Astronomical Events November 2026: Mars and Jupiter Close Together, Taurids, Leonids, Uranus at Opposition and the Beaver Moon

November 2026: planets at dawn, shooting stars and the Beaver Moon

November 2026 shifts the centre of gravity of the sky towards the second half of the night. The evening belongs to Saturn, which culminates just after 21:00 at about 46° altitude, with Neptune not far away; but the richest stage opens after midnight: Mars and Jupiter, high in Leo, close to within 1.2° on the night of 15–16 November, while Venus and Mercury climb in the morning sky and, between the 13th and the 22nd, complete a small parade of four planets. The Taurids (5 and 12 November) fall around the New Moon of the 9th, in the darkest evenings of the month; the Leonids on the night of 17–18 November meet a First Quarter Moon that sets at midnight; on 24 November the Beaver Moon rises, full and very close to perigee, and on the 25th Uranus reaches opposition.

Standard time has been in force since 25 October: all times in this article are in CET (UTC+1) and astronomical darkness arrives as early as 18:30. Times are calculated for the Po Valley (Bologna, 44.5° N, 11.3° E); for the rest of Italy see the section Italian skies compared. Dates and parameters of the meteor showers follow the 2026 calendar of the International Meteor Organization (IMO).

Moon phases and observing plan

• 1 November, 21:28 — Last Quarter
• 9 November, 08:02 — New Moon
• 17 November, 12:47 — First Quarter
• 24 November, 15:53 — Full Moon (Beaver Moon)

The Moon is at apogee on 13 November (18:50, about 405,600 km) and at perigee on 25 November (22:00, about 359,300 km): the Full Moon of the 24th, at 360,765 km, comes about 30 hours before perigee and is therefore among the closest Full Moons of the year.

The dark window of the month runs from the evening of 4 to 13 November. The waning Moon rises only in the dead of night (01:34 on the 4th, 02:45 on the 5th, 03:54 on the 6th), around the New Moon of the 9th the evenings are completely free, and the thin waxing Moon sets early (18:36 on the 12th, 19:34 on the 13th). It is the right time for the Taurids, Andromeda, the Pleiades and for hunting Uranus. From the 14th the waxing Moon takes up an ever larger part of the first half of the night: the First Quarter of the 17th, however, leaves the second half free, the one for the Leonids and the dawn planets. From 20 to 27 November the Moon, gibbous and then full, is high for most of the night; from the 28th, as it rises later and later (20:49 on the 28th, 22:09 on the 29th, 23:25 on the 30th), the early evening hours become free again.

2–3 November — At dawn the Moon meets Mars, Jupiter and Regulus

A few hours after Last Quarter, in the hours before sunrise on 2 November, the Moon (46%) stands more than 55° high in the south, about 5° from Mars (mag. +0.7) and about 10° from Jupiter (mag. −2.0), in the border region between Cancer and Leo. Mars and Jupiter are still 5.3° apart, and the Beehive (M44) lies less than 7° from the Moon: binoculars will show the cluster, although moonlight dulls its contrast. On the morning of 3 November the Moon (35%) has moved into Leo, about 2° from Regulus and about 4° from Jupiter, with Mars 9° away.

Mars and Jupiter rise around midnight (in Bologna just before and just after, respectively); the best moments run from 04:30 to 06:00, with the planets more than 50° high and astronomical twilight beginning at 05:14. No instruments are needed: it is a naked-eye scene and one for wide-angle photography (24–35 mm on a tripod). For the Moon, at this phase, a shorter exposure works best, to be blended later with the one for stars and planets.

4–5 and 11–12 November — Southern and Northern Taurids under the New Moon

The Taurids are the autumn shower of fireballs: few meteors per hour, but slow and often very bright, linked to comet 2P/Encke. In 2026 both branches fall around the New Moon of 9 November, a condition the IMO describes as favourable for visual observation.

• Southern Taurids (STA): active from 20 September to 20 November, maximum on 5 November (roughly around 20:00), ZHR 5–10 (the IMO table gives 7), speed 27 km/s.
• Northern Taurids (NTA): active from 20 October to 10 December, maximum on 12 November (roughly around 19:15), ZHR ≈5, speed 29 km/s.

As with every shower, the theoretical maximum does not coincide with the best moment. The radiant, in Taurus, is still low at dusk (24° at 20:00 on 4 November, 30° at 20:00 on the 12th) and climbs to 45° at 22:00 and to about 60° at midnight: the comfortable window runs from 21:00 to 02:30. On 5 November the waning Moon (12%) rises at 02:45, on the 6th at 03:54; on the 12th the waxing Moon (11%) sets at 18:36 and leaves the sky dark right afterwards.

