The end of October and the beginning of November are going to be very exciting for astrophiles the world over and for the lucky ones who will join our sunset and stargazing tours because there is a smorgasbord of events happening right above our heads!
The ‘least’ exciting thing is the upcoming peak of the Orionid meteor shower on October 21st. Usually, it is a VERY exciting event, especially because it is taking place under a new moon, which means perfectly dark sky. On that night, our planet will cross the leftover debris from Halley’s comet so those fragments burning up in our upper atmosphere will light the sky up. For best viewing, look about 30 degrees from the radiant (guess where? the Orion constellation) toward the zenith (right overhead) and get your wishes ready as you might be able to see 20 shooting stars per hour! If you want to learn more about shooting stars, check out our previous entry where we explain everything about meteors…
The second ‘least’ exciting event (only from a stargazing point of view because it is getting all the astronomers buzzed) is the presence of comet 3I/ATLAS, which someone claimed to be an alien spaceship. Now, crazy theories aside, it is a super interesting object because it likely comes from beyond our solar system or, as they call it, it is an interstellar object. Unfortunately, it will not come close to our planet so we will not be able to see it during our stargazing sessions.
The third object is in beautiful display at the moment high in the sky and it is called comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN). The magnitude at the time of writing is 6.6 magnitude, which makes it visible with binoculars and telescopes. It gets the closest approach to Earth on October 20th, and it is when it should shine the brightest. It is best captured with a camera, especially because it is passing in front of the arm of the Milky Way, making for a spectacular image.
Finally, the object that is most promising to put up a show is comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), which I had the opportunity to observe a couple of days ago before sunrise in the eastern sky, a faint smudge to the naked eye but showing ok using binoculars. Starting this week, the comet will be visible after sunset in the western sky and it is supposed to get brighter and brighter, with peak brightness expected on October 31st. Although comets are notoriously unpredictable, most likely this one is going to be naked-eye visible so we will all be able to enjoy it. Make sure you take a photo of it because next time it comes around is in 1000 years!
So there you have it! in addition to all the objects visible in the sky this time of the year, we have these very special objects visiting this corner of the universe so make sure you go stargazing and, if you are in Tenerife, join our tours!
