Brilliant Venus is well up in the east at dawn this October, and it has a close conjunction with Regulus early in the month. Saturn is high in the southeast to the south as twilight brightens, and Jupiter jumps into the morning sky in the latter half of the month. The moon will pass into the dark part of the earth’s shadow late in the month, at a nice convenient time.

Oct. 4: Venus will pass very close to Regulus this morning. Since the gap will be quite narrow, and since Venus will outshine Regulus by 150 times, binoculars might be needed to see them separately. They will be well up and right of east about 5:30 a.m. (All times are given for the Lewiston-Auburn area.)

Oct. 7: The moon will shine about half the width of your hand (with your arm straight out) to the upper left of Saturn, high in the southeast about 5:30 a.m., making it easy to identify the planet. Saturn is well placed for viewing through a telescope this month, and dawn is the best time to do it.

Oct. 10: This morning would be another good time to catch sight of Venus, because a nice crescent moon will sit just half a hand to its upper left. They should be easy to find in the eastern sky as late as 6:30.

Oct. 21: I would first look for Jupiter this morning when it will be a hand up and a hand right of west at 6 a.m. The even brighter light of Venus will be just a hand and a half higher up.

Oct. 27: If the sky is not cloudy this evening, we will have front row seats for a total eclipse of the moon. The moon will pass into the dark part of the earth’s shadow, and will remain there for more than an hour. The leisurely pace of this spectacle allows for casual viewing as well as more serious observations.

The lower left part of the moon will begin to darken at 9:14 p.m., and the darkness will spread across the moon’s face until the eclipse becomes total at 10:23 p.m. Totality will end at 11:45 p.m., when the upper left part of the moon will begin to brighten. Finally, the moon will be completely uncovered at 12:54 a.m.

Of course, the moon will not be completely invisible during the total part of the eclipse, because some light is scattered by earth’s atmosphere into the shadow. Thus during totality, the moon will have a dull glow, probably with a reddish tint.

We have to get up before the sun to watch the interesting planet events this month, but the best treat, the eclipse, happens in prime time. We should notice that the moon doesn’t moan and groan when something bigger gets in the way and robs it of its place in the sun. Its face might turn red, but there will be no whining.

Roger Ptak is professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and author of the popular astronomy book “Sky Stories.” He and his wife now live in Northport. His e-mail address is dptak//fermi.bgsu.edu/~ptak/star/star.html.