Fall meteor season has begun. Late October not only sees dusk falling ever earlier as ghouls and goblins walk the Earth, but it also sees the peak of two fine annual meteor showers kicking off Halloween season: the Orionid and Taurid meteor showers.

Here’s our latest post on the upcoming Orionid meteor shower for 2026, and the Taurid ‘Halloween Fireballs’ for @universetoday - https://www.universetoday.com/articles/orionid-taurid-meteors-haunt-october-skies

Meteor watching requires nothing more than a set of working Mk-1 eyeballs and patience. A camera with a wide-angle lens equipped with an intervalometer can automate the meteor capturing process, leaving you free to watch the sky.

In just one more month, the European Space Agency’s Hera mission will make history. Moving at 12 km/s versus Earth, the mission is about to rendezvous with the binary Dimorphos-Didymos asteroid pair. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission slammed into Dimorphos in 2022, and now Hera will provide a follow-up view of the mission’s resulting handiwork. The European Space Agency (ESA) recently released a thought-provoking look at the perspectives of Hera, and what an astronaut might see from the surface of the asteroids as the mission speeds by.

Here’s our latest post on the Hera mission for @universetoday - https://www.universetoday.com/articles/esas-hera-mission-targets-binary-asteroid-pair-in-november

We had a fine view of this AM’s occultation of Jupiter by the Moon here in Bristol, TN, worthy of the early wake up. It was neat to see Europa pop Back out before Jove, and track the pair right up into the daytime sky post sunrise.

Here are my pics taken around downtown Bristol TN: https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=238380
Here’s a Dwarf Mini capture of ingress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inKsfufEoWI
And egress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOSoP7lqW7A

Finally, here are some great captures of this AM’s lunar occultation of Jupiter courtesy of: Tom Wildoner, Bob Hatfield, and Gary Scimeca:

Here are the Top Astronomy Events to Watch for in October 2026:

4-Saturn at opposition
5-Moon (-31%) occults Mars (Arctic)
6-Moon (-20%) occults Jupiter (E. North America)
7-Moon (-14%) occults Regulus (SE Africa)
8-Draconid meteors peak (ZHR~5)
10-New Moon
11-Mars transits Messier 44 (70 degrees W, dawn)
12-Mercury reaches greatest elongation (25 degrees E, dusk)
14-Moon (+17%) occults Antares (S. Atlantic)
21-Orion Meteors peak (ZHR~20)
24-Venus at inferior (solar) conjunction
26-Full Hunter’s Moon

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/top-astronomical-events-to-watch-for-in-2026

A fine Milky Way composition -
https://www.astrobin.com/k5281w/

Mystery solved. Dan Bush’s all-sky camera caught a bright meteor over Albany, Missouri early on the morning of Tuesday, September 15th around 7:42 UT. The slow moving nature of the fireball made a strong case for a reentry.

https://youtu.be/k6PsgumVH-E?si=PrqQpt56NT1BdFfu

Now, US CspOC Space-Track has caught up with recent launches, and a launch of a LandSpace XhuQue-2E rocket about an hour and 14 minutes prior out of Jiuquan China was over the CONUS at the time. https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/8385/

The launch deployed 10 satellites for SpaceSail Polar Group 19, another mega-constellation built to rival Starlink. The reentry was likely an associated rocket stage. Thanks to Eric Briggs for bringing this to our attention.

Tomorrow: the Moon transits though the bright open star cluster Messier 44 (Praesepe) in the heart of the astronomical constellation Cancer the Crab… the very best views are in western Europe, Morocco, the U.K./Ireland, Iceland and the North Atlantic in the pre-dawn, centered on 5:21 Universal Time (UT).

The Moon is a slender -11% illuminated waning crescent at the time, meaning the bright daytime edge will lead the way. The pair is 38 degrees west of the Sun during the meetup. Next stop; the Moon visits Jupiter later of the 8th.

Hello. The Mount Lemmon sky survey reports the discovery of a 1-meter asteroid, CERNQ52. The asteroid was spotted just before Earth impact, which should occur in just over an hour at 16:07UT/12:07 PM EDT (00:07AM local time) over the eastern Indian Ocean, between Indonesia and western Australia under nighttime skies.

