If the weather holds, October is a lovely month for stargazing. The Milky Way still lingers in the west along with stars that were prominent in the northern summer. The autumn stars  dominate overhead, and the northern winter stars are starting to poke above the eastern horizon. Best of all, you can get in a good night of stargazing without staying up too late. Jupiter and Saturn remain visible, Venus and Mercury make an appearance, Uranus reaches opposition, and Mars returns! Add in a couple of meteor showers and you’re in for a good month.  Here’s what’s happening in the night sky this month…