This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Information updated weekly or as needed.
Times given as local St. Louis time this week will be in Central Daylight Time (CDT) until November 1, 2026, when we shift back to Central Standard Time (CST). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times posted in Universal Time (UT), St. Louis is -5 hours when CDT and -6 hours when CST. Times posted in the Night Sky Update are in the 24-hour format.
Join us for our next star party, Friday, November 6, 2026, held in association with the St. Louis Astronomical Society. For details, see the information at the bottom of this page or visit https://www.slsc.org/explore/mcdonnell-planetarium/public-telescope-viewings/
Observing Highlight
Anyone up before sunrise has a chance to watch Mars catch up to Jupiter and pass it by in the sky. Long ago our ancestors discovered planets were different from stars because they moved independently from the background sky. This motion occurs because planets revolve around the Sun. The closer a planet is to the Sun, the fast it moves in its orbit. As a result, we will see planets appear to catch up to slower planets and pass by them. These observations were key to the discovery of the solar system.
If you are new to stargazing, finding planets can be simple as long as you know a few things such as what to look for and where to look. Five planets are visible to the unaided eye while two will require a binocular or telescope to see. The five naked eye planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus can be seen in binoculars and Neptune requires a telescope.
A key feature that will help you distinguish a planet from a star is scintillation. Thanks to a children’s song, most will know that stars appear to twinkle. This flicker of starlight is caused by Earth’s atmosphere, a process called scintillation. When you find a planet it will not appear to twinkle because it is much closer to Earth than the stars we see at night.
Once you know what to look for, where to find them is easy provided you are familiar with constellations. The wandering motion of planets always carries them along a path in the sky called the ecliptic. Our ancestors recognized this as they created the zodiac constellations to represent this path. If you can find the zodiac, you can find the planets. Saturn and Neptune are in Pisces, Uranus is in Taurus, and Mars is in Cancer until the end of October after which it shifts into Leo joining Jupiter.
Mars and Jupiter rise this week around 01:00 and 01:30 respectively. For most, the pair of planets will clear trees and buildings by 03:00. If this all sounds early to you, timings are about to shift an hour back due the change to Daylight Standard Time. If you are willing to get up around 4 or 5 am, both planets will still be easy to see. Watching the pair each morning will show Mars catching up to Jupiter by November 14 and 15, 2026, after which Mars will continue to speed by slower Jupiter.
Both planets are good targets for telescopes if you have one. The current Mars apparition started on October 14, 2026. Now that Earth and Mars are close enough to one another, 4-inch telescopes or larger will reveal subtle features on the Martian surface. Views of Mars will continue to improve as it approaches opposition next year in February. Any telescope will reveal the belts and zones in Jupiter’s atmosphere. It is also possible to see Jupiter’s Great Red Spot if it is pointed towards Earth. If you plan to look for this feature use Sky and Telescope’s transit calculator for the Great Red Spot found here.
T CrB Nova Update 10/27/2026
If you are still interested in seeing the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis, there is still hope. The nova has not yet occurred meaning we are in a waiting game. If you are still interested, the part of the sky the nova will appear in is found in the west by the time it is dark. The star system T Coronae Borealis is found in the constellation Corona Borealis which looks like a small U-shape of stars next to the constellation Boötes. Once it is dark the location of T CrB will still be in the west. If you cannot observe the sky directly, you can track the behavior of T CrB by checking current magnitude estimates posted at The Sky Live. Current magnitude estimates of the system show it at 10th magnitude.
The Sun and Moon
Sun
Sunrise on Tuesday, October 27 is at 7:22 and sunset is at 18:06 providing between 10.73 hours of daylight. Even after sunset, light from the Sun will dimly illuminate our sky for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. This period is called twilight, which ends around 19:36 this week. For those with a sundial, local noon occurs around 12:45 on October 27, 2026.
| Day | Sunrise (CDT*/CST) | Sunset (CDT*/CST) |
| 27-Oct | 7:22* | 18:06* |
| 28-Oct | 7:23* | 18:05* |
| 29-Oct | 7:24* | 18:04* |
| 30-Oct | 7:25* | 18:03* |
| 31-Oct | 7:26* | 18:02* |
| 01-Nov | 6:28 | 17:00 |
| 02-Nov | 6:29 | 16:59 |
| 03-Nov | 6:30 | 16:58 |
| 04-Nov | 6:31 | 16:57 |
| 05-Nov | 6:32 | 16:56 |
| 06-Nov | 6:33 | 16:55 |
Moon
Moonrise for Tuesday, October 27, is at 18:53 and moonset occurs at 10:32 the following day. On October 27, 2026, the Moon will exhibit a waning gibbous phase with 96% disk illumination. By November 6, 2026, the Moon will exhibit a waning crescent phase with 6% disk illumination. Last quarter moon occurs on November 1, 2026, at 14:29.
International Space Station (ISS) Observing
Visible passes of ISS from St. Louis for the week of October 27 occur in morning hours. The best passes occur on October 30 and November 1 and 2. Information for these passes and others can be found here. If you do not live in the area, you can use https://heavens-above.com/ to set your viewing location and get times for where you are.
Visible Planets
Three naked eye planets will be visible this week. Saturn rises in the east before sunset. Mars and Jupiter are visible in east before sunrise. Due to the time change, once it is November subtract one hour from times posted below.
Mars
Mars rises around 01:00 at the start of the week becoming easy to find by 02:00. This apparition of Mars is not the best as it is an aphelic apparition. ALPO’s guide for the Mars 2026-2027 aphelic apparition shows October 14, 2026, as the beginning of the apparition for those using telescopes between 4 and 8 inches. This is the time frame in which most observers can start seeing the surface of Mars through their telescope. Mars reaches opposition on February 19, 2027.
Jupiter
Jupiter rises this week around 01:30. You will need to wait for the giant world to clear trees, but it should be easy to see in the east by 02:30.
Saturn
Saturn now rises in the east before sunset. Once it clears trees and buildings in your area, Saturn will be an easy target for naked eye views. Saturn remains a good target until spring 2027 as it approaches superior conjunction on April 7, 2027.
Uranus
Uranus is technically bright enough to be seen naked eye under dark conditions. However, most will likely still need binoculars to spot the planet. Uranus will remain very easy to find for several years as it passes through the constellation Taurus. The smallest binocular I have used to spot Uranus is a 10×28 binocular. At magnitude 5.7, Uranus was very easy to find with this instrument.
Uranus rises around 19:35 this week but should be easy to find by 21:00. The ice giant can be found in Taurus between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters.
Our next Star Party will be held on Friday, November 6, 2026 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
On the first Friday of each month, the St. Louis Astronomical Society and the Saint Louis Science Center will set up a number of telescopes outdoors and be on hand to answer your questions. Telescope viewing begins once it is dark.
The St. Louis Astronomical Society helps host the monthly Star Parties at the Saint Louis Science Center. In addition to our nighttime viewings, they also help facilitate our daytime event called Solar Sundays. These daytime viewing sessions occur on the 3rd Sunday each month. Visit SLAS’s website linked above to learn about other telescope events SLAS hosts around the St. Louis area.
James S. McDonnell Planetarium
Night Sky Update for October 27, 2026
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