October 6: Harvest Super Moon
The full moon — the first of fall in the Northern Hemisphere — will turn full on Monday, Oct. 6, but in North America it will be best seen at moonrise on Tuesday, Oct. 7. It’s called the Harvest Moon because it’s the closest full moon to the equinox on Sept. 22, and its light traditionally helps farmers work all night to gather crops.
The moon’s orbital path around Earth is slightly elliptical, so each month, there’s a point when it’s farthest away (apogee) and closest (perigee). If a full moon coincides with a perigee, it's closer to Earth and bigger in the night sky, and is colloquially known as a supermoon (though perigee full moon is the astronomical term).
Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Orionid meteor shower
The Orionid meteor shower, peaking October 21, is set to put on a spectacular show, shooting about 20 meteors per hour across the night sky.
This meteor shower happens when Earth travels through the debris trailing behind Halley's Comet and it burns up in our atmosphere.
The full duration of the meteor shower stretches from September 26 to November 22, but your best bet to see meteors is on October 21 before midnight until around 2 a.m.
Not only is this night the shower's peak, it’s also the October new moon, meaning the moon will be between the Earth and the Sun, making it dark and invisible to us.
With a moonless sky, you're much more likely to catch a fireball careening through the night.
Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
October 31: Happy Halloween!
Halloween is a "cross-quarter date," approximately midway between an equinox and a solstice. There are four cross-quarter dates throughout the year, and each is a minor holiday: Groundhog Day (Feb. 2nd), May Day (May 1st), Lammas Day (Aug. 1st), and Halloween (Oct. 31st).
Long ago, the Celts of the British Isles used cross-quarter days to mark the beginnings of seasons. Winter began with Halloween, or as they called it, "Samhain." Halloween marked the transition between summer and winter, light and dark -- and life and death.
On that night, according to folklore, those who had died during the previous year returned for a final visit to their former homes. People set out food and lit fires to aid them on their journey -- but remained on guard for mischief the spirits might do.
Image courtesy of NASA
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