A stunning image of Comet Lemmon captured on 25th October 2025 by Society member Richard Crabtree using his ‘Seestar’ telescope, on a 4 minutes exposure
This month sees the biggest and brightest Full Moon of the year. We will have the opportunity to see three Meteor showers and two comets.
The Milky Way rises overhead on these dark November nights, providing a stunning inside perspective on the huge Galaxy that is our home in the cosmos. After your eyes have adjusted to the dark you should be able to see that it’s spangled with fuzzy glowing diadems. Better still, sweep the band of the Milky Way with binoculars or a small telescope, and these blurry jewels appear in their true light as distant clusters of stars.
November is the first month of long nights and we are starting to see the familiar winter constellations. Orion the Hunter appears in the sky just before midnight. Just to the right of Orion is Taurus the Bull with the bright red star Aldebaran and the star cluster the Pleiades or ‘Seven Sisters. They too are now becoming more conspicuous. This is the best time to look for the autumn constellations during the evening; the Plough is low in the north and the ‘W’ of Cassiopeia overhead. The summer triangle stars Altair, Deneb and Vega are now becoming low in the west.
If you look to the south the Square of Pegasus is very prominent; a line drawn from the top left hand star of the square shows a line of stars that form the constellation of Andromeda.
Take advantage of the moonless nights this month to observe the most distant objects visible with the unaided eye. Anywhere away from the glare of streetlights, you will see the misty blur of the great Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest large galaxy to us at 2.5 million light years away. Another challenge is to try and find the fainter Triangulum Galaxy, located below Andromeda. This is one of the few constellations that look like the figure they are supposed to describe Triangulum the Triangle. The light we see from this galaxy left it almost three million years ago.
Using the two right hand stars of the Square of Pegasus draw a line down for some distance to find Fomalhaut, the brightest star in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish).
The Planets:-
MERCURY
For the last couple of mornings of November, the place of Venus is taken by the Mercury; rising around 6am and shining 50 more faintly than Venus at magnitude +0.3.
VENUS
After being the morning star for the past eight months Venus bows out this month as it sinks into the dawn twilight. Brilliant to the last, at magnitude –3.9, the planet is rising above the horizon around 6am.
MARS
The red planet will be too close to the Sun for observations this month.
JUPITER
Rising magnificently in the north-east about 8pm, Jupiter lies near the bright stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux. The gas giant shines ay magnitude –2.4. The half Moon is nearby on the nights of the 9th and 10th of the month.
SATURN
The ring world can be found over in the south-west during the evening, outshining all the stars in its vicinity at magnitude +0.8. Saturn lies among the stars of Aquarius, and will be falling below the horizon about 2am. The Moon is nearby on the first two nights of the month, and again on the 29th November.
URANUS
Uranus is in the constellation of Taurus, below the Pleiades star cluster, and it will be at its closest point to the Earth on the 21st November. Having stated that, it is barely visible to the naked eye, at magnitude +5.6. On the date the seventh planet is also opposite the Sun in the sky and lies above the horizon all night long. The almost full Moon is nearby on the 6th of this month. Through a low power telescope you may make out the planets tiny green-blue disc, but you will need an instrument with an aperture of at least 200mm to spot even the largest of Uranus’s 28 moons.
NEPTUNE
If you like a challenge check out another of the evening planets this month. You will need good binoculars or a telescope to track down Neptune. Shinning with a measly magnitude of +7.7 Neptune lies on in the constellation of Pisces, and will fall below the horizon around 2.30am.
PLUTO
This distant planet can be observed in a ten-inch or larger telescope. It can be found in the constellation of Capricornus. With a magnitude of +14.6, it falls below the horizon around 9.20pm.
CERES
This dwarf planet in the asteroid belt planet can also be observed using
a ten-inch or larger telescope. It can be found in the constellation of Cetus at magnitude +8.2. It sets around 2.55am.
Meteor showers:-
There are two meteor showers this month. The Taurid meteor shower consists of slow moving meteors that often produce spectacular fireballs and is visible from November 5th to 9th. On November 17th to the 18th the Leonid meteors will be on display. Sadly, strong moonlight will drown out most of the shooting stars.
Comets:-
Comet observers are rather spoiled at the moment. Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) shining at about 6th magnitude. That’s just within the limit for visibility with the unaided eye. This comet is within reach of ordinary binoculars, especially under dark skies.
Comet C/2025 A6 (LEMMON) is an evening object for northern observers, visible just west of Boötes, having passed beneath the handle of the Big Dipper / Plough and heading towards Arcturus. It is a quite beautiful sight in binoculars, with a prominent tail several degrees in length pushing away from its bright, star-like head.
Other special events:-
1st November – The star to the left of the Moon is the planet Saturn.
2nd November – Saturn lies to the right of the Moon.
5th November – The biggest and brightest of the three supermoons this year, and the best since 2019. The full Moon lies just 356,980 kilometres from the Earth, and appears 14% larger and 30% more brilliant than the faintest Full Moon.
6th November – As it grows dark, you will spot the Pleiades star cluster just to the right of the Moon. Using a telescope you will be able to make out Uranus to the lower right.
9th and 10th November – The Moon passes above Jupiter and below the twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux.
13th November – The half Moon is near the star Regulus after midnight.
17th November – The crescent Moon is near to the star Spice after midnight.
18th November – Before dawn breaks the crescent Moon lies to the right of Venus, low in the morning twilight.
29th November – The half Moon lies above bright Saturn.
Phases of the Moon:-
Full Super Moon 5th November
Last quarter 12th November
New Moon 20th November
First quarter 28th November