Updated Every Sunday

UK Night Sky This Week

19 – 24 October 2026

The UK night sky this week builds to the Orionid meteor shower, which peaks before dawn on Thursday 22 October. The Moon is a bright waxing gibbous, but on peak morning it sets at 02:49 BST and leaves about three dark hours before twilight. Saturn is up all evening, Mars and Jupiter edge closer together before sunrise, and the clocks go back early on Sunday 25 October.

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Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous
60% lit at sunset on Monday and 97% by Saturday. Moonset slips from 00:15 BST early on Tuesday to 05:28 early on Saturday; Full Hunter's Moon is at 04:11 GMT on Monday 26 October
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Best Planet
Saturn, up from about 17:46 BST
Magnitude +0.4 in Cetus, 34° up in the south-south-east at 22:00 and 39° high due south at about 23:50 BST
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Best Night
Wed 21 – Thu 22 October
Orionid peak: the Moon sets at 02:49 BST, the radiant is 43° up by 03:00, and the sky stays dark until 05:49
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Dark Sky
Only after moonset
Astronomical darkness starts at 19:56 BST on Monday, but the Moon is up until after midnight every night. The darkest hours are before dawn on Tuesday to Thursday

🌠 What to See in the UK Night Sky Tonight: Orionids, Saturn and Mars

This week the UK night sky offers the Orionid meteor shower, which peaks before dawn on Thursday 22 October at 10 to 20 meteors an hour under dark skies, with the Moon setting at 02:49 BST that morning. Saturn rises at 17:46 BST on Monday and is well placed all evening at magnitude +0.4, and the waxing gibbous Moon passes 7.5° from Saturn on the evening of Saturday 24 October. Before sunrise, Mars and Jupiter close from 10.7° apart on Monday to 8.7° on Saturday, low in the east-south-east.

The Orionids are grains of dust shed by Halley's Comet, hitting the atmosphere at about 66 km per second, so they are quick and some leave short glowing trails. The radiant sits near Betelgeuse in the raised club of Orion. It clears the eastern horizon at about 22:00 BST, is 43° up in the south-east by 03:00 and reaches due south around 05:30. You don't need to stare at Orion itself: meteors can appear anywhere, so face south-east and take in as much sky as you can.

Moonlight is the catch this year. On peak morning the Moon is 81% lit, so the useful window is from 03:00 to 05:30 BST on Thursday, before astronomical twilight begins at 05:49. From a typical UK garden 5 to 10 meteors an hour is a realistic hope; the 10 to 20 figure needs a properly dark site. The maximum is broad, and Wednesday morning, 21 October, is worth a try too, since the Moon sets earlier, at 01:32, and leaves over four hours of dark sky.

If you're out before dawn, look east. Jupiter is the brightest point there at magnitude −1.8, 40° up at 06:00 BST in Leo and about 7° from Regulus. Mars, magnitude +1.0 and still in Cancer, sits above and to the right. The gap between them shrinks by about half a degree a night on the way to a conjunction on 16 November, when they will be 1.2° apart.

Away from the meteors, this is a bright week. The Moon washes out faint galaxies and the Milky Way for most of the evening. Venus reaches inferior conjunction, passing between Earth and the Sun, at 04:40 BST on Saturday and is not visible; it returns to the morning sky in November. Mercury sets only about 20 minutes after the Sun. If cloud looks likely, tonight's stargazing score will tell you whether the Orionid mornings are worth the alarm.

