adorned with these giant bodies, but the Orionid meteors will be active throughout October and then November, and will reach its climax on the night of October 20.
Usually 10-20 meteors per hour can be seen at the peak, under clear and dark skies.
