Venus is that blazing light you see in the western sky at dusk throughout October, outshining all other points of light in the sky.

The planet’s appearance remains remarkably consistent all month, emerging about a quarter of the way up in the western sky as it gets dark, and sets around 8 p.m.

Like all the planets, Venus does appear to move against the starry background, and in fact crosses in front of three constellations over the course of the month — Libra, Scorpius and Ophiuchus. However, the relative motions of Earth and Venus around the sun during the month may result in a consistent apparition of our sister planet this October, emerging low and bright at dusk and hitting the western horizon around 8 p.m.

Venus spends early October on its own, except for a visit from the crescent moon on Oct. 3. At the end of the month, look for a gathering of Venus and Saturn, both near the star Antares in Scorpius.

Saturn starts the month about a third of the way up in the southwest at dusk, setting a little before 10 p.m. As the slowest-moving of the naked-eye planets, it has been lingering near the bright star Antares all summer. Saturn starts the month almost exactly halfway between Mars, to its left, and Venus, to its right, each planet separated from Venus by the width of two palms. By the end of October, Saturn is only about a quarter of the way up in the west at dusk, paired with bright Venus at its side; both planets will set by 8 p.m.

As the month goes on, Venus approaches Saturn and Antares, and the three dots spend the last 10 days of the month forming an ever- changing set of triangles with each other.

Like Venus this month, Mars seems to hold steady, emerging halfway up in the southwest at dusk and setting in the west just before 11 p.m. The planet shines respectably at zero magnitude, and pops out nicely amid the second-magnitude stars of Sagittarius.

While we lost Jupiter behind the sun in September, it comes back to our skies quickly; look for it in the east before daybreak from about Oct. 10 onward. Catch it rising at 5:45 a.m. in the east on Oct. 10 and you’ll see Mercury right beside the king of the planets. By the end of October, Jupiter rises at 4:45 a.m. and is well up in the eastern sky at daybreak. Since Jupiter is emerging from the far side of the sun it will be dimmer than usual at minus 1.68 magnitude, but still brighter than any star in the sky.

Mercury had its best morning appearance of the year in late September and it’s still looking good in early October. For the first week of the month, look for Mercury rising in the east at 5:15 a.m., shining brilliantly at 0.6 magnitude. The planet gets lost in the dawn glow by 6 a.m. As the days go by, Mercury rises later — by 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 — so the time to catch it before daybreak gets narrow.

Supermoon

October will see the first of three full “supermoons” in a row. The moon will be a little closer to Earth than average for a full moon on this evening, and thus will be a little bigger and brighter than the norm.

The term “supermoon” is a recent invention and has received a fair amount of media attention in the last few years. The term has come to refer to a full moon that occurs when it is near its closest point to Earth in its slightly oval path around our planet. Since the moon’s path is oval, or elliptical, it can be as close as 225,600 miles from us or as far as 252,000 miles. When the moon is at the closest point to Earth in its monthly path, it is said to be at “perigee.” A supermoon is just a full moon that occurs in the same day that the moon is at perigee. Since it’s a little closer than usual, the moon appears a little large than a “normal” full moon.

Meteor shower

The Orionid meteor shower peaks Oct. 21-22, but the night of Oct. 20-21 should also be good. It is active Oct. 15-25. Like the Eta Aquarids in May, the Orionid meteor shower is caused by debris from Halley’s comet. Up to 20 to 25 meteors an hour might appear. We do have interference from the moon this year, due to a waning gibbous moon in the sky right as the shower peaks.

For all meteor showers, the viewing is better after midnight. These repeating annual events are caused as the Earth enters into debris left over from a specific comet such as Halley’s. As the Earth goes around the sun, our planet runs into the same debris at the same time each year. This is why these showers occur at the same time each year. After midnight, the part of the Earth that you are on is facing toward the debris that causes the meteor shower. This is why all meteor showers are better after midnight.

To view shooting star showers, just find a dark location and get comfortable. (A lawn chair is a good idea.)

For more on meteor showers, visit 808ne.ws/Octskywatch.

Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to bishopmuseum.org/planetarium.html