🌟 Planets Visible from the UK This Week

Saturn: from 17:46, magnitude +0.4 ⭐
Saturn is two weeks past its 4 October opposition, 1.27 billion kilometres away and still at its best for the year. It rises at 17:46 BST on Monday and 17:26 by Saturday, stands 34° up in the south-south-east at 22:00, and is highest, 39° due south, at 23:53 on Monday and 23:32 on Saturday. Look below and left of the Great Square of Pegasus for a steady, creamy-yellow point in Cetus. The Moon is 11° away at 21:00 on Friday and 7.5° on Saturday. → Full Saturn 2026 guide
Neptune: evening, magnitude 7.8
Neptune is highest, 37° up in the south, at 23:23 BST on Monday and 23:03 on Saturday, about 8° west of Saturn in Pisces. With a gibbous Moon this is a hard week for it. Monday and Tuesday are the best tries, while the Moon is still well away in Capricornus; a 130mm telescope at 100x or more shows a tiny blue-grey disc. → How to see Neptune
Uranus: from 19:25, magnitude 5.6
Uranus rises at 19:25 BST on Monday and 19:05 by Saturday, and reaches 58° in the south at about 03:20. It is in Taurus, 6.3° from the Pleiades. Moonlight makes it a harder binocular find than last week, so try after moonset in the small hours. A telescope at 150x shows a small, pale green disc.
Mars: from 00:30, magnitude +1.0
Mars rises at about 00:30 BST every night this week and is 47° high in the east-south-east by 06:00. It has left the Beehive Cluster behind and is now more than 5° from it, still in Cancer. Through a telescope the disc is about six arcseconds across, too small for much surface detail yet.
Jupiter: from 01:33, magnitude −1.8
Jupiter rises at 01:33 BST on Monday and 01:18 by Saturday, and is 40° up in the east-south-east by 06:00, in Leo, 7° from Regulus. Mars is above and to the right, 10.7° away on Monday and 8.7° by Saturday. A small telescope shows the two main cloud belts and the four Galilean moons.
Venus and Mercury: not visible
Venus reaches inferior conjunction at 04:40 BST on Saturday 24 October, passing between Earth and the Sun, and will reappear low in the dawn sky in November. Mercury sets around 18:20 BST, only about 20 minutes after sunset. Neither is visible from the UK this week. Do not sweep for them with binoculars near the Sun.

🌛 What Phase Is the Moon This Week?

The Moon is a waxing gibbous all week, and it owns the evening sky. First Quarter was at 17:12 BST on Sunday 18 October. The Moon is 60% lit at sunset on Monday and 97% by Saturday, rising in the mid-afternoon and setting later each night: 00:15 BST in the early hours of Tuesday, 01:32 on Wednesday, 02:49 on Thursday, 04:08 on Friday and 05:28 on Saturday. Full Moon, October's Hunter's Moon, follows at 04:11 GMT on Monday 26 October. Tonight's Moon phase has exact times for your location.

Over the week the Moon moves from Capricornus through Aquarius and into Pisces, finishing the week close to Saturn. A gibbous Moon is a fine sight in its own right. On Monday the crater Copernicus sits near the terminator, the line between lunar day and night, and on Tuesday the curved Bay of Rainbows (Sinus Iridum) catches the sunrise. Any binoculars show both, and a small telescope shows the shadows inside them.

The clocks go back at 02:00 BST on Sunday 25 October. From Sunday evening sunset is at about 16:46 GMT and darkness comes an hour earlier by the clock, which is good news for anyone who wants to observe before bed.

🌌 Deep Sky Targets for UK Observers This Week

To be straight about it, this is a poor week for faint objects. The gibbous Moon brightens the sky every evening, so stick to bright clusters and double stars, or save galaxies for the hours after moonset on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

  • The Pleiades: 54° up in the south-east by 01:00. Bright enough to shrug off moonlight, with six or seven stars to the naked eye and thirty or more in binoculars.
  • The Double Cluster in Perseus: two star clusters in one binocular field, 52° up in the north-east at 21:00, below the W of Cassiopeia.
  • Albireo, in the beak of Cygnus: a gold and blue double star, split by any telescope at 30x and still 59° up in the south-west at 20:30.
  • M31, the Andromeda Galaxy: wait for moonset. At 03:00 BST on Thursday it is still 56° up in the west, and from a dark site binoculars show a long oval glow.
  • M42, the Orion Nebula: 31° up in the south at 05:30, just below Orion's Belt. Worth a look with binoculars while you are out for the Orionids.

Our Orionids guide has more on Halley's Comet and the best viewing directions. After the Orionids, the slow and occasionally bright Taurids are active through early November. Meanwhile, check tonight's ISS passes and the aurora forecast, as autumn is a good season for UK aurora and the Moon does nothing to hide a strong display.

