Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, light up the early evening sky in October.

Venus is the brightest dot of light in the sky, shining at minus 3.9 magnitude. Only the sun and the moon are brighter than Venus. All month long, look for Venus in the western sky at dusk — it will be a little to the left of where the sun sets. Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus will be about 15 degrees above the horizon.

With the sun setting around 6:15 p.m. at the start of October and around 5:50 p.m. at the end of the month, it should be dark enough to see Venus clearly by 6:45 p.m. in early October and by 6:20 p.m. at the end of the month.

Throughout October, Venus sets right around 8 p.m.

Look for a very slender crescent moon just to the left of Venus on Wednesday around 7 p.m. The moon will be only about 4 degrees to the left of Venus on that night, or not much more than the width of one finger held at arm's length.

Over the next few days, the moon will draw farther away from Venus and closer to Jupiter. On Oct. 6, look for the moon to hang right below Jupiter.

At the very end of the month the moon returns to Venus. On Halloween night, try to find a very slim crescent moon just below Venus at around 6:45 p.m.

Jupiter is the other really bright light in the sky throughout October. You have probably noticed Jupiter as the bright light that has dominated the August and September evening sky.

Throughout October, look for Jupiter just about halfway up in the southwestern sky at dusk. It shines at minus 2.3 magnitude, brighter than any other dot of light except Venus. Jupiter sets in the west at 12:15 a.m. at the start of the month, 11:15 p.m. around the middle of October, and just after 10:15 p.m. by month's end.

Look for the quarter moon hanging just below Jupiter on Oct. 6.

Of particular interest in October, watch how Venus and Jupiter seem to draw closer to each other as the month goes on. At the start of October, Venus and Jupiter are more than 60 degrees apart — the width of four hands held at arm's length. By the end of October, the two bright planets will be only about 30 degrees apart. This is because Venus is moving very quickly against the background of fixed stars, and seems to be rushing toward Jupiter.

All planets move against the starry backdrop. Inner planets like Venus move quickly, while outer planets, like Jupiter, seem to move much more slowly. So Venus does most of the work as the planets appear to move toward each other throughout the month.

Venus and Jupiter are the only planets you'll be able to see in the evening sky this October.

Mars is completely out of view for the entire month. It is behind the sun and will not appear at all until the end of 2008.

However, if you are an early riser, the October morning sky provides a good view of Saturn and, later in the month, Mercury.

Saturn rises in the east at about 4:50 a.m. at the start of October and is about 12 degrees above the horizon when it gets too bright to see the planets and stars (about 5:45 a.m.). By the end of the month, Saturn rises at 3 a.m. and is nearly 40 degrees above the eastern horizon by the time it gets too bright to see the planet.

Saturn shines at first magnitude, dimmer than when it was in the evening sky this summer. There's an interesting reason for that: We're entering a time when the rings of Saturn appear edge-on when viewed from Earth. The rings are bright and reflect sunlight very well. Since the rings are nearly edge-on now, the entire planet appears dimmer.

Mercury reappears in the morning sky later in October. Try to find it from Oct. 22 until the end of the month. Mercury will rise just before 5:30 a.m., almost due east, and shines at minus 0.5 magnitude. You'll only have about a half-hour to catch it until the rising sun washes out the sky a little before 6 a.m.

Mercury will only be about 6 degrees above the eastern horizon when day breaks. So to catch Mercury, make sure you have a clear, flat eastern horizon.

Mercury seems to hang below Saturn during these last 10 days of October. On Oct. 25 and 26, look for a waning crescent moon between Saturn and Mercury at around 5:50 a.m.

ORIONID METEOR SHOWER

This annual meteor shower peaks in the early hours of Oct. 21. For a few days on each side of Oct. 21, you may see an increase in meteor activity.

Viewing, as usual with meteor showers, is better after midnight. Make sure you are comfortable, and scan the skies for streaks of light. Telescopes and binoculars aren't needed to see the show.

The Orionid Show occurs every October as we pass through debris left over from Halley's Comet. Halley's Comet itself will not return till 2061.

MOON MEETS PLEIADES

On Oct. 16, as viewed from the Hawaiian Islands, the waning gibbous moon (still looking almost-full) will move across the famous Pleiades star cluster from 10 to 11:45 p.m.

The Pleiades have a special significance this month. The rising of the Pleiades at sunset in Ireland and Scotland, 2,000 years ago, marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Back then, in Ireland, the Pleiades rose on Oct. 31. Some of the customs of that ancient holiday have survived in our Halloween holiday.

The rising of tiny clusters of stars at sunset also marks the start of the Hawaiian year. The Pleiades are known as the Makali'i ("Little Eyes"). On O'ahu, this cluster now rises at sunset on Nov. 17 rather than on Oct. 31.

THE OCTOBER SKY MAP

The map for October is good for 10 p.m. at the start of October, 9 p.m. mid-month, and 8 p.m. at the end of October.

Looking south, the brightest light is Jupiter, over toward the southwest. Just below Jupiter is the teapot shape of Sagittarius the Centaur.

If you look to the left of Jupiter, there are two bright stars that don't get a lot of attention. First is the first-magnitude star Fomalhaut. Fomalhaut is in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, although Piscis is too faint to show on our map.

Keep going to the left, and you can catch Achernar just rising in the south-southeast. It's quite bright and is part of the constellation of Eridanus the River, though the rest of the constellation has not risen yet.

Look for the Pleiades rising in the eastern sky at the time of this map, as a faint but distinctive cluster of stars.

In the north, Cassiopeia is high overhead; the three middle stars of this "W" point roughly to the North Star. Normally we use the Big Dipper to point to the North Star, but in the October evening sky the Big Dipper is below the horizon in the Islands.

The summer triangle is high in the western sky, made up of bright stars Vega, Deneb and Altair.

We show the constellations of Hercules, Pegasus and Pisces on the map, since they are well-known names. That said, Pisces is a very faint constellation and Hercules is tricky to find. Pegasus takes some effort, but you should be able to make out the "great square" at the heart of the constellation.

THE MOON

First Quarter: Oct. 6

Full: Oct. 14

Third Quarter: Oct. 21

New: Oct. 28

Reach Mike Shanahan at mikes@bishopmuseum.org or 847-3511.