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Sky calendar

What is worth stepping outside for over the next three months, worked out for India and given in IST — and, for each night, whether a telescope helps at all.

September 2026

  1. The Moon meets Jupiter

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Jupiter appear 0.8° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  2. New moon — darkest skies

    Lunar event

    No moonlight all night. The best few days of the month for faint objects.

    Best seen with: Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ (₹30,000). Moonless nights reward aperture. The most affordable telescope in our deep-sky range.

  3. The Moon meets Venus

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Venus appear 0.5° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  4. Full moon

    Lunar event

    The Moon is fully lit — spectacular to look at, and the worst night for anything faint.

    Best seen with: Celestron Travel Scope 70 (₹12,000). Any telescope shows the Moon, though it looks best away from full, when shadows show the relief.

October 2026

  1. Saturn at opposition

    Opposition

    Saturn is opposite the Sun — closest to Earth, brightest, and visible all night.

    Best seen with: Celestron Travel Scope 70 (₹12,000). The most affordable telescope we stock with the aperture this opposition needs.

  2. The Moon meets Mars

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Mars appear 1.1° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  3. The Moon meets Jupiter

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Jupiter appear 0.3° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  4. New moon — darkest skies

    Lunar event

    No moonlight all night. The best few days of the month for faint objects.

    Best seen with: Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ (₹30,000). Moonless nights reward aperture. The most affordable telescope in our deep-sky range.

  5. The Orionids 2026

    Meteor shower

    Debris from Halley’s Comet, crossing our orbit every October.

    Best seen with: No telescope: meteors cross the whole sky, and a telescope sees a tiny patch of it. Lie back somewhere dark and use your eyes.

  6. Full moon

    Lunar event

    The Moon is fully lit — spectacular to look at, and the worst night for anything faint.

    Best seen with: Celestron Travel Scope 70 (₹12,000). Any telescope shows the Moon, though it looks best away from full, when shadows show the relief.

November 2026

  1. The Moon meets Mars

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Mars appear 1.0° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  2. The Moon meets Jupiter

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Jupiter appear 0.5° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  3. The Moon meets Venus

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Venus appear 0.9° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  4. New moon — darkest skies

    Lunar event

    No moonlight all night. The best few days of the month for faint objects.

    Best seen with: Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ (₹30,000). Moonless nights reward aperture. The most affordable telescope in our deep-sky range.

  5. Mars meets Jupiter

    Conjunction

    Mars and Jupiter appear 1.2° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

  6. The Leonids 2026

    Meteor shower

    Usually modest, occasionally spectacular on a 33-year cycle.

    Best seen with: No telescope: meteors cross the whole sky, and a telescope sees a tiny patch of it. Lie back somewhere dark and use your eyes.

  7. Full moon at perigee

    Lunar event

    The Moon is full and near its closest point — visibly larger and brighter than usual.

    Best seen with: Celestron Travel Scope 70 (₹12,000). Any telescope shows the Moon, though it looks best away from full, when shadows show the relief.

  8. The Moon meets Jupiter

    Conjunction

    The Moon and Jupiter appear 1.1° apart — close enough to take in at a single glance.

    Best seen with: Best with your eyes or binoculars. A telescope at high power cannot hold both in one view.

How this calendar is made

Moon phases, oppositions and conjunctions are calculated from our own ephemeris, which is accurate to a few arc-minutes and about a minute in time. Meteor showers come from the published annual list; their peaks shift by up to a day from year to year, and the rates quoted assume a perfectly dark sky that no Indian city has. Eclipses and comets are left out on purpose: they need precision or live data we do not have, and a wrong eclipse time is worse than none. Times are IST; exactly when something rises depends on your city.