No impact for this one, though it should put on a show as it harmlessly burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere. As per the International Meteor Organization, this is just the 13th time an asteroid has been discovered prior to Earth atmospheric entry.

The Moon is busy in September. Coming off of eclipse season in August, the Moon visits no less than two planets (Jupiter and Venus), two bright stars (Antares and Regulus) and one open cluster (M45) in September, as it heads towards the Harvest Full Moon of 2026 on September 26th. No matter where on Earth you happen to be observing from, chances are, there’s an occultation of a bright celestial object by the Moon coming to a sky near you.

Here’s our latest post on the occultation action for @universetoday - https://www.universetoday.com/articles/penultimate-lunar-occultations-inbound-for-jupiter-venus-and-more-in-september

Top Astronomy Events for September 2026

3-Moon occults M45 (-60% gibbous, NE Asia)
8-Moon occults Jupiter (-7% crescent, NE Asia/E North America in the daytime)
9-Moon occults Regulus (-2% crescent, South Pacific)
11-New Moon
14-Moon occults Venus (+12% crescent, SE Asia)
17-Moon occults Antares (+38% crescent, S. Indian Ocean)
23-Southward Equinox
26-Neptune at opposition
26-Mercury passes 54’N of Spica
26-Full Harvest Moon
30-Moon occults M45 (-80% gibbous, N. Europe)

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/top-astronomical-events-to-watch-for-in-2026

We’re seeing some great images this morning, of last night’s deep partial lunar eclipse. And while the Moon didn’t quite achieve totality this time ‘round, it did indeed ‘go red’ at its maximum, a little past midnight U.S. east coast time. Here are some great captures from Carlos Uriarte, Julien Looten, and R.T Smith:

This is the final eclipse for 2026. The next lunar eclipse is a faint penumbral next year on February 20th, 2027, and the next total lunar eclipse (favoring Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific) occurs on December 31st, 2028.

Anyone else see it? Observers with clear skies along the Great Lakes region were surprised this past Saturday night (August 15th), as a bright expanding globule tracked across the night sky. Ben Kawecki had a great view from Awenda Park Ontario:

The culprit was SpaceX’s Falcon-9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier the same evening, which deployed eight more Globalstar satellites headed for Low-Earth orbit. Venting left over propellant from the upper in sunlight causes this sort of space jellyfish effect.

It was an eclipse for the ages. This past week, many an eclipse chaser and the ‘eclipse curious’ made the journey to stand in the shadow of the Moon, for the only total solar eclipse of 2026. Viewers across northeastern Spain had thrilling views of a low to the horizon eclipse at sunset, while viewers to the north and across Iceland had dicier, cloudy skies to contend with.

Here are some amazing reader images of yesterday’s eclipse (plus a few from space thrown in) for @universetoday - https://www.universetoday.com/articles/amazing-views-of-wednesdays-total-solar-eclipse

We’re just 3 days out now, from the only solar eclipse of 2026 on Wednesday, August 12th. This is the penultimate total solar eclipse for saros series 126, with the final totality for the series on August 23rd, 2044. Here’s a fun historical eclipse factoid I came across in research recently:
Magician and cinematographer Nevil Maskelyne caught the first moving video sequence of totality during an eclipse on May 28, 1900 as seen from North Carolina. This eclipse was a member of saros series 126, the same family as the August 12th eclipse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4jfPfMKBgU

You couldn’t ask for a better year, for one of the top annual meteor showers. If skies are clear be sure to watch for one of the top skywatching draws of 2026: the August Perseid meteor shower. While the Perseids are a draw on any year, 2026 is special, and has a few things going for it in terms of the Moon phase, peak timing and prospects.

