The Night Sky - November 2026
far, the weather has been more than co-operative for observing the sky. Clear nights and increasing hours of darkness, can lead to sharing your enthusiasm with the younger people which might inspire them for years to come. If you are in the market for new equipment, check the Smart ‘scopes. Many are providing quality optics at an amateur price. They are diverse, so check which is best for your family.
This month Mercury will be too close to the Sun for viewing for about half the month. When it does emerge, it will be in the morning low in the ESE. Venus will be low in the SE in the morning twilight. Mars will be high in the S in the morning sky all month. It will transit near dawn. Jupiter will rise in the ENE before midnight and transit near dawn and Saturn will be in the ESE at dusk, transit around 9 pm, and set in the W after 3 am.
This month has two meteor showers! Dress warmly in layers, and have an air space between you and the ground. Raise your head slightly, looking away from where the meteors appear to start. Looking away allows a longer time for you actually see some meteors before they are consumed. The Northern Taurid Meteor Shower peaks overnight of the 11-12. Best views around midnight. This is not an intense storm but is known for bright, slow moving (relatively speaking) Fireballs. There are only 4 or 5 an hour so patience is needed. These may be spawned by the Asteroid 2004 TG10. The radiant is near the red star, Aldebaran. If you do see a fireball (brighter than Venus), people want to know. Make note of how high it was (from your point of view), what time it was, what direction it appeared to be going and a guess at how bright it was. They will want an address, too. If it was big enough, there may be a search for the meteorite. If one should land at your feet, do not pick it up — very cold. Please contact the American Meteor Society and let the government collect it. They pay market value.
The second meteor shower this month is the Leonids, early morning of the 17th. They are active all month at about 10 -15 meteors per hour. This shower is fed by 55P/Tempel-Tuttle and does have ‘clumps’ which can produce meteor storms (over 1000 meteors per hour). These meteors are very fast (about 70 kms per second) and bright often leaving persistent glowing blue-white trail. For both these showers, no binoculars or telescopes needed, just dark adapted eyes. If you see a meteor this month and it’s not the peak, it might still be from one of these showers. Figuring out what you actually saw can be fun.
We start November with the last Quarter Moon. As the Moon ebbs or sets, Gegenschein might be seen high in the S over the next two weeks. On the 2nd both Mars (1.1 degrees) and Jupiter (0.5 degrees) will be N of the Moon. Two shadows will be visible on Jupiter on the 4th and Mercury will be at Inferior Conjunction (in a line between Earth and the Sun). By the 7th, Venus will have moved to 1.1 degrees N of the Moon and Zodiacal Light may be seen in the E before morning twilight for the next two weeks. If you have a telescope, the discs of Callisto and Io will be visible on Jupiter (2:24 am). New Moon is on the 9th, Venus appears stationary on the 11th, Northern Taurid Meteor shower on the 12th with Mercury appearing stationary on the 13th. Mars will be 1.2 degrees N of the Moon on the 15th and the Leonid meteor shower on the 17th along with First Quarter Moon. The Lunar Straight Wall, Plato Sunrise rays (9:00 pm), and Eyes of Clavius (9:30 pm). The 19th has Venus 1.8 degrees N of Spica (bright star in Virgo). Mercury will be at its greatest Western elongation on the 20th and rise in the E before Sunrise. There will also be two shadows on Jupiter at 7:33 pm. Full Moon (Rivers Freezing Over) will be on the 24th along with Mars 1.8 degrees N of Regulus (the brightest star in Leo) and Europa and Io discs are visible on Jupiter (12:51 am). On the 29th Venus will be its greatest illumination. Uranus is at its brightest (mag 5.6) and might be seen ‘unaided’ in a dark sky. Jupiter, the Moon, Regulus and Mars are within 6 degrees of each other on the morning of the 30th.
Clear Skies. ■
