November 2025 – What’s Up!

Week of 24th November

  • Astronomical Twilight ends at 18:07 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:03 GMT by the end of the week.
  • Saturn (+1.0) transits at around 19:30 GMT through this week and sets at around 01:20 GMT. Jupiter (-2.5) rises at around 19:30 GMT and transits at around 03:30 GMT.
  • Stars are the objects of interest for this week’s observing challenge. Start in Andromeda with the double star, Almach (+2.2), with a separation of 9.4 arcseconds, then move east a few degrees to find the open cluster M34 (+5.2) about 1600 light years away in Perseus. Stay in Perseus to finish with variable star Algol (+2.1), an eclipsing binary which dips to +3.4 for about 10 hours every 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes; keep an eye on Algol and compare its brightness to neighbouring stars to see the change.
  • The Moon is First Quarter on Friday.
  • The Sun currently has 6 active regions and the sunspot number is 74.
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 17th November

  • Astronomical Twilight ends at 18:12 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:07 GMT by the end of the week.
  • Saturn (+1.0) transits at around 19:50 GMT through this week and sets at around 01:35 GMT. Jupiter (-2.5) is creeping ever closer, rising at around 19:50 GMT and transiting at around 04:00 GMT.
  • Uranus reaches opposition on Friday, so it is best placed for observation from Earth, appearing largest and brightest in the sky. However, it is still only apparent magnitude +5.6 and has an apparent size of just 3.8 arcseconds, so you will need a larger telescope to view the planet successfully.
  • Having observed Uranus, stay in Taurus for this week’s deep sky targets. Start with the Pleiades, M45 (+1.5), just above Uranus – how many stars can you count in this open cluster? Move down and east to find the Crab Nebula, M1 (+8.4); it’s a challenge to see much detail in this supernova remnant, though large aperture and a UHC filter will help.
  • The Moon is New on Thursday.
  • The Sun currently has 8 active regions and the sunspot number is 97.
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 10th November

  • Astronomical Twilight ends at 18:20 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:13 GMT by the end of the week.
  • The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Monday next week, so the best time to observe is on Sunday night. The shower is not the most prolific of the year, producing around 15 meteors per hour. Its progenitor is comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
  • Saturn (+1.0) transits at around 20:30 GMT this week and sets at around 02:20 GMT. Jupiter (-2.4) rises at around 20:33 GMT and transits at 04:37 GMT.
  • Cassiopeian clusters and doubles provide the observing challenge this week. Start with NGC 7789, Caroline’s Rose (+6.7) a rich open cluster at the top of the W; move on to double star, Achird (+3.5), a relatively easy split at 14 arcseconds; finish with NGC 457, the Owl Cluster (+6.4), which is number 13 in the Caldwell Catalogue – can you see the Owl’s eyes?!
  • The Moon is Last Quarter on Wednesday.
  • The Sun currently has 6 active regions and the sunspot number is 107.
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 3rd November

  • Astronomical Twilight ends at 18:30 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:21 GMT by the end of the week.
  • Catch Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) (+10.2) low to the western horizon in Ophiuchus just after sunset before it disappears back to the far reaches of the solar system for about 1335 years!
  • Saturn (+0.9) transits at around 21:00 GMT this week, while Jupiter (-2.4) rises at around the same time.
  • With the Full Moon, the best targets in the deep sky are clusters, so the challenge is to find three open clusters in Cassiopeia and Perseus. We start with the Owl Cluster, NGC 457 (+6.4), near to the W asterism, then to the Double Cluster, NGC 869 and NGC 884 (+5.3) on the border of Perseus, before moving down to M34 (+5.2) between the body of Perseus and Almach.
  • The Moon is Full on Wednesday – the Hunter’s Supermoon.
  • The Sun currently has 2 active regions and the sunspot number is 24.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

 

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