🔔 Get Alerts for Clear Nights

📅 Night-by-Night Planner: 19 – 24 October 2026

Sunset falls from 17:58 BST on Monday to 17:48 on Saturday, sunrise moves from 07:42 to 07:51 · Astronomical darkness starts between 19:56 and 19:46, but the gibbous Moon stays up until after midnight every night · All times BST, calculated for central England

Mon 19 Oct
The 60% Moon sets at 00:15, leaving five and a half dark hours before dawn at 05:46, the longest of the week. Saturn is highest at 23:53. Copernicus is on the lunar terminator.
Tue 20 Oct
Moonset at 01:32, so Wednesday morning gives over four dark hours and a good chance of early Orionids. At 06:00 Mars and Jupiter are 10.3° apart.
Wed 21 Oct ⭐
Orionid peak night. The Moon sets at 02:49; from 03:00 to 05:30 the radiant climbs from 43° in the south-east to due south. Expect 5 to 10 meteors an hour from a reasonably dark garden.
Thu 22 Oct
Orionid rates are still near peak, but the Moon doesn't set until 04:08, leaving about 1 hour 40 minutes of dark sky before twilight at 05:51.
Fri 23 Oct
The 92% Moon is 11° from Saturn at 21:00, with Saturn below and to its left. The Moon is up nearly all night, so it's an evening for the planets.
Sat 24 Oct ⭐
Venus at inferior conjunction at 04:40 (not visible). In the evening the 97% Moon is 7.5° from Saturn. The clocks go back at 02:00 BST on Sunday morning.

📖 Go Deeper

What to use this week

Kit we've tested and reviewed in full

A bright gibbous Moon all week makes this a week for the Moon itself, the planets and the Orionids, and the meteors need nothing but your eyes. Binoculars for the Moon and bright clusters; a telescope for Saturn, Jupiter and lunar craters.

For the Moon and the Pleiades

Celestron SkyMaster Pro 15×70

4.5Full review

15x70s show the gibbous Moon's seas and big craters such as Copernicus on Monday, and they cut through moonlight well enough for the Pleiades and the Double Cluster. Leave them indoors for the Orionids on Thursday morning: meteors are a naked-eye sight and a wide view catches far more. They are heavy, so a tripod adapter makes a real difference.

~£229
Buy at FLO
For Saturn, Jupiter and the lunar terminator

Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P

4.6Full review

Saturn is 39° high due south at about 23:50 BST on Monday, magnitude +0.4, and a 130mm Dobsonian at 100x shows the narrow rings and Titan. Before dawn the same telescope shows Jupiter's cloud belts and four moons, 40° up in the east-south-east at 06:00 BST. Early in the evening, run it along the Moon's terminator for the sharpest crater shadows of the week.

~£194
Buy at FLO

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Frequently Asked Questions

Any clear night with little Moon, starting about an hour after sunset once proper darkness has arrived. UK summer nights near the solstice never get fully dark this far north, so autumn, winter and early spring give much better views. The week either side of New Moon is the darkest part of the month. This week is a bright one: the gibbous Moon is up until after midnight every night, and the next New Moon is on 9 November.
No. The Moon, five planets, dozens of constellations and every meteor shower are naked-eye objects. Binoculars are the first worthwhile step and open up star clusters, lunar craters and the structure of the Milky Way. Most people start with nothing but their eyes, a dark-ish spot and twenty minutes to adapt.
Give your eyes at least twenty minutes to adapt to the dark, and stay off your phone once they have, because one look at a bright screen undoes it. Most of us observe under Bortle 5 to 7 suburban skies, so put streetlights behind you and check is it a full moon tonight before you commit to a night. Dress warmer than feels sensible, as standing still on a clear night is far colder than walking.
The Orionids, made of dust from Halley's Comet, peak before dawn on Thursday 22 October, at 10 to 20 meteors an hour under dark skies and fewer from a typical UK garden. The Moon sets at about 02:50 BST that morning, so watch from 03:00 until about 05:30. After them come the slow, occasionally bright Taurids in early November, the Leonids in mid-November and the Geminids in mid-December. Our meteor shower calendar carries every peak date for the year.
Because Earth crosses the same trail of comet debris at the same point in its orbit each year. The Perseids come from dust shed by comet Swift-Tuttle, and we plough through it every August without fail. The rough timing barely moves, but the exact peak night and how much moonlight gets in the way do change.

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