Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little Observing
November 2026
All month: Neptune and Saturn are up before the Sun goes down. Neptune is the first planet to set, after 3 am as the month begins and at 1:20 am as it ends, its mag 7.8 blue disk spanning just over 2 arcseconds. Saturn follows it down a half hour later. During the month, its 19 arcsecond disk shrinks imperceptibly and fades slightly, from mag +0.5 to +0.7. The rings are tilted 6°, exposing the planet’s south pole to our view. Uranus rises just before 7 pm on Nov 1 and before 4 pm on Nov 30, and does double duty morning and evening all month long, remaining visible well into morning twilight. It sits between the Hyades and the Pleiades (M45), and reaches opposition on Nov 25 with a 4 arcsecond disk shining at mag +5.6 – visible to the naked eye at a dark site, but requiring binoculars from the suburbs. This is a particularly high opposition for Uranus, reaching 70° elevation and tempting observers with 8”+ scopes to hunt down its moons Titania (mag 13.8) and Oberon (14.0). Use the Sky & Telescope finding tool at bit.ly/4atedQh to see where they’ll be on any given night. Mars rises next, at 12:28 am as November opens and 10:40 pm as it ends, its disk brightening from mag +0.9 to +0.5 and growing from 6½ to 8 arcseconds, finally getting big enough to reveal some surface detail in telescopic views. It remains up past sunrise all month, as does Jupiter: the big planet rises at 1 am on Nov 1 and 10:18 pm on Nov 30, brightening from mag -2.0 to -2.2 and growing from 36 to 39 arcseconds as the month goes by. Venus and Mercury are morning stars this month, and their visibility benefits from the steep morning ecliptic. Venus rises just before 5:30 am as November begins but is up by 3:30 am when it ends, brightening from mag -4.2 to mag -4.9 while its disk condenses from a thin crescent to a fat one, starting as a challenge target 3% lit and 60 arcseconds tall, and ending 27% lit and 40 arcseconds high. Mercury reaches inferior conjunction Nov 4 and emerges into the predawn sky before mid-month. On Nov 11 it’s a crescent 9 arcseconds tall and 15% illuminated, glowing at mag +1.4. It reaches greatest western elongation 20° from the Sun on Nov 20, and by Nov 30 it’s brightened to mag -0.6, a gibbous orb 83% lit and 5½ arcseconds high. Among the asteroids, 4 Vesta is a binocular target again – this month’s charts will show you where to find it. It’s also a good month for fireballs, as the South Taurids and North Taurids meteor showers are active through Nov 20 and Dec 10, respectively. Despite their peak rate (ZHR) of only 5 meteors per hour, they originate in a stream of debris from comet 2P/Encke that’s known for slow-moving fireballs, so don’t be surprised if you see a few dramatic examples at unexpected moments throughout the month.
Nov 2 (night of Nov 1): night owls and early risers can watch the 43% lit Moon, mag +0.9 Mars, -2.0 Jupiter, and +1.4 Regulus (Alpha [α] Leonis) form a line 13° long, angling down toward the east horizon. The Moon leads the parade, with Mars 3½° to the lower left at 11:30 pm CST as they rise, narrowing to 1½° when morning twilight arrives around 5:30 am and they’ve reached 60° elevation. Jupiter follows 5½° lower left of Mars, and Regulus brings up the rear a similar distance lower left of Jupiter. Then at 5:38 am (45 minutes before sunrise), look low in the east to find a vanishingly-thin crescent Venus, 3% illuminated, 2.8° above the horizon and 2.8° lower right of mag 1.0 Spica (Alpha [α] Virginis).
Nov 3 (night of Nov 2): it’s a repeat of last night’s show, but now the Moon is only 32% lit and forms the group’s tail rather than its nose. Mars, Jupiter, and Regulus continue to form an attractive group all month: Jupiter pulls ahead of Mars just after mid-month, and the Moon joins the group again for a spectacular view the morning of Nov 30.
Nov 7: it’s a crescent lover’s dream morning! At 5:29 am CST (an hour before sunrise), a thin crescent Venus, brilliant at mag -4.6 even though it’s only 7% lit, stands 6.7° above the ESE horizon and 1.25° to the right of mag 1.0 Spica, with the almost-new crescent Moon, 3% lit and paper-thin, 5° above the horizon, 1.75° below Venus and slightly to its right, and 2.6° below right of Spica. Tonight, stay up late for a Jupiter extravaganza low in the eastern sky, starting with Io’s shadow walking across the big planet’s face from 12:29 to 2:45 am CST, followed by Io itself from 1:42 to 3:59 am. While that’s happening, Europa emerges from behind Jupiter’s trailing edge at 12:53 am, right next to Callisto, who is preparing to transit the planet from 1:07 to 5:51 am. Those two moons, Io’s shadow, and the Great Red Spot form a marvelous compact parallelogram near the edge of the planet at 1:00 am. Because of its low albedo, Callisto is very dark, looking more like a shadow than a moon as it crosses Jupiter’s face. It’s a good landmark for spotting Io as it follows closely behind Callisto as their transits begin – but due to Io’s faster orbit, it passes its outermost cousin by 2:20 am.
Nov 11: new Moon arrived Nov 9 at 1:02 am CST, and it set less than a half hour after the Sun on Nov 10, but at 5:20 pm today (45 minutes after sunset) it will be a thin crescent, 7% illuminated, 64 hours old, 3½° above the horizon, and 20° left of the spot where the Sun went down. You’ll have to find it the hard way this time, since Mercury and Venus have already set, and there are no bright stars nearby to point you towards it. Later, watch the shadow of Ganymede march across the face of Jupiter from 11:27 pm to 3:03 am.
Nov 13-18: mag +0.7 Mars and mag -2.0 Jupiter dance close all month, but especially so during this period, rising by 11:30 pm CST and waltzing across the sky cheek-to-cheek until they disappear in morning twilight. Blue-white mag +1.4 Regulus sits to the lower left of the pair, providing a color contrast to ruddy Mars.
Nov 17: the Leonids meteor shower peaks tonight. The first quarter Moon sets before midnight, leaving good observing conditions during the after-midnight hours, when we’re on the leading edge of the planet as it bites into the debris stream left by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle – but expect only around 5 meteors per hour from the suburbs, and 10 from a dark site. The Leonids are fast-movers, at 71 km/sec, and sometimes leave persistent trains, so they might be a pretty good show despite their relatively low numbers.
Nov 18: use binoculars or a telescope to watch a mag 5.9 star in Aquarius wink out behind the dark upper limb of the 66% illuminated gibbous Moon at 9:00 pm CST. As with all occultations, start watching at least 5 minutes ahead of time to be sure you don’t miss it!
Nov 20: at 6:27 pm CST, the gibbous Moon steps backwards to gobble up mag 5.8 star 51 Piscium. You’ll need binoculars or a telescope to see it happen, on the dark side of the terminator near the Moon’s top edge.
Nov 26-30 (nights of Nov 25-29): Mars, Jupiter, and Regulus fit inside a 5° binocular field, continuing their month-long pas de trois. The group rises by 11 pm CST and remains visible until morning twilight washes them out around 6:30 am. On the final night, take a moment to admire the view as the gibbous Moon joins the group, all of them fitting into a field less than 6° across. You won’t regret it. From 3:45 on each morning, Venus and Spica add to the spectacle, rising 5° apart in the ESE. What a wonderful way to end the month!
Rick Gering – November 2026
This month’s One Good Target, Rick’s guided tour of one area of the sky: Observing the Inner Planets: The Peculiar Geometry (and Terminology) of Mercury and Venus