Skylights: November 2025

Stars

The return to Eastern Standard Time occurs at 2:00am on the 2nd. We’re now 5 hours behind UTC, and timings for local events shift one hour earlier. This shifts an hour of darkness into the evening, giving us earlier observing time.

In the northwest, Arcturus hangs low over the horizon early in the month, and departs our evening sky during the third week. Following just two hours behind it is the small spring constellation Corona Borealis, taking with it the 10th magnitude star we’re still waiting to go nova, T CrB. While these stars are leaving our evening sky, they also become available earlier in the morning as the month progresses, so we’ll never encounter a period of time when we can’t keep watch on them.

During November evenings, the Big Dipper shows us its autumn orientation of being “upright,” that is, whatever warm, tasty treats its bowl contains won’t be spilling out onto the northern horizon, as the Little Dipper, positioned directly above, pours its contents into the Big Dipper.

Low in the southwest, the teapot asterism of Sagittarius tips towards the horizon, and takes with it the center of the Milky Way that appears to be steaming from its spout. Here we see the stars of summer departing, as the winter stars will soon be rising into view.

Looking across the southern sky, we see Fomalhaut at its culmination in the early evening. The most southerly first magnitude star we can see, it reaches an elevation of just 18.7° at its highest. Forty-five degrees to its north, the western edge of the Great Square in Pegasus is almost perfectly aligned with Fomalhaut. Continuing across the zenith to the north, note also that the pointer stars of the Big Dipper’s bowl are also aligned. Regardless of what time of night or time of year it is, you can always use the Big Dipper to point to both the Great Square of Pegasus, and Fomalhaut, even when they are out of view.

In the northeast, Capella, the sixth brightest star in the sky (the fourth brightest visible from our latitude) is notable for being one of the bright stars closest to the galactic equator. Although its host constellation Auriga occupies one of the dimmed stretches of the Milky Way, moving to the northwest you will encounter one of the most prominent star patterns of the season, the distinctive zigzag of Cassiopeia. The celestial queen lies within a rich region of the Milky Way, and is host to a myriad of star clusters that make the relatively small constellation a pleasure to explore with binoculars and telescopes on a dark night.

Observers willing to wait until midnight in November will be treated to a sky full of the winter constellations, with Orion, Lepus, Canis Major, Gemini, Taurus, among others, well-positioned for exploration.

Sun

The return to Eastern Standard Time occurs at 2:00am on the 2nd. We’re now 5 hours behind UTC, and timings for local events shift one hour earlier.

November 9 is our last day until January 31 with at least 10 hours of daylight.

The Sun visits three constellations in November, the most of any other month. It begins in Libra, then moves into Scorpius on the 23rd, for its briefest stay within a single constellation, just under a week. On the 29th, it moves into Ophiuchus, where it will spend its second-shortest time within a constellation, 18.5 days.

Moon

The Moon is near Saturn on the 1st and 2nd, coming to within 3.0° to the northwest of the ringed planet before moonset on the 2nd.

The full Beaver Moon is at 8:19am on the 5th, in Aries. As this occurs during daytime while the Moon is below the horizon for us, the closest to full Moon we’ll see is just before moonset about three hours earlier. As the Sun rises at 6:23am, the Moon is visible low in the west-northwest, and sets about nine minutes later.

The Moon rises at 4:21pm on the 5th. Keep watching each hour as the Moon gets closer to the Pleiades. There is another occultation of the bright cluster by the Moon this month, but it takes place when they are below the horizon for us. The closest we will see the Moon to the Pleiades is about 3.5° to the west, just before twilight on the 6th.

On the 10th-11th, the waning gibbous Moon is near the Beehive cluster, Messier 44, in Cancer. It is closest just after midnight on the 11th, at just over 1.0° to the north of the cluster. Also note the Moon moving close to magnitude 4.7 Asellus Borealis (gamma Cancri), passing closer than one arcminute of the star just after 1:00am.  

The Moon is last quarter at 12:28am on the 12th, in Leo. It appears near Regulus on the following night.

