# Night sky news, October 29, 2026: moon, events, aurora

Waning Gibbous, 81% lit. 1 sky event this week and 3 sourced news items for October 29, 2026.

## The sky on October 29, 2026

**Moon.** On the evening of October 29, 2026 the Moon is waning gibbous, 81% illuminated. That day the Moon sets at 11:41 AM MDT and rises at 8:34 PM MDT. Times are for Denver, Colorado; they shift by minutes to an hour elsewhere in the US and Canada.

### Visible this week

- [Aurora Outlook: Solar Cycle 25 Decline](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/events/aurora-outlook-2026-2028), September 24, 2026 to December 31, 2028. Northern US states and all of Canada; strong geomagnetic storms can push visibility as far south as the mid-latitude US.

## Sourced stories

### [Rubin Observatory reveals its first dwarf planet candidate in our solar system](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-10-29/rubin-observatory-reveals-its-first-dwarf-planet-candidate-in-our-solar-system)

Source: [Phys.org (Space News section)](https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rubin-observatory-reveals-dwarf-planet.html)

Rubin Observatory reveals 2026 ED138, a dwarf planet candidate. The icy body orbits beyond Pluto and was spotted by a scientist using data from the Simonyi Survey Telescope. It was discovered earlier this month at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

### [The universe in the eye of a telescope | Space photo of the day for Oct. 29, 2026](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-10-29/the-universe-in-the-eye-of-a-telescope-space-photo-of-the-day-for-oct-29-2026)

Source: [Space.com](https://www.space.com/stargazing/astrophotography/the-universe-in-the-eye-of-a-telescope-space-photo-of-the-day-for-oct-29-2026)

The Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope reflects stars at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The photograph, taken by José Rodrigues, shows airglow infusing the night sky with a soft orange glow. The image was captured during a recent visit to the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

### [Examining the Cat's Head Nebula with the Hubble and JWST](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-10-29/examining-the-cat-s-head-nebula-with-the-hubble-and-jwst)

Source: [Universe Today](https://www.universetoday.com/articles/examining-the-cats-head-nebula-with-the-hubble-and-jwst)

The Hubble and JWST examine the Cat's Head Nebula. The Cat's Head nebula is located in the Carina Nebula, where star formation involves metallicity, gas temperature and density, dust grains, and stellar feedback. The nebula's structure is one of Nature's most beautiful, making it a useful subject for studying star formation.

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Canonical: https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-10-29
Updated: 2026-10-29T23:00:24.485Z