Derekscope

A quick smartphone snap of the Moon & Mars conjunction this morning.

• Tomorrow, the Moon will be in conjunction with Jupiter, the pair will be visible in early hours of Tuesday 3rd November from around 1am until dawn break.
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Conjunction of the Moon and Mars / Jupiter

• These are pre-dawn observing events, so try looking around 5–6 am, with a clear view towards the eastern sky. The planets should be visible to the naked eye when conditions allow.
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• The planets should be visible to the naked eye when conditions allow.
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The Moon at Last Quarter

• At the exact moment of Last Quarter, the Moon is in the constellation Leo, the Moon is transitioning from Cancer into Leo around the time of the quarter, depending on the constellation boundaries used.
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• This is an excellent time to observe the 22 days old Moon (map) through binoculars or a telescope because the line between lunar night and day (the terminator) highlights craters and mountains with dramatic shadows.

Jupiter, Mars, and Regulus

• Jupiter, Mars and Regulus
  Rising above the eastern horizon around 1:30am, forming a striking line that looks almost like Orion’s three-star Belt.
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• Best sighting
  Around 1:30am, but they remain visible throughout the early morning untill dawn.
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Your guide to
the night sky this month,
and a guide for binoculars
telescope, & smart scope.
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Click the blue link
below for more information

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2026 November

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Occultation: Moon & Messier 45

• The Moon passes directly in front of some of the Pleiades stars.
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• From the UK, the event is primarily late Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday 28 October.
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• The Moon will be waning gibbous, only about two days after the 26 October Full Moon.
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• Because the Moon will be very bright, binoculars or a small telescope will make the occultation much easier to see.
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The Moon at perigee

• The Moon reaches perigee ~ the closest point in its orbit from Earth.
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• The Moon appears slightly smaller and dimmer in the sky compared to perigee.
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Overnight: the Moon progressively moves across the M45 region.

• On Tuesday 27th October 2026, the Moon will be moving through the Seven Sisiter or Pleiades (M45) during the evening and into the early hours of Wednesday 28th October.
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• The Moon is about 99% illuminated, so it will be extremely bright and will make the fainter M45 stars harder to see.
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• If you’re planning to photograph it, the sequence from roughly 10 pm to 3 am UK time should be particularly interesting as the Moon changes position relative to M45.
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Full Moon

• The Full Moon will appear essentially full on the evening of Sunday 25th October as well as the night of Monday 26th October, because the exact full phase occurs early Monday in the constellation Aries (The Ram.)
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Daylight Savings

• The clocks go back on Sunday, 25th October to mark the end of British Summer Time (BST) and return the UK to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), shifting the time from 2am back to 1am.
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• For stargazers and astronomers, moving the clocks back means darkness arrives earlier in the evening, which is highly beneficial, because it allows for much earlier night sky viewing and astrophotography sessions.
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• The Reasons for the October Clock Change

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