On the morning of the 17th, the 7.0% waning crescent Moon lies just 1.0° south of Spica in Virgo, and as a bonus, it occults 68 Virginia, a 5th magnitude star, beginning at 4:48am and ending an hour later, during nautical twilight.

Observers with a clear east-southeast horizon will be treated to a slender, 2.8% illuminated crescent Moon adorned with Earthshine 8.7° west-southwest of brilliant Venus, which rises just one hour before sunrise on the 18th.

The Moon is new on the 20th, at 1:47am, marking the start of Lunation 1273.

First quarter Moon is at 1:59am on the 28th, in Aquarius.

Early in the evening of the 29th, the Moon is near Saturn and Neptune. Although they are all within a binocular field of view, the brilliance of the 68% illuminated gibbous Moon will make magnitude 7.7 Neptune difficult to discern using small apertures. A telescope with low magnification should reveal the Moon just 1.8° north-northwest of the distant planet at 6:00pm.

The Moon occults magnitude 4.4 delta Piscium on the 30th. Ingress behind the darkened limb of the Moon is at 9:00pm, and it emerges 73 minutes later from the limb beyond the large crater Langrenus, which lies along the southeastern edge of Mare Fecunditatis.

Mercury

Mercury concludes its poorest evening apparition of the year when it passes inferior conjunction on the 20th. Within a few days, it becomes visible in the morning sky in a much more favorable position. Four days later, on the 24th, it is just 1.6° northeast of Venus, low in the east-southeast before sunrise. 

The final week of November is a very favorable time to observe Mercury in the morning sky. Now rising over an hour before the Sun, Mercury overtakes Venus in elevation on the 25th, appearing just 1.3° to the 11 o’clock position (north-northwest) of the brilliant planet. This is a good time to turn your telescope on Mercury to see its 9 arcsecond disk showing a distinct crescent.

Venus

Venus is in the morning sky, quickly sinking out of view during November. On the 1st, it rises 85 minutes before the Sun, but by month’s end, it is only above the horizon for 45 minutes before sunrise.

At over 1.6 au, Venus is near its most distant point from Earth, and its nearly fully-illuminated disk is only about 10 arcseconds across. 

Venus spends the first few days of November near Spica, in Virgo. On the 3rd, the two objects are arranged horizontally, 3.8° apart.

On the morning of the 18th, the 2.9% waning crescent Moon is 8.6° to Venus’s west-southwest, or about the 2 o’clock position relative to the planet.

Venus is 0.8° north of the wide double star Zubenelgenubi (alpha Librae) on the 19th. The brilliant planet is joined by Mercury on the 24th (1.6° to its east-southeast) and 25th (1.4° northwest).

Mars

There isn’t much observing opportunity left for Mars this season, as the Red Planet sets less than an hour after sunset. 

During the first few days of November, the Red Planet lies in a horizontal line with Antares and Mercury to its left.

Jupiter

Jupiter is stationary on the 11th, and will subsequently appear to go through its retrograde loop until March 10. The giant planet lies on the southeastern segment of the Winter Hexagon asterism – the line between Pollux and Procyon – on the 3rd, and will remain within the star pattern until June 1.

Watch the waning gibbous Moon rise at 8:17pm on the 9th with the twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, nearby. Keep watching the horizon below the Moon, as a little over a half-hour later, Jupiter rises. The Moon and Jupiter spend the evening together, coming as close at 3.3° just before the onset of morning twilight.

Be sure to get out early in the morning to observe Jupiter, noting its prominent position anchoring the eastern segment of the Winter Hexagon.

