Ring of Fire Eclipse and Other Solar Events to See in October

This year, October is a big month for sky watchers: the excitement is mostly focused on the “ring of fire” solar eclipse in the middle of the month, but there’s also plenty of activity with the Moon, stars and other planets to look forward to. . These are some of the major solar events to include in your calendar.

Annular solar eclipse ( October 14)

This month’s highlight will be the “ring of fire” solar eclipse on October 14, which will cross much of the western United States—a 152-mile-wide path that is home to about 6.6 million people .

Unlike a total eclipse, the Moon won’t completely block the Sun, but this alignment will allow a narrow ring of light to shine from behind, creating what’s called a “ring of fire.” The closer you are to the annular trajectory, the greater the diameter of the Sun will be blocked by the Moon.

The ring formation will begin at 9:13 a.m. PT near Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, October 14, and will move southeast through Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas (and small parts of California, Colorado and Arizona) . ending at 12:03 pm Central Time. The eclipse will be visible along its trajectory for up to five minutes. Those outside of these areas will still see a partial eclipse.

If you haven’t made plans to watch yet, we have some recommendations for interesting places to see the eclipse . And make sure you’re prepared to view it safely .

Peak of the Orionids meteor shower ( October 21–22)

Orionid meteors originate from Comet Halley and appear every year in October in the Northern Hemisphere. (Halley’s Comet is also responsible for the Eta Aquariids in May.) The Orionid meteor shower is active from September 26 to October. Oct. 21, but is expected to peak Oct. 21-22. Under ideal conditions, you can see up to 10–20 meteors per hour .

Although rain may be visible around 11:30 pm on Saturday, October 21, the best time to see it is in the early morning (between 2 and 4 am local time) in the southern skies on October 22.

Hunter’s Full Moon ( October 28)

After a nearly dark new moon that perfectly coincides with the annular solar eclipse in the middle of the month, we have a hunting moon to look forward to right before Halloween. This year’s October full moon, also called the sanguine or blood moon (and going by many indigenous names), coincides with a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.

The actual full moon will occur at 4:24 pm ET on October 28, but will light up the night sky from sunset to sunrise the following morning.