TRI-CITIES, Wash. – October promises to be an exciting month for skywatchers!
A supermoon will illuminate the sky on October 6, appearing about 30 percent brighter and up to 14 percent larger than a typical full moon.
“It’s one thing to sort of learn about something, and it’s another to see with your own eyes,” Prisco Blanco, Columbia Basin College Planetarium Director, said.
In addition to the supermoon, Blanco noted that two meteor showers will be visible this October.
“Taurids and the Orionids, so they’re basically named after the constellations where you can kind of find their radiant points,” Blanco said. “So where they’re coming from is the constellations Orion and Taurus.”
Blaco said the best time to view the meteor showers is around 1:00 in the morning. The showers can produce 10 to 20 meteors per hour and are visible to the naked eye.
“So this one in particular, the Orionids, is caused by Earth passing through the tail of Comet Encke. And so what happens is, every year during the month of October, Earth passes through that comet’s orbit. And all that dust that the comet leaves behind begins to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere,” Blanco said.
Adding to the skywatching excitement, Comet 2025 A6 Lemmon will pass by and be visible in the early morning hours.
“Before sunrise, looking to the northeast, just to the right of the Big Dipper as we get closer towards the 11th of October. So around the 20th, we expect it to slightly brighten.” Blanco said.
Columbia Basin College is reopening the Robert and Elisabeth Moore Observatory this month, offering the community new ways to experience the night sky. Starting Oct. 3 at 8:15 p.m., the observatory will offer limited public viewing sessions showcasing celestial wonders like Andromeda and an upcoming solar eclipse in February 2026.
“We’ve been trying to get the observatory open up for the last couple months, basically opening up for the public so that people have the opportunity to utilize our observatory and use some of the telescopes as well,” Blanco said.
More information about the upcoming observatory and planetarium schedule can be found here.