Notable events of the Galilean Moons

• Nov 1-2: Io and Europa form a tight pair at 12:44am.
• 2-3: Io’s shadow (3:48am) and then the moon itself (5:04am) transit  before Europa goes into eclipse (5:24am).
• 3-4: Two tight pairs of moons appear on either side of the planet on the 3rd, with Europa and Callisto to the east, and Ganymede and Io to the west.
• 4-5: Io’s shadow (10:16pm-12:34am), Europa’s shadow (12:10am-3:00am), then the moons themselves transit (11:32pm-1:48am and 2:44am-5:32am, respectively).
• 6-7: With Io and Ganymede to the west of Jupiter, watch Ganymede go into eclipse at 11:02pm. Jupiter’s largest moon then emerges from eclipse at 2:20am, before going into occultation 98 minutes later.
• 8-9: At 2:00am, Io and Europa form a tight pair to the west of Jupiter.
• 10-11: Io goes into eclipse at 2:58am.
• 11-12: Another Io and Europa shadow and moon transit pair occurs on the 12th (Io’s shadow: 12:10am-2:26am, Io: 1:22am-3:38am, Europa’s shadow: 2:48am-5:38am; Europa: 5:12am-daylight).
• 12-13: Callisto (11:44pm) and Io (12:54am) emerge from occultation.
• 13-14: Europa goes into eclipse (9:14pm) while Io is transiting on the 13th. Io joins Ganymede, Europa emerges from occultation (2:20am), and Ganymede goes into eclipse (3:02am).
• 14-15: Extending to the east side of Jupiter, the moons appear in order of orbital radius after 3:00am.
• 17-18: A transit of Ganymede (9:34pm-12:54am) can be seen, then Io goes into eclipse at 4:52am.
• 18-19: Io (3:10am-5:26am) and its shadow (2:02am-4:20am) transit on the 19th.
• 20-22: Io (9:36pm-11:52pm) and its shadow (8:32pm-10:48pm)  transit in the evening. Callisto begins transit at 6:10am, during twilight.
• 22-23: Europa (8:50pm-11:40pm) and its shadow (before rise-9:32pm) transit.
• 24-25: Ganymede’s shadow transits (9:04pm-12:02am), followed by the moon itself (1:08am-4:30am).
• 25-26: Io (5:58am-daylight) and its shadow (3:56am-twilight) transit on the 26th.
• 26-27: The moons appear in order of their respective orbital radius, extended to the west of Jupiter, until Io goes into eclipse at 1:54am.
• 27-28: Io (11:24pm-1:40am) and its shadow (10:24pm-12:42am) transit. After Io emerges and approaches Europa, the latter satellite goes into eclipse at 2:22am.
• 28-29: Callisto goes into eclipse at 3:30am. It re-emerges at 6:32am, during civil twilight.
• 29-30: Io emerges from transit (8:06pm), followed by Europa’s shadow (9:18pm-12:08am) and the moon itself (11:14pm-2:02am) passing over Jupiter.

Saturn

Although Saturn’s ring plane crossing occurred in March 2025, we missed the event because Saturn was behind the Sun from our view, but have been treated to views of the rings at an exceptionally narrow angle all year. This culminates on the 24th, when the ring tilt reaches a minimum of 0.542°. Saturn’s ring tilt will not be this small again until the next ring-plane crossing in 2038.

Note how Saturn lies at the northern apex of a temporary “autumn triangle” asterism, including the stars Fomalhaut (alpha Piscis Austrini) to the south and Diphda (beta Ceti) to the east. The triangle is nearly isosceles, with the two segments originating from Fomalhaut, each being about 27° in length, with the Saturn-Diphda segment about 20° in length.

While the shadow transits of Saturn’s largest moon Titan are finished for the season, the moon itself continues to transit and be occulted by Saturn. The first transit occurs on the 6th, when Titan is already midway across Saturn’s north equatorial zone as darkness falls, and the moon emerges from transit at 9:28pm. If you have a large telescope and a night with steady seeing, you may notice that there is a shadow on Saturn at the same time Titan is transiting. This is the shadow from Saturn’s moon Rhea. Given that Rhea’s shadow is only about 9% the area of Titan’s, observing it (and likewise that of Saturn’s other mid-sized moons Tethys and Dione) will be quite a challenge.

Titan is in occultation on the 14th, from which it begins to emerge at 7:27pm. 

Saturn becomes stationary on the 28th, and resumes its prograde (eastward) motion. On the same evening, the waxing gibbous Moon joins Saturn and Neptune.

Another transit of Titan is in progress as the sky darkens on the 22nd, emerging at 7:50pm. Lastly, another occultation of Titan ends at 6:01pm on the 30th.

