The Planets
Planet Data For November
Click on any planet below to go straight to its section.
The table below shows key data for the planets this month, including rise, transit and set times, as well as magnitude, apparent size and position data (right ascension and declination).
Events that occur when the sun is below the horizon are shown with a black background and white text. All other events happen when the sun is in the sky and other for not visible for observation.
November is not the best month for planet watchers because we lose sight of Mercury, Venus and Mars. However, this is balanced by lovely evening viewing for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
All of the images below can be opened full screen in a new tab by clicking on them
Mercury
05th November
In three weeks, Mercury will pass in front of the sun. Right now, at 6pm, it’s too close to our star to be well observed.
15th November
Mercury is setting in this 5:30 pm star chart, only a few minutes after the sun.
25th November
Inferior conjunction was five days ago and now Mercury is a morning planet. This is the view at 6:30 am.
Inferior conjunction is when a planet passes between us and the sun. For obvious reasons, only Mercury and Venus have inferior conjunctions from our perspective, and Mercury has one on the 20th of this month.
In the run up to that date, the planet shows a shrinking proportion of its disc illuminated but it also moves so close to the sun that we can’t view it outside of the glare of dusk.
After Mercury passed its inferior conjunction, it’ll be a morning planet, visible before sunrise. We’re going to get good views of it in December because the morning ecliptic is very steep but, for this month, the smallest plane is out of reach of our telescopes.
Venus
05th November
At 6am, Venus shines brightly in the dark but only 5° above the eastern horizon.
15th November
Ten days and half an hour later and the scene is little changed. Notice how close Venus is getting to the sun.
25th November
At the same time ten days later, Venus is just grazing the horizon.
Venus is heading for a superior conjunction, which is where it passes directly behind the sun from our perspective, in the first week of Janaury next year. As it slowly closes in on our star, we’ll find that this month is our last chance to observe it until it once again becomes visible in the New Year.
If you do attempt to see it, look early in the month for the best chance, and make sure you’bve got a clear view of the horizon because it’ll be very low as dusk settles enough for us to see it. As a result of it heading behind the sun, the disc is shrinking and almost fully illuminated.
Mars
05th November
This 6pm view shows Mars setting just 45 minutes after the sun.
15th November
Ten days later, at 5:30 pm, we can see how close Mars is getting to the sun. It is not practically visible to us now.
25th November
Conjunction is only six weeks away and Mars is too close to our star to be observed.
It takes a long time for Mars to pass behind our sun. Its superior conjunction is not until the beginning of January but it is already out of sight for all practical purposes.
Jupiter
05th November
Jupiter is bright and readily observable in the east before midnight now. Here’s the view at 23:30.
15th November
At the same time 10 days later, the 43-arcsecond disc is 26° high.
25th November
We can now observe even earlier – this star chart shows the gas giant at 22:30.
Finally, after three planets all disappearing from view as they head towards a conjunction, we get one that’s going the other way!
Jupiter reaches opposition on 10 January next year, which is the point when it is closest – and therefore largest and brightest – in out night sky. It also marks a period of a couple of weeks where the planet is visible all night long.
Right now, Jupiter is moving to be more visible in the evenings, affording more of us the chance to examine its large and growing disc in more detail.
Saturn
05th November
At 10:30 in the evening, Saturn is midway bewteen the southwest horizon and the zenith.
15th November
It sinks a little ten days later but this is still a fabulous time to view the Ringed Planet.
25th November
At the same time again, we see little change.
Saturn looks fabulous in the evening this month. It actually reaches its highest point (transit) before 9pm for most of this month, making it a great sight to introduce the child astronomer in your life to.
Uranus & Neptune
15th November – Uranus
Uranus is high in the southeast near the Pleiades in the middle of the month at 22:30.
15th November – Neptune
At the same time, Neptune also rides high and is signposted by Saturn.
Both ice giants are readily visible in the late evening sky.
All Planets Viewer
Use the table below to see when each of the planets is observable for each day this month. Click on it for full screen.
A planet is classed as observable when it is more than 10° above the horizon and the sky is dark enough for it to be observed.
Planet ephemeris tables produced with the kind permission of Dominic Ford. Sky images are courtesy of SkySafari Pro 6.