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BASIL October 2026

The front cover of October's BASIL shows the Mathematical Tables of Colin Pillinger, of Beagle 2 fame, when he was a school boy in Kingswood, Bristol in the 1940s. This is part of an exhibit about Beagle 2 at the Kingswood Heritage Museum and many thanks to BAS member Toby Lumber for providing the information.

Monthly observing opportunities:

• 4 October: Saturn reaches opposition.
• 5 October: The Moon pays Mars a close visit at dawn.
• 10-12 October: Mars crosses the Beehive Cluster.
• 13 October: Vesta reaches opposition.
• 28 October: A Lunar occultation of the Pleiades.
• Observe the 'Hunter's Moon' and the trio of craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel.
• Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are all observable this month.
• 13 DSO observing targets are listed for the month.
• Constellation of the month is Pegasus.

Last month's observing challenge:

During September we had the observing challenge to observe or image NGC 6910, the Rocking Horse Cluster in Cygnus. In BASIL this month there are wonderful members' images of the cluster from: Richard Bennett, David Bennett, Andrew Grasemann, and Chris Lee. You can certainly see the shape of the 'rocking horse' and the cluster will be a great target for outreach with schools and the public over the winter.

Members' images this month:

• Andrew Grasemann: Gibbous Moon, the 'Jewel Handle of the Sinus Iridum, Harvest Moon in the Clouds, the Eastern Veil Nebula, the Heart Nebula, Pickering's Triangle, the Pelican Nebula, the Cocoon Nebula, and the detection of Supernova SN2026aaiv in galaxy NGC 7331.
• Chris Lee: Two Protostars in Cassiopeia, the Cygnus Kite asterism, the double star Albireo in Cygnus, and the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus.
• Richard Bennett: Saturn with the Cassini Division and Globular Cluster M15 in Pegasus.

On page 26, Andrew Grasemann shares an astrophotography recommendation for image processing.

Observing and imaging challenges for members in October:

• Vesta, Pallas and Saturn all reach opposition in October, so good opportunities for observing and imaging.
• Observe the trio of lunar craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel (during first or third quarter).
• DSOs in Pegasus (well placed), including the following DSO targets which are good for smaller telescopes:
  - Globular Cluster M15.
  - Galaxy NGC 7331 (the Deer Lick galaxy).
  - Galaxy NGC 7479 (barred spiral galaxy).
  - Galaxy NGC 7814 (the Little Sombrero galaxy).

Society News includes the programme of meetings for 2026, information from the recent Committee meeting in September and photos from the recent outreach visit to Barrs Court Primary School, led by our Outreach Coordinator Allan McCarthy.