Uranus

Uranus is at opposition on the 21st. At a distance of 18.5 au, the seventh planet is easy to locate in Taurus, 4.1° south of the Pleiades cluster. Without bright moonlight to interfere, this is the best time to find a dark sky and attempt to observe Uranus without optical aid, as its magnitude 5.6 glow is within the limit of visibility under ideal conditions. To help locate Uranus, it lies on a line connecting Aldebaran (alpha Tauri) and Hamal (alpha Arietis), and is also just 0.9° to the east of a pair of 6th magnitude stars, 13 and 14 Tauri.

With Uranus positioned within the most northerly region of the ecliptic plane, the planet attains a high elevation in our sky, providing generally better viewing conditions overall.

Besides challenging yourself to observe the planet without optical aid, observers with large-aperture telescopes may want to try to observe some of the seventh planet’s more elusive features.

During the few weeks surrounding opposition, Uranus subtends an angle of nearly four arcseconds. While the pale aqua-blue planet has a mostly featureless globe, some observers have been able to coax out subtle details in its atmosphere using filters, especially using imaging devices. A feature that is far easier to see is limb darkening, an effect caused by the low incidence angle sunlight landing near the edges of the globe, scattering more away from the observer than the more direct sunlight reflecting off the central area of the globe. While all planetary bodies exhibit this effect, it is more pronounced on Uranus due to its nearly uniform color, combined with its modest brightness not overwhelming the eye as seen in the eyepiece, 

Uranus has a total of 29 moons, at least two of which can be accessed with a modest-sized backyard telescope. Titania and Oberon, the largest moons, are each over 1,500 kilometers in diameter, or 45.4% and 43.8% the diameter of Earth’s Moon, respectively. The planet’s axial tilt and its current position in its orbit put its north pole pointing almost directly towards Earth and the Sun, so there isn’t any time for many years when the moons are either occulted by or transiting the planet, or even too close to the planet to resolve.

Titania, the largest and brightest, peaks at magnitude 13.8 and appears at a minimum of 30 arcseconds from the planet’s disk at all times during its 8.7 day orbit. Oberon, the outermost of Uranus’s large moons, attains a peak brightness of magnitude 14.0, and remains at a more generous 40 arcseconds from the planet during its 13.5 day orbit. These parameters should put them within reach of a 12-inch telescope, or even much smaller apertures equipped with an imaging device, provided there is sufficient focal length to separate the moons from the planet, which is about 2,000 times brighter.

Stepping up the Uranian moon observing challenge, the planet’s pair of mid-sized moons, Ariel and Umbriel, are each over 1,100 kilometers in diameter (33.3% and 33.7% the diameter of Earth’s Moon, respectively), can be found orbiting Uranus in 2.5-day and 4.1-day orbits, respectively.

Umbriel, the next inner moon from Titania, is the larger of the pair, but also the dimmer, at magnitude 14.9. Ariel, though a bit closer to the planet, can appear as bright as magnitude 14.2.

Finally, there is Miranda, the geologically odd moon that is nearly spherical at about 470 kilometers (13.5% the diameter of Earth’s Moon). It orbits the planet in a fleeting 1.4 days, shines at magnitude 16.4, and is separated by no more than 9 arcseconds from Uranus.

The remaining 24 moons are well beyond 20th magnitude, and were not discovered until Voyager 2 visited the system in 1986, or during subsequent observations using very large professional observatory telescopes.

Neptune

Neptune is in Pisces, and due to its proximity to Saturn, is easy to locate during November. The outermost planet ranges from 4.2° to 4.4° to the northeast of the ringed planet as the month progresses, and you may use a 2.6° by 0.5° quadrilateral of 5th magnitude stars to help find it. Find this star pattern comprising the stars, clockwise from north, 29, 27, 30 and 33 Piscium, about 3° to the east of Saturn.  In early November, a line drawn through the 5th magnitude stars 33 and 29 Piscium will also lead to the most distant planet. 

Neptune slowly moves westward as the month progresses. At the end of the month, when Neptune is 4.4° northeast of Saturn, it is located 2.0° north of 27 Piscium.

