October New Moon 2018: See Draconid Meteors and More in the 'Moonless' Sky

By Jesse Emspak, Space.com Contributor | October 3, 2018 10:20am ET

October's new moon will arrive during the peak of the Draconid meteor shower on Tuesday, Oct. 9, providing ideal viewing conditions for the annual display of "shooting stars."

Two days later, the thin crescent moon will snuggle up to Jupiter for a spectacular conjunction, with the two objects passing within 4 degrees of each other in the night sky.

The Draconids do not usually produce that many meteors — five per hour is average — but the recent passage of the comet may increase that number. The radiant, or the part of the sky from which the meteors appear to emanate, is in the constellation Draco, near the star Eltanin, which can be found by locating the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) and looking south (below) the "bowl."

For observers in New York City, the radiant will be just over 59 degrees high on Oct. 8 at about 8 p.m. local time. Draco is one of the constellations that, from the northern U.S., never sets, so the lowest the radiant will be in the sky for New Yorkers (who are located at about 40 degrees north latitude) is about 5 degrees above the horizon around 5 a.m. local time on Oct. 9. (Sunrise is at 7 a.m., according to timeanddate.com.)

More:
https://www.space.com/17561-new-moon-explained-lunar-phases.html