In this guide we'll reveal what you can see in the night sky tonight, and throughout the month.
Those of us who enjoy stargazing and observing the night sky can't always plan when and where we're going to get the chance to gaze upwards.
Busy schedules, light pollution, the weather: sometimes finding even just 30 minutes to stand and stare up at a clear, dark night sky and take in the planets, stars and constellations can be a feat in itself.
So when you do find the time, you'll need to know what's visible in the night sky tonight, and the best things to look out for when stargazing.
Complete newcomer? Read our guides to the best telescopes for beginners and astronomy for beginners.
Here's our stargazing guide to what you can see in the night sky tonight.
Our guide is centred around what's visible from the UK, but all northern hemisphere observers should be able to use it, with the odd adjustment to stated times.
In our guide, we use Universal Time (UT) and British Summer Time (BST). UT is the standard time used by astronomers around the world. BST is one hour ahead of UT
We also use RA (Right ascension)and dec. (declination).
These coordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and latitude, describing where an object is on the celestial ‘globe’.
For help with these, read our guide to celestial coordinates.
For more advice, read our guide on how to stargaze or sign up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter for weekly tips delivered directly to your email inbox.
If you're south of the equator, find out what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere night sky tonight.
What's in the night sky tonight?
November astronomy highlights
- 1 November: Callisto lies south of Jupiter’s southern pole (am)
- 4 November: Venus near the waxing crescent Moon (pm)
- 4 November: Rare transit of Titan’s shadow on Saturn from 21:08 UT (pm)
- 17 November: Uranus reaches opposition
- 30 November: Mars lies near M44 (pm)
Planets
With long, dark nights, November 2024 is planetary observing heaven.
Ahead of Jupiter’s opposition on 7 December, it’s Uranus reaching opposition this month, sitting opposite the Sun in the sky on 17 November.
The full Moon, technically the Moon at opposition, occurs on 15 November just two days shy of lunar perigee.
It lies 3.7° to the north of Uranus and as dawn breaks on 16 November, 2.2° southwest of the Pleiades open cluster.
Of course, such a large bright Moon will completely swamp the delicate cluster stars to the naked eye, but binoculars should show them.
This bright Moon sitting near Jupiter on 17 November, spells disaster for the Leonid meteor shower, which this year reaches its peak around midday on the 17th.
As it approaches opposition, Jupiter’s four largest moons appear to transit the planet’s disc almost in sync with their shadows.
Using a telescope, take a look at Jupiter around 19:50 UT when you should see Io and its shadow close in the middle of Jupiter’s disc.
Stars and constellations
When the Moon is out of the way, the stars of November’s night sky are quite beautiful.
Early evening the stars of late spring and summer appear in the west, the now inappropriately named Summer Triangle still being prominent.
Early evening, following from the east and rising to centre stage due south, are the stars of autumn, led by Pegasus, the Flying Horse.
Count how many stars you can see within the Great Square of Pegasus and this is a good indication of the quality of your sky.
A count of 0 means you live under heavy light pollution, 1-4 town-class light pollution, while from a dark urban location you may see up to 13. If you can see 30+ stars you have an excellent sky.
As we approach the latter part of the evening, the stars of Taurus, the Bull become well-placed.
Jupiter blazes out from between the Bull’s horns this month.
Taurus’s northern horn tip is marked by Elnath (Beta (β) Tauri), a star which acts as a gateway to Auriga, the Charioteer, located further north.
Auriga appears as a misshapen pentagon with the bright star Capella towards the north of the shape.
Draw a line from Capella to bright Vega in Lyra, the Lyre, the star marking the northwest corner of the Summer Triangle.
Near to the midpoint of this line sits a lone second magnitude star: the North Star, Polaris.
An easier way to locate it is to use the two stars furthest from the handle in the Plough asterism. Known as ‘the Pointers’, these point directly at Polaris.
The Plough can be seen low above the northeast horizon late evening.
A binocular sweep through the misshapen pentagon of Auriga reveals interesting clusters, including a grand trio of Messiers: M38 to the north, M37 to the south and M36 in between.
