Do you have some suggestions? Did I mess something up? Click here to leave a voicemail and let me know! I can't wait to hear from you! Want to start your own podcast!? Click here to use my affiliate link, sign up, and bring your ideas to massive audience with rss.com! https://www.patreon.com/TheSkyThisWeek The Sky This Week | October 31–November 6, 2026 The Dark Between the Meteors Sometimes the best reason to photograph the night sky isn’t a spectacular event. It’s simply having a little more darkness, a familiar landscape, and something extraordinary waiting above it. This week, the waning Moon opens up darker evening skies, the Southern Taurids offer a chance to catch a meteor, and neighboring galaxies and star clusters give photographers plenty to explore—even if the meteors never show up. In this episode of The Sky This Week, T. M. Engh explores the astrophotography opportunities for October 31 through November 6, 2026, with practical guidance for photographers in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This week’s highlights: * The Moon and darker evenings: How the waning Moon creates better opportunities for photographing faint stars and galaxies, including useful darkness windows for Wisconsin, London, Sydney, and Cape Town. * Andromeda and the Pleiades: Discover a neighboring galaxy and a family of stars, and learn why both make rewarding northern sky subjects. * The Magellanic Clouds: Explore two smaller neighboring galaxies that offer remarkable photographic possibilities from suitable southern locations. * The Southern Taurids: Why Earth encounters debris from Comet Encke, what makes a meteor or fireball, and why November 4–5 is worth watching—even though nothing spectacular is guaranteed. * The Moon, Mars, and Jupiter: Early-week predawn opportunities, with viewing dates and conditions that change depending on where you live. * Making the photograph: Practical starting points for exposure, focus, lens selection, and tripod photography, whether you’re a beginner or have more experience. * The sky in motion: A focused introduction to night-sky time-lapse photography, including a practical one-hour camera plan for capturing the apparent movement of stars above a stationary landscape. Your Assignment This Week Make one photograph of a recognizable night-sky subject above a place that means something to you. It might be the Pleiades above a familiar tree, Andromeda over a distant ridge, or a Magellanic Cloud above a southern coastline. Maybe you’ll get lucky and capture a meteor. For an additional challenge, try the time-lapse technique from this week’s episode. You don’t need expensive equipment or a perfect photograph. Just a little curiosity, some patience, and a reason to look up. Observing dates: Saturday, October 31 – Friday, November 6, 2026. Viewing opportunities depend on your location, local horizon, moonlight, light pollution, equipment, and weather. Meteor sightings, fireballs, and clear skies are never guaranteed. Astronomy resources and references * NASA — Moon Phases * NASA — How to Photograph a Meteor Shower * International Meteor Organization — Meteor Calendar * American Meteor Society — Meteor Shower Calendar * U.S. Naval Observatory — 2026 Moon Phases * Timeanddate — Sun, Moon and Astronomy The Sky This Week is a T. M. Engh Photography production. Two hemispheres. One sky. Endless opportunities to photograph it!
