Throughout November, slowly but surely, Venus is becoming increasingly prominent in the western evening sky. It will become a dominant object calling attention to itself right on through the upcoming winter months.
On the opposite side of the sky, low in the east, Jupiter will be blazing amidst the stars of Taurus the Bull, accompanied by the orange star Aldebaran and the beautiful open star clusters of the Hyades and Pleiades. Midway between these two planets, shining with a sedate yellowish-white glow in the south will be Saturn.
During the late-evening hours, yet a fourth bright planet will make its presence felt: Mars, shining with a fiery orange hue. With each passing day, it will draw 681,675 miles (1,097,049 km) closer to Earth and as a result will increase noticeably in brightness during November. Finally, there is little Mercury, the smallest and closest planet to the sun. It's an evening object, but its lowness to the southwest horizon will make it a difficult object to view through much of this month.
Related: Night sky, November 2024: What you can see tonight [maps]
Read more: Best telescopes for seeing planets in 2024
Looking for a telescope for the next night sky event? We recommend the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ as the top pick for basic astrophotography in our best beginner's telescope guide.
In our schedule, remember that when measuring the angular separation between two celestial objects, your clenched fist held at arm’s length measures roughly 10-degrees. Here, we present a schedule below which provides some of the best planet viewing times as well directing you as to where to look to see them.
NOTE: On Nov. 2, change clocks back 1 hour from Daylight Saving Time. On this date, the clock hour from 1 to 2:00 a.m. is repeated, thus making this day 25-hours long. The mnemonic is: "Spring Ahead, Fall Back."
Be sure to check out our best telescopes for viewing planets guide and our more general guides for the best binoculars and the best telescopes. If you're interested in taking your own impressive skywatching images, we have recommendations for the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography.
Mercury
Mercury arrives at greatest elongation, 23-degrees east of the sun on Nov. 16. But this evening apparition is generally unfavorable, with the -0.2-magnitude planet being only 3 degrees above the southwestern horizon at mid-twilight for observers at latitude 40 degrees north.
Venus
Venus sets about 2 hours after the sun on Nov. 1 and a healthy 3 hours after the sun on Nov. 30. This dazzling planet's sunset altitude as seen from around latitude 40 degrees north increases from about 16 d'grees to 22 degrees over the course of the month.
To get steady telescopic views of Venus's gibbous disk which widens as its phase thins from 77% to 68% illuminated in November, go out before sunset. As darkness deepens, the planet's brilliance becomes dramatic: its magnitude improves from -4.0 to -4.2 this month.
Venus spends the month gliding eastward from Ophiuchus across the top of the Teapot of Sagittarius. On the 16th it approaches to within 0.5 degree from the Teapot's lid star, the +2.8-magnitude Kaus Borealis. On the evening of Nov. 4, about 45 minutes after sunset, look low to the southwest horizon for a thin waxing crescent moon and hovering about 4 degrees above it will be Venus.
Mars
Mars rises in late evening, and the Earth is catching up to it, so it's getting closer and brighter every week; it nearly doubles in brightness during November from magnitude +0.1 to -0.5. At the start of November, Mars appears roughly in line with Castor and Pollux and far outshining them both. If you look low toward the east-northeast after 10 p.m. on Nov. 20 you’ll see the waning gibbous moon ascending the sky and about 4 degrees to its upper right, you’ll see a very bright orange-yellow "star," which in reality is the planet Mars.
Jupiter
Jupiter rises about two hours after sunset on Nov. 1, but by month's end it's already glaring in the east as twilight fades. It's quite high by mid-to-late evening all month long. Even through small telescopes this giant world and retinue of four bright satellites does not disappoint. Its luster increases to magnitude -2.8 as it approaches opposition to the sun on Dec. 7. Jupiter is moving retrograde (westward with respect to the stars) toward Aldebaran and the Hyades. The big planet’s distance from Aldebaran decreases from about 11 degrees to 8 degrees during November. On Nov. 16, if you look low toward the east-northeast at around 6:30 p.m., you'll see the moon, just past full phase, and positioned well below it will be Jupiter.
Saturn
Saturn, situated among the dim stars of Aquarius, is highest in the south soon after nightfall. On Nov. 16 Saturn halts its retrograde motion and ever so slowly resumes its eastward creep with respect to the background stars. This is a sure sign that an outer planet is entering the final part of its apparition and will descend into the sunset in coming months.
Telescope users will find that Saturn's rings are tilted at their widest for 2024. Their northern half is tipped 5.2 degrees toward Earth, compared to the much narrower 1.9-degrees from edge-on in early July. On Nov. 10, that bright yellowish-white "star" shining closely to the moon's upper right during the mid/late evening hours will be the ringed planet.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications.
Editor's Note: If you get a great photo of any of the planets and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
