The Night Sky in October 2013
View southwest at 21:00 UT (22:00 BST) on the 1st, 20:00 UT on the 15th and 19:00 UT on the 29th
Looking south and west in October the summer triangle formed by Vega, Altair and Deneb are high up as darkness falls, tumbling over to the west as the evening progresses. By the end of the month Atair sets at midnight (UT). The Milky Way can be seen in dark skies running through these constellations, overhead and to Cassiopeia and Pegasus in the northeast. Meanwhile Fomalhault, a bright star in the constellation Pisces Austrinus (the Southern Fish) is rising low in the southeast. Never rising more than 12° above the horizon in the UK (lower in the north), the star can be located almost directly below the square of Pegasus.
Venus sets in the west 2 hours after sunset by the end of October.
View northeast at 21:00 UT (22:00 BST) on the 1st, 20:00 UT on the 15th and 19:00 UT on the 29th
Ursa Major (the Plough or Big Dipper) is low in the northwest. Follow the curve of the handle of the dipper to find the bright orange star Arcturus (in Bootes). The two end stars of the dipper point to the pole star Polaris (Ursa Minor) lying due north, which holds its position while all the other stars appear to rotate around it. Cassiopeia and Pegasus are rising through the evening and by the end of the month will be overhead at midnight (UT). The Pleiades can be seen rising in the east late in the evening heralding the appearance of the major winter constellations.
Images generated using Stellarium