In particular, looking at M38 through binoculars reveals another interesting pattern, the Cheshire Cat asterism.
This looks like a smiling mouth with two stars marking the cat’s eyes. M38 sits at the northern corner of the mouth.
Night sky in November 2024, night-by-night
Friday 1 November
At 02:00 UT, Jupiter’s outer Galilean moon Callisto sits 4 arcseconds south of the planet’s southern limb.
Sunday 3 November
There’s an excellent opportunity to observe a Ganymede shadow transit between 02:30 and 04:50 UT this morning. Ganymede transits from 06:05 UT (deep twilight) until 08:05 UT (daylight).
Monday 4 November
Just after sunset, look out for a tricky 9%-lit waxing crescent Moon separated from brilliant Venus by 5.2°, both very low above the southwest horizon.
A rare Titan shadow transit on Saturn can be seen at 21:08–22:51 UT.
Tuesday 5 November
Rhea’s shadow can be seen transiting Saturn’s disc from 23:30 UT up until Saturn sets.
Thursday 7 November
Dione’s shadow can be seen transiting Saturn’s disc from 18:54 until 22:05 UT.
Friday 8 November
The lunar clair-obscur effect known as the Face in Albategnius reaches its peak at 21:25 UT, when the profile of a face is formed by the shadow cast by crater Albategnius’s rim on its floor.
Saturday 9 November
The Eyes of Clavius lunar clair-obscur effect can be seen at 19:10 UT.
Jupiter’s southern limb scrapes in front of a background mag. +11.0 star between 19:50
and 21:30 UT.
Sunday 10 November
The 68%-lit waxing Moon sits 2.7° southwest of Saturn at 22:30 UT, gradually approaching the planet as they both move towards setting. At 00:40 UT on 11 November, the separation reduces to 1.5°.
Monday 11 November
The Northern Taurid meteor shower is expected to peak this evening and into tomorrow morning. The shower has a broad peak with a low ZHR of just five meteors per hour.
Tuesday 12 November
Look for Neptune 1.2° east-northeast of the 79%-lit Moon just before moonset. Sitting 7 arcminutes south of the planet is a similar-magnitude star (HIP 117614); the pair appear like an easy double through binoculars.
Wednesday 13 November
In the early hours, around 01:40 UT, look for Mons Herodotus near the lunar crater Aristarchus. Shining brightly, the mountain’s peak creates the clair-obscur effect known as the Star-Tip Mountain.
Friday 15 November
This evening’s full Moon (full at 21:29 UT) occurs a day and a half after lunar perigee (11:18 UT on 14 November), making it a perigee full Moon, or supermoon. Near midnight on 15 November, the Moon sits 3.7° north of Uranus.
Saturday 16 November
As dawn breaks, the full Moon sits 2.2° southwest of the Pleiades open cluster.
Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation, separated from the Sun by 22.5° in the evening sky.
The Leonid meteor shower peaks at 12:00 UT on 17 November, making tonight into tomorrow morning the peak. Unfortunately a bright Moon will interfere.
Sunday 17 November
Distant Uranus reaches opposition. Shining at mag. +5.6, Uranus is currently 6.7° southwest of the Pleiades.
The 97%-lit waning Moon and Jupiter are 7.5° apart this morning.
Wednesday 20 November
Another Titan shadow transit at 19:44–22:54 UT today; this one is very well-placed for UK viewing.
Around 21:00 UT, the 70%-lit Moon sits 1.7° north of Mars as they rise.
Thursday 21 November
The 68%-lit waning gibbous Moon sits 2.4° north of M44 and 3.1° from Mars this morning.
Tuesday 26 November
This evening, moon Io and its shadow are quite close together as they both transit Jupiter. Both are in the middle of the planet’s disc at 19:50 UT.
Saturday 30 November
Mars sits 2° from the centre of the Beehive Cluster, M44, today.
Share your observations and images with us, or send us your astronomy questions to contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
