The alignment features Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter spanning from the south-east toward the east away from city light pollution. Mars and Jupiter will put on a special display mid-month by converging just 1.2 degrees apart near the star Regulus. Telescopic viewers can also search for Uranus in the western sky before dawn, whereas Saturn and Neptune remain evening targets. Clearer spells on Sunday night offer better prospects for astronomy after rain and hill snow move out.
Key points
The optimal observation period occurs 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise away from artificia…: The optimal observation period occurs 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise away from artificial light pollution.
Mercury is the hardest target to detect because of twilight glare low on the south-easter…: Mercury is the hardest target to detect because of twilight glare low on the south-eastern horizon.
Sunday night offers predominantly drier and clearer viewing conditions compared to a clou…: Sunday night offers predominantly drier and clearer viewing conditions compared to a cloudier, wetter Saturday night.
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Stargazers are being treated to a diagonal parade of four planets in the pre-dawn sky throughout November.
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter will all be visible to the naked eye in the south-eastern to eastern sky.
Particularly notable will be the line-up on Monday 16 November when Mars and Jupiter will appear exceptionally close together, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.
From 24 November, a full Moon - the first of a run of four supermoons - will also join the planets in the morning sky.
Mercury
Mercury will be the hardest planet to spot in the parade.
As the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest in our solar system, it is permanently locked in solar glare.
It is only visible in twilight and never in a fully dark sky. As always it will be dim and close to the horizon.
Try spotting it in a wide open sky with a flat horizon and look to the south-east.
Venus
Above Mercury and toward the right, you will spot Venus.
Operating in interstellar space since 2012, the robotic explorer is scheduled to cross the boundary representing a full day of light travel from our planet. This unprecedented achievement underscores decades of continuous deep-space exploration after the craft successfully mapped the outer limits of the solar system. The historic mission continues to provide groundbreaking scientific measurements far beyond the sun's protective heliosphere.
Caused by debris left behind by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, the annual celestial event delivers some of the fastest meteors observed from Earth, traveling at roughly 71 kilometers per second. Favorable dark-sky conditions are anticipated because the first-quarter Moon sets before the prime viewing window between midnight and dawn. Stargazers can view the display with the naked eye as the constellation Leo ascends higher in the sky.
The 15th test flight of the massive rocket underscored both the rapid progress and ongoing hazards of engineering fully reusable space launch systems. While the lost booster recovery disrupted plans for a historic dual-catch milestone, achieving orbit keeps SpaceX on track to fulfill critical deep-space transport contracts for NASA. Demonstrating complete vehicle retrieval remains essential to drastically cutting operational costs for future interplanetary missions.