The Taurids need no instruments: a lounger or a blanket, as wide a view of the sky as possible and a little patience are enough. For photography, a wide-angle lens (14–24 mm, f/2.8, 10–15 second exposures at ISO 3200) with an intervalometer multiplies the chances of capturing a fireball.

7–10 November — Venus and Spica at dawn, with a very thin crescent Moon

After inferior conjunction on 24 October, Venus has returned to the morning sky: in Bologna it rises at 05:18 on 7 November and at 05:06 on the 9th, at magnitude −4.2, and each day it moves a little farther from the Sun. On 7 November, around 06:10–06:20, a crescent Moon of just 4.5% (risen at 05:04) lies about 2.5° from Venus, which is itself 1.3° from Spica (mag. +1.0): the three objects are only 8–10° above the east-southeast horizon, so you need a completely clear horizon and a sky already in twilight (sunrise is at 06:59).

At dawn on 9 and 10 November, with the New Moon (9 November, 08:02), Venus and Spica remain about 1.2° apart: the minimum (1.16°) falls on the 9th at 12:20, with the Sun high, but the two following mornings make a perfect pair for binoculars, with Venus still 5 magnitudes brighter than the star. In a telescope, on 10 November Venus is a thin crescent of about 9% phase and 55″ in diameter.

13–22 November — Mercury and the parade of four planets at dawn

After inferior conjunction on 4 November, Mercury re-emerges in the morning sky. On 18 November it is at half phase (dichotomy) and between 20 and 21 November (21 November, 00:59) it reaches greatest western elongation, 19.6° from the Sun. Between 13 and 22 November four planets can therefore be seen in the same morning sky, from lowest to highest:

• Mercury — mag. +0.5 on 14 November, −0.4 on the 21st; rises at 05:30–05:36 and at 06:30 stands 8–10° high in the east-southeast.
• Venus — mag. −4.3/−4.4; rises between 04:41 (14 November) and 04:16 (21st) and at 06:30 stands 17–21° high.
• Mars (mag. +0.7/+0.6) and Jupiter (mag. −1.9/−2.0) — in Leo, about 60° high in the south in morning twilight.

It is only a line-of-sight alignment, with the planets strung along the ecliptic, but the scene is truly unusual: Venus shines like a beacon low in the southeast, Mars and Jupiter dominate the southern sky, and Mercury must be sought low down, between 06:20 and 06:45 in northern Italy, with binoculars at hand. The best mornings for Mercury are between 17 and 24 November; farther south the same moment comes 10–20 minutes earlier (Rome 06:28, Palermo 06:17 on 21 November) and the gain in altitude does not exceed one degree.

15–17 November — Mars and Jupiter just 1.2° apart

It is the closest planetary meeting of the month. The conjunction in right ascension falls on 15 November around 03:40; closest approach is on 16 November at 03:05, at 1.2° (1°11′), about two Moon diameters. At 04:00 the separation is 1.4° on the 14th, 1.2° on the 15th and 16th, 1.25° on the 17th and 1.4° on the 18th: for five mornings the pair fits in the same binocular field. Mars, about 1.1° north of Jupiter, slips from right to left of the giant planet (looking south) between the 14th and the 18th.

Mars and Jupiter rise around 23:25 (Bologna, 16 November), at 03:05 stand 38° high, at 04:00 about 46° and culminate at about 60° around 06:30, when the sky is already bright; the best moments therefore run from 01:00 to 05:30. Jupiter (−2.0) is about 12 times brighter than Mars (+0.7); Regulus (mag. +1.4) forms a triangle with them about 4.5° away. Binoculars also show the Galilean moons; in a small telescope Jupiter reveals its equatorial bands, while Mars, at just 7″ across, remains an orange dot without detail: its opposition comes only in February 2027.

17–18 November — The Leonid maximum

The Leonids, debris from comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle, are the most famous shower of November. According to the IMO calendar they are active from 6 to 30 November, with a maximum expected at 23:45 UT on 17 November, that is 00:45 Italian time on the 18th, and ZHR ≈15. The radiant lies in Leo (right ascension 10h08m, declination +22°), about ten degrees north of the Mars–Jupiter pair; the meteors are among the fastest of the year (71 km/s) and often leave persistent trains.

