Derekscope

A few shots from Weybourne, North Norfolk tonight – Sunday 10th October 2026, so strong and vibrant, it was amazing, hands down the best show this year so far. It was even visible by eye as light pale whitish streaks but cameras capture the true colours.

Mars inside Messier 44

• Mars will appear as a distinctly orange-red point within Messier 44 (M44) is a large, loose open cluster containing hundreds of stars.
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• Binoculars are probably ideal (7×50 or 10×50) gives a wide enough field to see Mars embedded among the cluster stars.
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• A small telescope at low magnification can also give a beautiful view, but high magnification may make it difficult to fit much of M44 into the field.
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• The New Moon is on Saturday 10th October, so the morning of the 11th has exceptionally dark conditions.
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Mars passes Messier 44

• From Friday 9th October to Wednesday 14th October, Mars will appear to pass in front of Messier 44 (M44), also known as the Beehive Cluster.
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• This beautiful open cluster contains hundreds of stars and is located in the constellation Cancer.
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• Although Mars and M44 are separated by an enormous distance, they will appear close together from our viewpoint on Earth.
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• Binoculars will provide a great view, helping to reveal the many faint stars of the Beehive Cluster around the bright red planet, Mars.
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Moon near Regulus

• The thin crescent Moon right behind Regulus in the constellation Leo, while Jupiter will be nearby in the same general pre-dawn sky but further away but still in the morning sky.
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Moon & Mars

• For UK Observers
  Experience a stunningly close conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter in the early morning sky.
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• For North America
  The Moon will pass directly in front of Jupiter in a rare daytime lunar occultation, visible across parts of North America.
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Moon & Mars

• For UK Observers
  Experience a stunningly close conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter in the early morning sky.
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• For North America
  The Moon will pass directly in front of Jupiter in a rare daytime lunar occultation, visible across parts of North America.
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Conjunction of Venus and Mercury

• Best viewing: around sunset, low in the Southwest sky.
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• For the UK: it will be very difficult to see from Britain, because the planets will be extremely low on the horizon and may already be below the horizon when the sky becomes dark enough.
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• Photo Left
  First, I captured the Moon close to Mars with my smartphone. At this zoom level, Mars was easy to spot, but the Moon was too bright and overexposed, so the photo didn’t turn out great.
  
  
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• Photo Below
  I then used Sylvia Simmonds’s telescope to capture them again. This time, I was able to bring out much more detail on the Moon, although Mars became much dimmer.

• According the Derekscope’s highlight (Mon 5th Oct):
  Conjunction of the Moon and Mars
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Conjunction of the Moon and Mars

• Something amazing is happening in the night sky – the Moon and Mars are going to pass right next to each other in what astronomers call a conjunction.
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• Here is your hourly guide to watching the action:
  
  2am – Look up! The bright, orange planet Mars will be trailing closely behind the Moon.
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  3am – Mars is speeding up and getting closer to the Moon.
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  4am – They are side-by-side! This is the closest they will look all night.
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  5am – Mars zooms past the Moon and takes the lead as they both head toward the horizon.

• Mars is actually millions of miles behind the Moon in deep space! It just looks close from where we are standing on Earth.
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Saturn at opposition

• On Sunday 4 October 2026, Earth will pass directly between the Sun and Saturn.
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• Saturn is opposite the Sun in our sky, so it rises at sunset (18:45 / 6.45pm) and remains visible through the night.
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• Saturn is at approximately its closest point to Earth for the year, about 782 million miles away, and reaches its brightest apparent magnitude +0.3 for 2026.
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• Through a small telescope, the rings should be visible, although they remain relatively narrow because of their current tilt.
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Saturn’s rings in visible light

• On the left, this photo was captured by Richard Houston at Norfolk Deaf Astronomical Society.
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• His photograph beautifully shows Saturn’s rings in visible.

• Richard mentioned that following the edge-on ring plane crossing last year (2025), Saturn’s rings are opening back up. This will offer a much clearer view through telescopes during this opposition.

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