Look to the eastern horizon shortly before midnight on Oct. 12 to see the moon rising majestically with the red giant Betelgeuse and the stars of the constellation Orion. Jupiter will be close on their heels.
Head out an hour before midnight local time to see the half-lit moon climb above the northeastern horizon, with the reddish light of Betelgeuse twinkling brightly to its right. The left half of the lunar disk will be bathed in direct sunlight and its left veiled in shadow.
The constellation Orion will provide a wealth of beautiful naked eye targets to observe on the night of Oct. 12. Most notable is the red star Betelgeuse , a colossal stellar body in the twilight of its existence. It is expected to explode in a dramatic supernova as bright as a full moon in Earth’s sky upon exhausting its supply of helium and heavier fuel reserves — a process that could take tens of thousands of years.
Look to the right of Betelgeuse to spot the three stars of the famous Orion’s Belt asterism — Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka — stacked on top of each other, with the blue supergiant Rigel, the brightest point of light in the famous constellation, shining less than 10 degrees beyond. Remember, 10 degrees is the equivalent to the width of your fist held at arm’s length against the night sky.
You may notice a hazy blur of light close to Orion’s belt as the constellation slips free of the horizon. That’s the Orion nebula, the closest stellar nursery to Earth where a new generation of incandescent stars are being formed.
It’s best to observe faint deep-sky objects using the averted gaze technique, wherein you place the object on the periphery of your vision, where the cells that excel at low-light vision are clustered. Gazing through a telescope with an aperture of 6 inches will help reveal the structure of the vast, glowing nebula.
Look below the moon around midnight to spot the gleaming orb of light of Jupiter rise above the eastern horizon, embedded in the stars of the constellation Gemini.
Stargazers looking to get a closer look at the myriad wonders of Orion and the wider sky should check out our roundup of the best telescope and binocular deals available in 2025.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to [email protected].
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