Blog · This month's sky
The November 2026 sky: five planets, the Leonids and a supermoon
November is one of the best months of the year to look up: five planets at once after midnight, Mars and Jupiter side by side and a full moon bigger than usual.
Moon phases
The Moon decides which nights are good for faint stars. This month there's a last quarter on the 3rd, new moon on the 9th, first quarter on the 17th and full moon on the 24th. The darkest nights run roughly from November 4 to 13.
The full moon on the 24th, known in North America as the Beaver Moon, is also a supermoon: it happens close to the point where the Moon is nearest Earth, so it looks a little bigger and brighter than an ordinary full moon.
Five planets in one night
Between November 10 and 17, after midnight, you can see Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars at the same time, spread from west to east. Three are visible to the naked eye; Uranus and Neptune need binoculars.
- Saturn: from dusk, toward the south, below the Great Square of Pegasus. A small telescope shows its rings, which look very narrow this year.
- Neptune: a few degrees from Saturn, but too faint for the human eye. You'll need binoculars and a chart.
- Uranus: in Taurus, between the Pleiades and the Hyades. It reaches opposition on November 25, its best moment of the year; under very dark skies it sits right at the edge of naked-eye visibility.
- Mars and Jupiter: they rise in the east around midnight and are best before dawn. Jupiter is far brighter than Mars.
- Venus and Mercury: before sunrise, low in the east and southeast. Venus passes the star Spica on the 10th, and Mercury has its best morning showing around the 20th. Stop looking before the Sun rises, especially with binoculars.
The date of the month: Mars and Jupiter together
Before dawn on November 15–16, Mars and Jupiter come within just over a degree of each other, next to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. One degree is about the width of your little finger at arm's length. To the naked eye they look like a double star, and around the 22nd the three form a tight triangle.
Meteor showers
The Southern Taurids (peak around the 5th) and Northern Taurids (around the 12th) are quiet showers with few meteors per hour, but they're slow and sometimes produce very bright fireballs. The big event is the Leonids, before dawn on the 17th–18th. Here's our guide to watching the Leonids.
Constellation of the month: Pegasus
At nightfall, high in the south, look for four stars forming a huge square: the Great Square of Pegasus. From one corner runs a chain of stars, Andromeda, and nearby, under dark skies, you'll spot a faint elongated smudge: the Andromeda Galaxy, about 2.5 million light-years away. It's the farthest thing you can see without a telescope.
Can you recognize them without lines? Try Hidden constellation, Aster's daily game.
November calendar
- Last quarter
- Southern Taurids peak
- New moon: the darkest nights begin
- Venus next to Spica, before dawn
- Northern Taurids peak
- Mars–Jupiter conjunction, next to Regulus
- First quarter
- Leonids peak
- Mercury at its best before dawn
- Mars, Jupiter and Regulus in a triangle
- Full moon (supermoon)
- Uranus at opposition
Dates may shift by a day depending on your time zone. To see your exact sky, use a free planetarium app such as Stellarium.
Sources: EarthSky, BBC Sky at Night Magazine, High Point Scientific, Astroshop, SpaceWeatherLive.