THE dark nights are now well and truly back, with autumn's early sunsets giving us plenty of time for skywatching and stargazing, writes STUART ATKINSON.

This coming week, as it drifts slowly and serenely from west to east, growing from a slender fingernail-clipping crescent to a larger, brighter crescent, the Moon will pass not one but two naked eye planets. After sunset on October 11 look for a bright yellow-white star very low in the south west. This will be Jupiter, the largest world in our solar system. When the sky has grown a little darker you'll also notice a very, very thin crescent Moon shining to the planet's upper right. Both the Moon and Jupiter will be very low, and you might not be able to see them if there are trees, buildings or hills in that direction. But if you can see them they will look very pretty together.

On the following evening, the 12th, the Moon will have moved to the upper left of Jupiter, looking like a bigger, brighter crescent. You might even see the dark part of the Moon glowing with the subtle blue-pink of Earthshine.

On October 18 the Moon will lie close to another planet in the sky after dark. Look to the south east as twilight deepens and low in the sky you'll see the Moon shining to the left of a bright orange star. This is the planet Mars, nowhere near as bright as it was back in summer but still strikingly bright to the naked eye. On this evening the Moon and Mars will be so close together - just six Moon widths apart - that they will both fit in the same binocular field of view, so if you have a pair of binoculars gathering dust in the garage or under the stairs now is a great time to give them a clean and turn them on the night sky.