This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 6:47, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:07. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:57 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Three of the naked-eye planets are visible in the night sky. Mercury sets too soon after sunset to be seen. Venus will pass between the earth and the sun in inferior conjunction in two days, and might be seen in the morning sky for sharp-eyed observers by the end of the month. Tonight, Saturn will be in the east-southeastern sky as it gets dark. It is the brightest starlike object low in that direction. It is a ways to the left of and slightly below the Moon in the southeast. At 6 AM, Jupiter and Mars will in the east-southeast. Jupiter is brightest and red Mars will be above and to the right of Jupiter and slowly closing. Some Orionid meteors might be visble then.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Saturn appears in the east southeast by 9 PM, to the left of the Moon in the south-southeast, October 21, 2026. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP
The Moon, 3 days after first quarter, at 9 PM tonight, October 21, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Mars and Jupiter appear with the constellations of winter, which now adorn the predawn sky at 6 AM. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic views of the naked-eye planets as seen in a small telescope: At 9 PM, Saturn will be 19.6″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 45.7″. At 6 AM, Jupiter will be 35.0″ in diameter. Io will be eclipsed in the planet’s shadow fefore 7 AM. Mars, not shown, will appear 6.2″ in diameter. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on October 21, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 22nd. Note that Venus is below the horizon at sunrise and sunset, since it is near inferior conjunction with the Sun (Oct 23rd), and south of the ecliptic. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn, in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, October 21, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.