Through a telescope, Neptune doesn’t reveal much detail, just a tiny magnitude 7.8 bluish speck whose light took over four hours to reach us.

Minor Planets

The optimal season for observing Pluto is coming to a close, as the magnitude 14.6 dwarf planet, positioned in southwestern Capricornus, is past the meridian by the end of twilight, and will be difficult to observe in the brightening moonlit sky during early November. By the time the Moon is out of the sky, Pluto will already be getting lower in the southwest. A larger telescope under exceptionally transparent skies may still be able to spot it, but not for much longer.

Asteroid 5574 Seagrave is at opposition on the 3rd. At a distance of 1.660 au, it is moving west-southwestward through northwestern Eridanus at 0.2° per day, and shines at magnitude 16.1.

While you’re enjoying views of Saturn within its temporary autumn triangle arrangement, look about halfway between the ringed planet and Diphda (beta Ceti)  to find iota Ceti. Use this magnitude 3.6 star throughout the month of November to locate Ceres, which ranges from magnitude 7.9 to 8.4 as the month progresses. In early November, Ceres is 2.5° southeast of the star. Ceres is stationary in late November, and remains within 2.1° to the southeast of the star for the rest of the month.

Asteroid 4 Vesta, although low in the southwest after sunset, can still be seen in a small telescope at magnitude 7.9. It is moving eastward through Ophiuchus towards Sagittarius. On the 8th and 9th, it is 1.8° south of 58 Ophiuchi, and moving towards Messier 8, 4.0° to its east.

Vesta becomes difficult to observe during the second half of November due to its low elevation. However, it may be worth looking at Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula, from the 14th-18th, as the dwarf planet passes just to the north of the nebula-embedded cluster during that time. 

Comets

Bright moonlight makes early November a less-than-favorable week for comet hunting, but our two brightest visitors from the distant solar system are still within telescopic visibility.

At the beginning of November, Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon is moving southeastward through Ophiuchus and should be near peak brightness, visible in binoculars.. On the 3rd, it is just over 2° from the globular cluster Messier 12, appearing at about the 5 o’clock position from the cluster.

The comet passes Messier 10, being within the same binocular field of view of the magnitude 8 globular cluster on the 4th-6th.

Comet Lemmon is at perihelion on November 8, at a distance of 0.530 from the Sun.

By mid-month, Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon is becoming more distant, as well as lower in the southwestern sky during twilight. It may be getting difficult to find in binoculars. On the 13th, it is 1.0° west of Sabik (eta Ophiuchi).

By the third week of November, the show is over for Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon, as it dips out of view in the southwestern twilight sky

Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN, also near peak brightness, is a bit dimmer than Lemmon and may require a telescope to see. It is moving eastward through Aquarius at a rate of about 3° per day. On the 1st, it is 0.7° southwest of Sadalmelik (alpha Aquarii).

Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN lies within the Water Jar asterism of Aquarius on the 4th, moving east-northeastward at a rate of 1.8° per day. 

The comet continues to fade as it moves away, but it remains in a very favorable position in our sky. Moving east-northeastward through Pisces, it passes through the Circlet asterism from the 14th-18th. With the bright Moon out of the sky, it should appear reasonably well in a 6-inch telescope.

It passes just 0.5° north of iota Piscium, the northeasternmost star of the Circlet asterism, on the 19th. By this time, it is rapidly fading.

Meteors

While the Orionids remain active through the first week of November, you will be much less likely to see these remnants from Comet 1P/Halley than during their peak on October 21-22.

The Taurids comprise a pair of meteor streams from Comet 2P/Encke that peak in early November. The low-rate Southern Taurids, which peak on November 4th-5th, compete against bright moonlight, but the shower is known to produce fireballs, so it is worth watching for.

The Northern Taurids, another low-rate shower that remains active into December, peaks on the 11th-12th, when the Moon is last quarter, providing a few hours of dark sky activity to watch for.

The Leonids, remnants of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, become active as early as November 6, but this year’s non-storm peak of up to 15 meteors per hour occurs on the 16th-17th, when the Moon doesn’t interfere with viewing.