What's in the sky October 2025

Image Credit: ESO

Welcome to your October guide to the Southern Hemisphere night sky! This month, we’ve got a fantastic mix of planets, deep sky objects, and even a rare comet to chase. Whether you’re a casual stargazer enjoying the view with binoculars, a telescope enthusiast hunting planets and nebulae, or an astrophotographer capturing the wonders above, there’s plenty to see and explore. From bright planets like Saturn and Mercury to stunning deep sky gems like the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Helix Nebula, October promises plenty of celestial highlights to keep your nights busy.

Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN

This month brings a rare visitor from the outer Solar System: Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN, which reaches its closest approach on October 19th, just 0.261 AU from Earth. Last seen in the inner Solar System over 20,000 years ago.

Image Credit: Mike Kane

After perihelion on September 12, it developed a striking 5° corkscrew-shaped ion tail visible in photographs. That’s about the length of 10 Full Moons! Currently around magnitude 6, it’s visible with binoculars low on the western horizon just after sunset. Look near Mars and Spica in Virgo to help spot it. As it approaches Earth, it may brighten to magnitude 4, possibly making it visible to the naked eye under dark skies.. This closest approach is due to happen on the 19^th of October, so pencil in the days between the 18^th till the 21^st, as that will hopefully be one of the best opportunities this year to observe a comet. The comet will continue moving through Libra, Scorpius, and Sagittarius before fading in early November.

And since comets can surprise us with sudden changes in brightness or appearance, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN. Look out for an updated video and article from us right before the best viewing nights so you’ll know exactly what to expect and how to spot it.

Mercury

This month, we’ve also got the 2^nd best opportunity of the year to observe Mercury, as it reaches its greatest elongation on the 29^th of October. This is when Mercury reaches it’s greatest distance in the sky from the Sun and makes it the best time to observe the planet.

The greatest elongation of the inner planets (Mercury and Venus) is kind of like their version of opposition. It’s not quite the same, as it’s not when the planet is at it’s largest, but it represents the best opportunity to observe the planet, as it signifies when the planet appears to be the farthest distance form the sun in our sky.

If you don’t have an opportunity to observe on exactly the 29^th, don’t worry! While planetary opposition and elongation events are typically given as just one date, the truth is that while this date represents the absolute peak, observing up to a week before or after is often 90% as good! So don’t think you’ve missed out, you haven’t!

Saturn

Speaking of opposition, while Saturn’s opposition has already passed, secretly we actually think now may be a better time to observe. Why? Because while Saturn is ever so slightly smaller than last month, it’s rising earlier in the night, making it easier to observe for those of us keen to maintain a reasonable bedtime!

While the best viewing window is still a little late, between 10 and 12pm, you’ll still get great views of the planet anytime after sunset, and Saturn should be fairly easy to spot in the Northeastern area of the sky.

Neptune

Once again Neptune joins us alongside Saturn in the Sky. If you’ve got a scope big enough (we’d typically recommend and aperture of 6 inches or larger), and you can See Saturn in the sky, then you’ll be able to spot Neptune. There’s not much worth looking at in it’s own right, but if you’re already observing Saturn, you may as well turn your scope to the furthest planet in the Solar system.

Like Saturn, Neptune is best observed between 10-12pm, but you’ll be able to see it anytime after sunset.

If you’re up late, this month also represents a good time to have a look at Uranus. Again if you’ve got the aperture, you’ll see a tiny grey-blue disk. This month it’s really only for the most dedicated planet hunters, as to have a good view of it, you’ll need to be up between 1-3am, as that’s when it’s best positioned for observing in the sky.

Uranus

Deep Sky Objects This Month

The Small Magellanic Cloud/SMC (NGC 292)

The main attraction this month is one of the gems of the Southern sky, The Small Magellanic cloud. While it doesn’t take up as much of the sky as it’s cousin the Large Magellanic cloud (more on this incredible object come January), there’s nothing Small about this cloud of stars, as it stretches 4 degrees across in the sky (that’s 8 moons across!).

Image Credit: ESO/VISTA VMC

The Small Magellanic Cloud, or SMC for short is a satellite galaxy of the Milkyway, meaning the SMC orbits the Milky way much in a similar way to how the Moon orbits the Earth! It’s exclusively visible to us in the southern hemisphere, and is easily one of the gems of the southern sky.

The SMC is visible to the naked eye from dark sites with little light pollution, and in fact is one of the furthest objects visible with the naked eye, at a distance of 200,000 light years away. Up the magnification and light gathering with a pair of Binoculars and the SMC will stand out even more, and you’ll also be able to make out some of the details of the galaxy itself. Up the Magnification and light gathering even more with a large telescope, and individual features within the SMC become resolvable.

NGC 346

My personal favorite of the objects you can observe inside the SMC is NGC346, a bright nebula inside the SMC, which through binoculars is visible as a bright patch near the tail of the galaxy, but with a telescope 6 inches and up, some shape in the nebula is able to be resolved. NGC 346 is a nice object in its own right, but being able to observe a nebula inside another galaxy really elevates the observing experience on this one.

Image Credit: ESO

NGC 346 is also a great target for astrophotography, whether with your own set up or using a smart telescope, and again, it’s crazy to think about how you’re taking a photo of a nebula in another galaxy entirely!

As the SMC is so far south in the sky, you’ve got plenty of time to observe it, as it’s reasonably well visible all the way from 8pm until 4 am. In a dark sky, you’ll see it as a small diffuse patch towards the south, in an otherwise fairly barren area of the sky. You’ll be able to enjoy the Small Magellanic Cloud from now all the way until December.

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)

Another great target this month is NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula. Often also known by the much more dramatic name, the Eye of God Nebula, the Helix Nebula is one of the closest Planetary Nebula to Earth, which makes it one of the rare planetary Nebula in the sky large enough to make out considerable detail through a telescope, as well as being large enough to be a great target astrophotography target for small refractors and Smart telescopes.

Image Credit: ESO

Through the eyepiece, you’ll see an eye shape staring right back, and you’ll see more details the darker your sky, and if you have a UHC filter like this one to boost contrast: https://bintel.com.au/products/astronomik-uhc-filter.

 Planetary nebulae like the Helix are formed during the final stages of a medium-sized star’s life. When stars similar in size to our Sun exhaust the fuel in their cores, they shed their outer layers into space, creating an expanding shell of glowing gas. The exposed hot core, now a white dwarf, emits intense ultraviolet radiation that excites the surrounding gas, causing it to shine in the striking colours we see in photographs. Planetary nebulae aren’t uncommon in the galaxy, but the Helix is special because it’s one of the closest and brightest, making its structure and details much easier to observe.

The Helix Nebula is another quintessentially Southern object. While it is technically observable from the Northern Hemisphere, they don’t get to see it quite like we do, as we get to see it rise right overhead in the night sky.

You’ll find the Helix nebula in the constellation Aquarius, and it’s best observed between 8 to 10pm, when its at its highest in the night sky.


And that brings an end to this month’s guide to the night sky. October offers an incredible variety of observing opportunities for Southern Hemisphere stargazers. From the bright planets like Saturn, Mercury, and Neptune, to a rare visitor from the outer Solar System in Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN, there’s something for every type of observer, no matter if you’re up late hunting faint outer planets or enjoying a relaxed evening spotting a comet low on the horizon. The deep sky is equally rewarding, with the Small Magellanic Cloud and its internal treasures like NGC 346, as well as the Helix Nebula, giving both visual observers and astrophotographers stunning targets to explore. With clear skies, dark horizons, and a mix of familiar and extraordinary objects, October is shaping up to be a month that truly showcases the richness of our southern night sky.