This week's night sky · Sun, Oct 18 – Sat, Oct 24
For New York, times in EDT. Updated every hour.
At a glance
- The ISS makes 8 naked-eye passes over New York. Best pass: Mon, Oct 19 5:09 AM, 33° up.
- The Moon goes from first quarter to waxing gibbous.
- Planets tonight: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
- 9 rocket launches scheduled.
Bright satellites
ISS
- Mon, Oct 19 5:09 AM · northeast → northeast · 33°
- Mon, Oct 19 6:42 AM · west → northwest · 13°
- Tue, Oct 20 5:57 AM · northwest → northeast · 22°
- Wed, Oct 21 5:12 AM · north → northeast · 21°
- Thu, Oct 22 5:59 AM · northwest → northeast · 15°
- Fri, Oct 23 5:14 AM · north → northeast · 14°
- Sat, Oct 24 6:01 AM · northwest → northeast · 13°
- Sun, Oct 25 5:16 AM · north → northeast · 12°
Tiangong
- Thu, Oct 22 7:50 PM · southwest → south · 19°
- Fri, Oct 23 6:50 PM · southwest → southeast · 17°
- Fri, Oct 23 8:26 PM · west → southwest · 12°
- Sat, Oct 24 7:27 PM · southwest → southeast · 45°
The Moon this week
- Sun, Oct 18First quarter49%
- Mon, Oct 19First quarter58%
- Tue, Oct 20Waxing gibbous67%
- Wed, Oct 21Waxing gibbous76%
- Thu, Oct 22Waxing gibbous84%
- Fri, Oct 23Waxing gibbous91%
- Sat, Oct 24Waxing gibbous96%
Planets tonight
- Mercury · Not visible tonight: too close to the Sun or too low
- Venus · Not visible tonight: too close to the Sun or too low
- Mars · Best around 6:31 AM, southeast, 60° up
- Jupiter · Best around 6:31 AM, southeast, 51° up
- Saturn · Best around 11:51 PM, south, 51° up
Sky events this week
- Tue, Oct 20Orionids meteor shower peakUp to about 20 meteors an hour under a perfectly dark sky · bright moonlight hides fainter meteors
Rocket launches this week
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | Bandwagon 5 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)Mon, Oct 19 6:30 AM · Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
- H3-24 | Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)Mon, Oct 19 3:41 PM · Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-15Tue, Oct 20 6:14 PM · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Ceres-1S | Unknown PayloadTue, Oct 20 11:35 PM · Haiyang Oriental Spaceport
- Electron | We're Not Hawking Around (3x HawkEye 360)Wed, Oct 21 1:00 AM · Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
- Long March 8A | Unknown PayloadWed, Oct 21 10:57 PM · Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
- Long March 6A | Unknown PayloadFri, Oct 23 6:15 AM · Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
- Long March 4B | Unknown PayloadFri, Oct 23 3:25 PM · Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-16Sat, Oct 24 1:29 AM · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Expected re-entries
Objects predicted to fall back to Earth in the next few days.
- STARLINK-1305Tue, Oct 20 4:02 AM
- STARLINK-1972Wed, Oct 21 6:18 AM
- STARLINK-2131Wed, Oct 21 3:44 AM
- STARLINK-2610Mon, Oct 19 8:31 PM
- STARLINK-5041Wed, Oct 21 11:53 AM
- COSMOS 2572Sun, Oct 18 11:01 PM