Here’s our post on the 2026 Perseids for Universe Today: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/see-the-perseid-meteors-on-a-new-moon-year

Top Astronomy Events for August 2026

1-Lammas (cross-quarter) Day
2-Mercury greatest (dawn) elongation (19ºW)
2-3 Comet 10P perihelion (1.4AU), passes Earth (0.4AU, +9th mag. in Piscis Austrinus)
12-Total Solar Eclipse for Greenland, Iceland and Spain
12-Perseids peak (ZHR~100, New Moon)
13-+1% Moon occults Regulus (S. Indian Ocean)
14-Mercury v M44 (dawn, 13ºW)
15-Venus greatest (dusk) elongation (46ºE)
15- Mercury 30’ v Jupiter (dawn, 13ºW)
16-Moon 1.8ºN of Venus
21-+64% Moon occults Antares (S. Pacific/S. South America)
28-Full Moon, Partial (93%) Lunar Eclipse (Americas)

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/top-astronomical-events-to-watch-for-in-2026

Interesting. Periodic Comet 10P/Tempel seems to be sporting not one, but a secondary parallel dust trail, tracing out its orbital path. This is seen in this amazing sequence of images, courtesy of Dan Bartlett:

“If this feature is indeed authentic then the conditions needed for both orbital trail and its secondary trail to be stable over numerous revolutions need to be investigated,” says Bartlett. “Perhaps a shepherding effect by the planets, sun and the comet itself may contribute to the longevity of these and perhaps other undiscovered Tempel2 related phenomenon can be identified.”

Be sure to check out Comet 10P as a +8th magnitude object in the pre-dawn sky. Here’s our guide on @universetoday - https://www.universetoday.com/articles/catch-comet-10p-tempel-while-you-can

Meteor streams evolve over time. One great example is the July Alpha Capricornids. Currently active, the Alpha Caps have a peak ZHR rate around 5—barely above the background sporadic rate. Frankie Lucena caught an Alpha Cap on the night of July 6th: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frankie57pr/55378106459/in/dateposted/

But that may change in the years to come. A study out of the SETI Institute suggests that the parent source for the Alpha Caps periodic comet 169P/NEAT underwent a fragmentation event ~5,000 years ago. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-6256/139/5/1822

Modeling the stream for the Alpha Caps implies that the annual rates for the meteor shower may pick up three centuries from now. Mark your calendars, for a 2326 era Alpha Capricornid meteor shower. https://www.meteorshowers.org/view/Alpha-Capricornids

Discovered by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking survey, Comet 169P/NEAT is on a 4.2 year orbit, and passes 0.251 AU from the Earth next month on August 29th, and although the comet only tops +13th magnitude, the comet does pass less than a degree from the globular cluster M13 on August 2nd. Clearly, something interesting is going on with this icy interloper.

Tonight: SpaceX will take another shot at launching Starship on Flight 13 from Boca Chica, Texas. The 1 hour 30 minute launch window opens at 6:45 PM EDT/22:45 UT for a sub-orbital flight over the Gulf of Mexico, and an Indian Ocean splashdown. https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/8279/

Watch for a boost back and landing burn over the Gulf, a single Raptor engine relight in space, and testing of key modifications on tonight’s Starship launch. This launch also includes the deployment of 20x v3 Starlinks. https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/07/16/live-coverage-spacex-to-deploy-first-starlink-v3-satellites-on-suborbital-starship-super-heavy-flight/

We’ll be watching Starship Flight 13 on NSF’s channel… because why give the grave of the former bird-site any love? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYpQwwf1XNw

Early estimates (Thx Marco Langbroek) suggest tonight’s Starship launch with the first batch of larger v3 Starlinks will put them in a 27 degree inclination orbit: https://www.langbroek.org/launchtower.html

Orbital spaceflight missions to watch for in July 2026 (w-firm dates)

1-CASC/Long March-4C/Jiuquan/Unk
1-SpaceX/Falcon-9/VSFB/Starlink Group 17-46
2-Northop/Katalyst/PegasusXL/Marshall Is. Range/Swift Rescue Mission
2-ULA/Atlas-V/Cape/Amazon LEO(LA-08)
2-CASC/Long March-8A/Wenchang/Unk
3-SpaceX/Falcon-9/Cape/Starlink Group 10-50
4-CASC/Long March-6A/Taiyuan/Unk
7-SpaceX/Falcon-9/VSFB/Transporter-17
9-SpaceX/Falcon-9/Cape/Starlink Group 10-42
10-CASC/Long March-10B/Wenchang/Demo
10-SpaceX/Falcon-9/VSFB/Starlink Group 17-48
13-SpaceX/Falcon-9/VSFB/Starlink Group 15-14
14-Roscosmos/Soyuz/Baikonur/Soyuz MS-29
17-Rocket Lab/Electron/Mahia/Loxsat-1

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/