The IMO predicts no outburst in 2026. Between 17 and 19 November some models indicate encounters with low-density dust filaments: at best, slightly enhanced activity, nothing comparable to the storms of the past. The parent comet returns to perihelion in 2031: for now we are in the quiet phase of its 33-year cycle.

• Moon: the First Quarter of the 17th (12:47) sets at 23:54 in Bologna (23:53 in Rome and Palermo, 00:01 in Milan, 00:08 in Turin): the second half of the night is Moon-free.
• Radiant: rises at 22:59; it is 9° high at midnight, 17° at 00:45, 25° at 01:30, 41° at 03:00, 56° at 04:30 and 64° at 05:30. Astronomical darkness ends at 05:33.
• Best window: from 01:30 to 05:30. With the radiant at 40–55° and dark, clear skies the realistic rate is about ten meteors per hour; far fewer from suburbs and cities.

On the same night the Mars–Jupiter pair is high and visible in Leo: two spectacles, one appointment. To photograph the Leonids, use a fast wide-angle lens, 10–15 second exposures, ISO 3200 and an intervalometer; frame the field about forty degrees from the radiant, towards the higher, darker part of the sky.

All month — Saturn and Neptune in the early evening

A month after opposition, Saturn (mag. +0.5/+0.7, in Cetus) remains the planet of the evening: in Bologna it culminates at 22:08 on 1 November, at 21:10 on the 15th and at 20:09 on the 30th, at about 46° altitude, and sets at 04:19, 03:20 and 02:18 respectively. The rings are tilted about 6° towards us: very thin, but already clearly distinguishable in a small telescope, with Titan (mag. 8) as a little star beside them.

Neptune (mag. +7.8, in Pisces) lies about 7° west of Saturn (to the right, looking south): you need binoculars and a chart, or a telescope to make out its bluish disc. On 20 November the gibbous Moon (81%) passes about 5.5° from Saturn (and 6–7° from Neptune), 40–50° high in the early evening: lovely to see with the naked eye, but it makes that evening unsuitable for faint targets.

22 and 28 November — Alpha Monocerotids and November Orionids under moonlight

The Alpha Monocerotids (active 15 to 25 November, radiant about 5° southeast of Procyon) peak on 22 November, around one in the morning, at 65 km/s and with a variable rate: they are known for rare and unpredictable sudden increases, and the IMO reports no calculations for 2026. With a 90% Moon at 45° altitude at midnight (setting at 04:37), observation is however severely hampered.

The November Orionids (13 November–6 December, ZHR 3, 44 km/s) peak on 28 November, four days after Full Moon and with the Moon at 76%. The Andromedids (late November–early December) have no defined maximum and weak annual activity. These are showers to file away for this year.

24 November — The Beaver Full Moon

The Full Moon occurs on 24 November at 15:53 at 360,765 km from Earth, about 30 hours before perigee: it appears about 6% larger and 13% brighter than a Full Moon at average distance. It is among the closest Full Moons of the year, along with that of 3 January (362,312 km) and that of 24 December, the closest of all (about 356,700 km). The name Beaver Moon comes from North American tradition.

From Italy the Moon is already full when it rises: in Bologna on 24 November at 16:06, in the northeast (azimuth about 53°), 34 minutes before sunset (16:40). It is the best moment to photograph it with a telephoto lens (200–400 mm) above a landscape or a bell tower: the "huge Moon" effect is mostly an optical illusion caused by reference points on the horizon. The Moon passed the Pleiades in the afternoon, while still below the horizon; at 17:00 it lies a little over 3° from Alcyone and about 4° from Uranus (at 19:00 4.5° from both, at 23:00 6.6° and 5.7°): its light, however, washes out the faint stars of the cluster.

25 November — Uranus at opposition

Uranus reaches opposition on 25 November around 23:30, 18.4 AU from us (about 2.76 billion km), at magnitude +5.6 and with a diameter of 3.8″: it is the best moment of the year to observe it. It lies in Taurus, about 5° southeast of the Pleiades, towards the Hyades; it rises at 16:31, culminates around midnight at about 66° altitude (higher towards the south) and sets at 07:31: it is visible all night.

To the naked eye it is borderline, recognisable only under a very dark sky and by those who know where to look; with binoculars and a chart it appears as a faint greenish star, while a telescope shows a tiny blue-green disc from about 100x upwards. On opposition night, however, the Full Moon is 5–7° from the planet: to see it well, choose the evenings around the New Moon, 8 to 13 November, when Uranus is already high at 22:00 (about 45° on 10 November).

