Oct. 31 is a date when more people are outside under a dark sky than almost any other day. Costumed trick-or-treaters will be wandering the streets, focusing on houses and candy, but many of these folks will also be inspired to look up. If the sky is clear, they may get their first real look at the stars.
We often associate Halloween with a big full moon hanging over the horizon, but of course it doesn’t work out that way every year. This year the moon will be just past last quarter, which means it doesn’t rise until after midnight, long after the trick-or-treaters have gone to bed. However, you will be able to see the moon in the daytime on Halloween morning. It will be in the southern sky at sunrise, and then move towards the west, setting about noon. This isn’t special to Halloween — you can often see the moon in the daytime, around the last quarter phase every month.
This Halloween you can point out the “UFO” hovering in the southeastern sky, a brilliant white light that is brighter than any other object. This is actually the planet Jupiter, which we’ve been seeing for several months, but it’s amazing how often people see things in the sky and swear that it wasn’t there yesterday. The sky changes over time, but in general, bright objects don’t come and go without warning.
Unlike modern astronomers, who define seasons by the dates of the solstices and equinoxes, many ancient peoples saw the midpoints between solstice and equinox as a better marker of the start of a season. This makes sense when you take the weather into consideration. In general, the season’s weather seems to lag about a month behind the official “start” of a season nowadays. Nov. 1 is roughly midway between the autumn equinox (September 22-ish) and the winter solstice (December 21-ish). This time marked the border between the “light” side of the year, when the sun was in the sky longer, and the “dark” side of the year, when sunlight loses out to night. The border between light and dark was said to be very thin on the night before Nov. 1, allowing evil spirits to enter the waking world and affect humanity. Dressing like an evil spirit yourself on Oct. 31 was said to keep you safe from evil.
Nowadays, we have lost the celestial roots of most of our traditions and festivals, but if you look back far enough, almost all of them tie in to the sky in some aspect. Take the time this Halloween to reconnect with the sky if it’s clear.
At press time, the space shuttle Discovery is slated to launch Nov. 1 on its final mission, a voyage to the International Space Station. This is the second-last shuttle flight ever (although one more “final final” flight is under consideration) before human space flight is turned over to Russia, China, and various private corporations for the foreseeable future. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will be taking a Russian Soyuz spacecraft into orbit in 2013 when he becomes the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station.

Planet summary
Jupiter is all there is to see, shining low in the southeast at dusk.

Moon Phases
The moon is at Last Quarter on the Oct. 30, rising after midnight. New Moon isn’t until Nov. 6, so we’ll be seeing a thinner crescent each morning until then.