This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2026 October 17 – October 24 - Your Saint John

The western side of the Square of Pegasus points southward to the solitary bright star Fomalhaut in the mouth of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. Fomalhaut is the 17th brightest star in our night sky, and astronomers have known it is surrounded by discs of debris for many years. In 2008 an exoplanet was imaged near the inner edge of a disc but more recent images have shown it be an expanding disc of debris from a collision between two planetesimals. The eastern side of Pegasus points down to Diphda, the brightest star in the tail of Cetus the Whale. A circlet of stars well to the east forms the head of the whale.

Between Piscis Austrinus and Cetus is the dim constellation Sculptor, which is a shortened version of its original name, Apparatus Sculptoris (the sculptor’s studio), given by Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. By 11 pm it is low in the south but it does have a prominent marker. Use binoculars to seek out a long triangle of dim stars stretching eastward from Fomalhaut, but don’t be discouraged if your attempt to locate Sculptor is a bust. This Week in the Solar System