26 November — Mars 1.7° from Regulus

In the days around 26 November, at dawn, Mars (mag. +0.6) passes 1.7° north of Regulus (mag. +1.4): the separation is 1.9° on the 24th, 1.8° on the 25th, 1.7° on the 26th (minimum, at 06:20) and 1.8° on the 27th. Jupiter is 3–4° from Mars, so the Mars–Regulus–Jupiter trio fits comfortably in a binocular field. At that hour Mars is about 59° high in the south, while the Moon, almost full, is low in the west (35°) and brightens the sky background a little: the three objects remain clearly visible all the same.

28–30 November — The Moon crosses the Beehive and visits Jupiter

On the night of 28–29 November the Moon (75%), risen at 20:49, moves into the Beehive cluster (M44): it is 0.5° away at 23:00 and 0.2° at midnight, 20–30° high. With so much moonlight, however, the cluster is invisible: better to postpone studying it to the days around the New Moon of 9 December.

On 30 November, at 06:00, the Moon (62%) is about 57° high in the south: it is about 2.4° from Jupiter, 5.5° from Regulus and 7.5° from Mars (minimum with Jupiter at 09:29, with the Sun high). Last Quarter falls on 1 December at 07:08. On the same day the Sun, which entered Scorpius on 23 November, passes into Ophiuchus according to IAU boundaries: a curiosity of celestial borders that does not change the traditional zodiac signs.

Italian skies compared: Turin, Milan, Bologna, Rome, Palermo

The events are the same across Italy; what changes are the times (north to south, west to east) and, slightly, the altitude. Times in CET:

Mercury's time refers to the moment when the Sun is 7.5° below the horizon, a good observing window. For the Leonids, the radiant at 03:00 is 38° high in Turin and 43° in Palermo; Uranus culminates around midnight at 66° in the north and 73° in Palermo; the Mars–Jupiter pair has the same separation across the peninsula. For the Leonids and the dawn planets, choose a spot with a dark sky and a clear horizon to the east and south.

November deep sky: Andromeda, the Pleiades and the arrival of Orion

The Moon-free period (4–13 November) is the right time for the deep sky. Altitudes and times for Bologna, on 10 November:

• Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33) — M31 culminates at 21:38 at almost 87° (practically at the zenith), M33 at 22:29 at about 75°: the best hours are between 20:30 and 23:00, with the dark sky the faint M33 requires.
• Perseus and the Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) — circumpolar, culminating at 23:16 at about 77°: a perfect target for binoculars or a low-power telescope.
• Pleiades (M45), Hyades and Uranus — the Pleiades are at 41° at 21:00, 51° at 22:00 and culminate at 68° at 00:42; Uranus lies nearby, as described above.
• Auriga (Capella, M36, M37, M38) — M37 is at 24° at 21:00, 45° at 23:00 and culminates at 02:47 at about 78°.
• Orion (M42) and Taurus (M1) — M42 rises at 20:49, climbs above 20° after 23:00 and culminates at 02:30 at about 40°; the Crab Nebula (M1) is already at 52° at midnight. It is the sign that the winter sky is returning.
• Beehive (M44) — rises at 22:10 and is at 39° at 02:00 and 58° at 04:00: a target for the small hours, at least as long as the Moon does not interfere.
• Cygnus and Lyra — the last summer objects are still high in the early evening (Deneb at 70° at 19:30, Albireo at 50°, Vega at 46°) and sink to the west after 21:00.

On the comet front November is quiet: no object within reach of binoculars. The most accessible, 161P/Hartley–IRAS (perihelion on 27 November), is around 13th magnitude and requires a medium-to-large aperture telescope.

Strategy for a typical evening: start around 19:00 with Saturn (35° high) and Neptune; devote 20:30–23:00 to Andromeda, Triangulum, Perseus, the Pleiades and Uranus; after 23:00 move on to Orion and Auriga; for early risers, finish with Mars and Jupiter in Leo and, at dawn, Venus and Mercury. The nights around the New Moon of 9 November remain the best window for any faint target.

Common mistakes to avoid

The advice is the same as every month: the dark window, from 4 to 13 November, is the most precious resource, both for the Taurids and for the deep sky. Then comes the second half of the night, with Mars and Jupiter 1.2° apart on 15–17 November and the Leonids on 17–18. The next appointment is already on the calendar: the Geminids on the night of 13–14 December, with a waxing Moon setting between 20:37 and 21:42, and on 24 December the largest Full Moon of the year (about 356,700 km). Clear skies!