Both Mercury and Saturn will be morning objects, but low in the dawn glow from the rising Sun.
Orbital diagrams for the inner planets December 2007 to March 2008, April to July 2008, July to November 2008 and the outer planets for 2008.
| Date (NZDT) | Diary of Solar System Events in October 2008 for New Zealand |
| October 1 | 4% lit crescent Moon just over 5° to left of Mars, early evening sky. |
| October 2 | 9% lit Moon just over 5° to left of Venus, early evening sky. |
| October 4 | 22% lit Moon 2.5° from Antares, evening sky. |
| October 5 | Moon at apogee, its greatest distance from the Earth for the Lunar month, 404718 km. |
| October 7 | Mercury at inferior conjunction. |
| October 7 | Jupiter 2° from 49% lit Moon. |
| October 7 | Moon at first quarter 10:04 pm NZDT (09:04 UT). |
| October 10 | 78% lit Moon 1° from Neptune, magnitude 7.9. |
| October 12 | 92% lit Moon 4° from Uranus, magnitude 5.7. |
| October 15 | Full Moon at 9:02 am NZDT (Oct 14, 20:02 UT). |
| October 15 | Mercury stationary. |
| October 17 | Moon at perigee, its closest to the Earth for the Lunar month, 363825 km. |
| October 22 | Moon at last quarter 12:55 am NZDT (Oct 21, 11:55 UT). |
| October 23 | Mercury at greatest elongation, 18° west of the Sun. |
| October 24 | 27% lit Moon 1.5° from Regulus, morning sky, about 14° up 45 minutes before sunrise. |
| October 27 | Venus, 3° from star Antares, evening sky. |
| October 29 | New Moon at 12:14 pm NZDT (Oct 28, 23:14 UT). |
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MERCURY is at inferior conjunction, when it passes between the Earth and Sun, on October 7 (NZDT).
After conjunction the planet will become a morning object rising before the Sun. This will be a poor morning appearance of the planet. Even when at its greatest elongation from the Sun on October 23, Mercury will rise only some 30 minutes before the Sun, so is not going to be observable.
VENUS will move further up into the evening sky during October. By the end of the month it will set more than three hours after the Sun, at about 11 pm NZDT in the north of New Zealand and as late as 12 pm in the far south.
Venus starts October just over 10° above Mars, with a thin crescent Moon nearby on the first two evenings of October. Over the following nights Venus will move further away from the red planet which will sink into the evening twilight. Towards the end of the month Venus will pass another reddish object, the 1st magnitude star Antares. (Venus will be 100 times brighter at magnitude -4.) The two will be closest on October 27, some 3° apart. Antares will then be to the left of Venus and slightly higher. The two will be less than 5° apart from October 24 to October 29.
MARS will remain an evening object throughout October but get very low in the evening twilight. It should still be visible low to the west at the beginning of the month, when it will set 100 minutes after the Sun. On October 1 a very thin crescent Moon will be to the upper left of Mars, 5° away, while Venus will be just over 10° above and a little to the right of Mars and should assist in locating the fainter planet. Binoculars will be a help in spotting it.
By the end of October, Mars will set less than an hour after the Sun so is likely to be completely lost in the remaining sky glow following sunset.
JUPITER will be visible throughout the evening all October. The planet will be highest and to the north, close to sunset on October 1, but well before sunset later in the month. By the end of the month it will set after 1 am so remain in the sky after Venus has gone.
Jupiter will spend yet another month in Sagittarius, still close to the 2nd magnitude star Nunki. The distance between the two will increase from 3° to 5° during the month. On the 7th, they will be joined by the Moon at first quarter. Early in the evening the Moon will be almost in line between the star and planet, later in the evening the three will form a small triangle with Jupiter and Nunki each about 2° from the Moon.
SATURN will rise before the Sun into the morning sky. At the beginning of October it will rise only 40 minutes before the Sun, so is not going to be readily visible. By the end of the month, it will rise 100 minutes before the Sun, but will still be very low when the sky gets too bright to see the planet. Finding the planet will not be helped as it will be less bright than usual, due to the rings being nearly edge on.