Sky Notes for November 2026
Brian Kelly

Director of Observations
Dundee Astronomical Society
From our Director of Observations, Brian Kelly.
THE SKY AT 9 PM GMT IN MID-November 2026
The map above shows the night sky as it will appear from central Scotland at the time and date shown. The point in the sky directly overhead is at the centre of the map; the outer circle is the horizon with the cardinal compass points in the direction shown.

The map shows the brighter stars that are visible to the unaided eye. Some of the more distinctive constellations are outlined.
North
West
East
The Moon
The Planets
The Sun
The Stars
South
The sunrise, sunset and twilight times given here are for Dundee but generally apply across central Scotland.
November 1st sunrise   7.20 am  GMT sunset  4.29 pm  GMT
November 15th sunrise   7.50 am  GMT sunset  4.01 pm  GMT
November 30th   sunrise   8.19 am  GMT sunset   3.40 pm  GMT

In mid-November, the sky is reasonably dark between 5.30 pm and 6.30 am GMT.

The Sun lies in the constellation of Libra, the Scales, for the first part of November, moving into Scorpius on Monday 23rd and then into Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, on Monday 30th.
The Moon is at Last Quarter on the evening of Sunday November 1st; the half Moon rises in the north-east shortly after 10.00 pm and shines high in the south at dawn on Monday 2nd. Overnight, the Moon lies to the upper right of the planets Mars and Jupiter; by the following morning, Tuesday 3rd, the Moon will appear to the lower left of the two planets.

The waning crescent Moon may then be followed into the brightening dawn sky up until the morning of Friday 6th.

New Moon is early on Monday November 9th, and the young crescent Moon should become visible very low above the south-west horizon from Friday 13th onwards.

First Quarter is on Tuesday November 17th, when the half-illuminated Moon shines low in the south in the early evening. Three nights later, on Friday 20th, the Moon will appear around 5 degrees to the upper right of the planet Saturn.

Full Moon falls on the afternoon of Tuesday November 24th; the Moon rises in the north-east almost an hour before sunset, shines high in the south at midnight and sets again in the north-west over almost two hours after sunrise the following morning.  Throughout the night the Moon will appear immediately to the left of the Pleiades, though binoculars may be required to see the little star cluster in the bright moonlight. 

On the evening of Friday 27th the waning gibbous Moon sits to the lower right of the bright ‘Twin’ stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation of Gemini; two nights later, on the late evening of Sunday 29th into the morning of Monday 30th, the Moon once again appears to the upper right of Mars and Jupiter.
Mercury is at inferior conjunction on November 4th when it passes between the Earth and the Sun. It then moves fairly rapidly into the morning sky and
reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun on the 21st. From mid-month until almost the end of November, Mercury is rising in the south-east around two
hours ahead of the Sun, shining at around magnitude -0.5 to the lower left of Venus.

Venus was at inferior conjunction in late October and it too climbs into the morning sky during November, appearing to the upper right of Mercury. Venus
should be easy to spot above the south-east horizon at dawn from the second week of the month onwards, and by the end of November will be a brilliant
‘Morning Star’ of magnitude -4.9 rising over four hours before the Sun.

Mars and Jupiter lie close together in the constellation of Leo, both planets rising in the north-east in the late evening and best seen in the morning sky. As
November opens, Mars sits around 6 degrees to the upper right of Jupiter. As the month progresses, the rapid eastward motion of Mars will carry the planet
closer to Jupiter; around the middle of the month Mars will pass just to the upper left of Jupiter, with the two planets closest on the morning of Monday 16th
when they will be 1.2 degrees apart. Mars will then continue eastwards, ending November around 6 degrees to Jupiter’s lower left. During the month Mars
brightens from magnitude 0.9 to 0.5, Jupiter from -2.0 to -2.2.

Saturn is well-placed in the evening sky, reaching its highest altitude in the south of 34.5 degrees at
10.00 pm at the start of November and at 8.00 pm by the end of the month. It shines at magnitude 0.5.

Uranus is at opposition on November 25th. At magnitude 5.6 it can easily be found in binoculars, appearing as a faint ‘star’ in the constellation of Taurus,
about 5 degrees to the lower left of the Pleiades in the direction of the bright star Aldebaran.

Neptune lies in southern Pisces, about 7 degrees to the right of Saturn. At magnitude 7.8 it too can be seen in binoculars.
The ‘Summer Triangle’ of Deneb, Vega and Altair is now sinking lower in the west, with the distinctive little pattern of Delphinus the Dolphin just to the left. The faint zodiacal constellation of Aquarius the Water Carrier is low in the south-west.

The great Square of Pegasus the Winged Horse stands high in the south. The two stars on the right-hand side of the Square lead the way down to Fomalhaut which barely clears the horizon; this is the most southerly of the first-magnitude stars visible from Scotland. The stars of Andromeda run off from the top left corner of the Square, towards the bright stars of the hero Perseus. Above them are Cassiopeia and Cepheus, Andromeda’s mythological parents.

Below Andromeda are two small constellations – Triangulum the Triangle and the zodiacal group Aries, the Ram. Low in the south is the very large – but faint – pattern of Cetus, the whale. This winter Jupiter lies in southern Aries, just above the tail of Cetus.

Round in the east the winter constellations are becoming prominent. The V-shaped head of Taurus the Bull – along with the little cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters – and Auriga the Charioteer are well up, while Gemini the Twins is climbing higher in the north-east, with its two bright stars Castor and Pollux.  Orion the Hunter has only partly cleared the eastern horizon, but his three Belt stars along with bright Betelgeuse and Rigel should be easy to spot.

Centred on the Pole Star are the circumpolar stars, which remain above the horizon all night long, all year round. The most famous of these are probably the seven stars that make up the pattern of the Plough or Big Dipper, two of which point the way to the Pole Star. On the opposite side of the Pole from the Plough is the distinctive ‘W’ shape of Cassiopeia along with her mythological husband Cepheus.

The Milky Way runs up from the east between Gemini and Orion, through Auriga and overhead into Perseus and Cassiopeia. It then runs across the Summer Triangle towards the western horizon. All of the constellations along the Milky Way contain bright star clusters that can be found in binoculars; on a clear, moonless winter night the section through Auriga, Perseus and Cassiopeia reveals some especially breathtaking starfields.
Meteors
Bright, slow meteors from the Taurid shower may be seen in early November; the Southern branch of the shower peaks on November 5th, with a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 5. A week later on November 12th the Northern branch also reaches maximum, with a similar ZHR. The radiants of both branches of the shower lie close to the Pleiades in Taurus. This year there will be minimal interference from moonlight, with New Moon falling on the 9th.

Conditions are also favourable for the Leonids, which peak on the morning of November 18th. With a radiant in the Sickle of Leo, this shower is best observed post-midnight; the First Quarter Moon will be setting before 1.00 am.  However, rather low rates are expected with a ZHR of around 15.