November 2026: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?

Although Venus has dominated the evening sky since last summer, its long apparition came to an end at inferior conjunction in late October. That leaves Saturn as the only naked-eye planet visible as the sky darkens this month. The ringed planet glows at magnitude 0.5 as it edges westward relative to the background stars of northwestern Cetus the Whale. Saturn reached opposition and peak visibility in early October, but the distant world’s appearance changes so slowly that you’ll find it nearly as impressive through a telescope as it was last month. In mid-November, the planet measures 19″ across its equator while the ring system spans 43″ and tilts 6° to our line of sight. Any telescope reveals Saturn’s brightest moon, 8th-magnitude Titan, and a 10-centimeter instrument brings in Tethys, Dione, and Rhea, which all glow at 10th magnitude. November’s morning sky offers a bevy of treats. A few hours after midnight, you’ll see two planets forming an attractive trio with 1st-magnitude Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. During the month’s first half, Mars rises first with Jupiter following close behind. The Red Planet moves eastward against the backdrop of western Leo, passing both Jupiter and Regulus during November. The ruddy world slides 1.2° north of Jupiter on the 15th and 1.8° north of Regulus on the 24th. Mars glows at magnitude 0.7 at midmonth, slightly but noticeably brighter than Regulus. Compare the orange-red color of the planet with the star’s blue-white hue. Mars’ appearance through a telescope grows a bit more interesting during November. The planet spans 7″ at midmonth, large enough to show some subtle surface detail during moments of good seeing. Jupiter steals the show in this part of the sky, however. Shining at magnitude –2.1 and with a disk measuring 37″ across, it easily bests its planetary companion in both brightness and telescopic splendor. The gas giant features a series of alternating atmospheric bands, with bright zones and darker belts running parallel to one another. Even under mediocre seeing conditions, the central Equatorial Zone and its neighboring belts stand out. The approach of dawn brings the final two naked-eye planets into view. Venus appears first. It rises less than an hour before sunrise in early November but more than two hours before the Sun at month’s end. You won’t mistake the brilliant planet for any other object. It brightens from magnitude –4.2 on the 1st to magnitude –4.9 at month’s end. A telescope reveals impressive changes to Venus during November, though its large crescent remains a treat all month. On the 1st, you’ll see a disk that measures a whopping 1′ across but is only 3 percent lit. By the 30th, the planet spans 40″ while the Sun illuminates 27 percent of its Earth-facing hemisphere. Mercury passes between the Sun and Earth on Nov. 4 and slowly climbs into view after midmonth. The shallow angle of the ecliptic — the apparent path of the Sun and planets across the sky — to the eastern horizon before dawn at this time of year means the planet never gains a lot of altitude. On the 30th, it stands 5° high 30 minutes before sunrise. Still, the innermost planet shines brightly at magnitude –0.7 and should be visible in the twilight. Point you telescope at Mercury that morning and you’ll see a disk 6″ in diameter and 83 percent lit. A waning gibbous Moon occults Regulus on Nov. 30 Universal Time. Residents in New Zealand can watch the event in the early morning hours of Dec. 1 local time. From Auckland, the star disappears behind the Moon’s bright limb at 13h24m UT and reappears from behind the dark limb at 14h23m UT. The starry sky Look high in the south on any November evening and the relatively dim constellation Tucana the Toucan comes into view. Tucana’s brightest star, Alpha (α) Tucanae, glows at 3rd magnitude. The easiest way to find the constellation is to look just southwest of magnitude 0.5 Achernar, the brightest star in Eridanus the River. Tucana does possess two deep-sky treasures, however: the Small Magellanic Cloud and the stunning globular star cluster 47 Tucanae. The origin of the constellation’s name remains a source of confusion. Sixteenth-century Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman devised the constellation in the late 16th century. Flemish astronomer Petrus Plancius first placed Tucana on a celestial globe in 1598. Yet Keyser and de Houtman observed the sky from what we now know as the East Indies after visiting Madagascar, and the toucan is not native to that part of the world. The brightly colored bird resides in Central and South America, which lies about 180° in longitude from the East Indies. In 1603, De Houtman published Malay and Madagascan Vocabulary, which included a star catalog. He headed his entry for the constellation Tucana “The Indian Magpie, named by the Indians Lang.” On the line below, he included the subhead “Tucana.” This is where Keyser comes back into the story. He once visited South America and likely had observed toucans. It seems plausible that the confusion arose because the toucan bears some similarity to the oriental pied hornbill of the East Indies. Star Dome The map below portrays the sky as seen near 30° south latitude. Located inside the border are the cardinal directions and their intermediate points. To find stars, hold the map overhead and orient it so one of the labels matches the direction you’re facing. The stars above the map’s horizon now match what’s in the sky. The all-sky map shows how the sky looks at: 11 p.m. November 110 p.m. November 159 p.m. November 30 Planets are shown at midmonth Dr. Martin George is an astronomy speaker and writer who currently serves as Chair of International Development and Elections at the International Planetarium Society.