Ruby Red Date Night! The Moon Snuggles Up to a Giant Red Star Tonight
Quick Summary
Here is something beautiful to do tonight: go outside after dinner and look southwest! The crescent moon is passing right next to Antares — one of the biggest and most brilliantly red stars in the entire night sky. You do not need a telescope to enjoy the show.
What Happened?
Every month, the moon travels across the sky past different stars and planets. Tonight, October 14, it is making a very photogenic stop.
The moon is in its crescent phase — a thin, curved sliver of light, about 18–19% lit up, like a bright fingernail clipping hanging in the sky. And right next to it shines Antares, glowing in a distinctive, warm ruby red color.
Antares is the bright heart of the constellation Scorpius, the scorpion. It is what astronomers call a red supergiant star. That means it is absolutely enormous. If Antares were placed where our Sun is, it would swallow up Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars entirely. It is roughly 700 times wider than the Sun.
Yet even though Antares sits about 550 light-years away — a light-year being the distance light travels in a whole year — it is still bright enough to see easily with your naked eyes.
The best time to look is about 45 minutes after sunset. Face the southwest horizon and look low in the sky. The moon will be close to Antares, separated by about the width of two fingers held at arm’s length. They will both fit inside the same view through a pair of binoculars.
If you happen to live very far south — in South America or the South Pacific — you will get an even more special treat. From those locations, the moon will actually pass directly in front of Antares, briefly hiding it from view.
And there is a bonus: the dark part of the crescent moon will glow very faintly. That soft glow is called earthshine — it is sunlight reflected off Earth’s oceans and clouds, bouncing up and lighting up the moon’s night side. Photographers love this!
Why Does It Matter?
Stargazing is one of the oldest activities humans have ever done. For thousands of years, people have looked at the same stars and made sense of the world around them. The Sámi people of northern Scandinavia even have their own ancient word for the aurora — and rich traditions connected to the night sky.
Events like tonight’s moon-and-Antares pairing remind us that the universe is always putting on a free show. You just have to remember to look up.
Now is also a great time of year to explore the autumn sky. The days are getting shorter, which means darkness falls earlier — giving skywatchers more time to explore before bedtime!
Big Words
- Crescent — the curved sliver shape of the moon when only a small part of its sunlit side is facing Earth
- Red supergiant — a type of very old, very massive star that has swelled to an enormous size and glows with a reddish color
- Conjunction — when two objects in the sky appear very close together from our point of view here on Earth
- Earthshine — sunlight reflected by Earth that softly illuminates the dark part of a crescent moon, giving it a faint glow
- Light-year — the distance light travels in one year — about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers)
Fun Fact
Antares is sometimes called the “Rival of Mars” because its reddish color looks so similar to the red planet! Ancient sky-watchers used to mix them up when Mars passed nearby in the sky.
Think About It
If Antares is 700 times wider than our Sun, how do you think scientists figure out the size of something so far away that no spacecraft could ever reach it?
Sources
- Space.com — Night sky October 2026: Wednesday Oct. 14 — The moon brushes Antares
- Astronomy.com — The Sky Today on Wednesday, October 14: Io covers Callisto
- EarthSky — Visible planets and night sky guide for October: Moon visits Antares
- StarWalk — October 14: Moon and Antares; lunar occultation of Antares
- WTOP — Eyes to the Skies: October features crescent moon