Clean the cobwebs off your binoculars, dust off your star charts and put fresh batteries in your red-lens flashlights. It's time to start a no-nonsense observing plan, since the nights are finally getting longer.
The peak of the Orionid meteor shower falls on Oct. 21, and this is an unfavourable year for this major shower due to the waning gibbous to last quarter moon.
October is just about the perfect time for Valley stargazers - monsoon clouds have finally departed and evening temperatures are becoming pleasant. With the constellations of autumn wheeling into the evening sky, what better time to blow the dust off your telescopes and reacquaint yourself with the wonders of the heavens?