Astronomy News for the Month of November 2025


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Rocket Report for 11/18/2025 through 12/02/2025
Courtesy of "The Rocketman" Ed W6RDZ
Updated Weekly on Tuesday evenings
prior to the Colorado Astronomy Net

In this Newsletter...


Background screen credits: NGC5775
Imaged March 21/22, 2001
using the 16" Kitt Peak Visitors Center telescope
as part of the Kitt Peak Advanced Observing Program.



The Month At-A-Glance
A calendar displaying the daily astronomical events.


15 day moon

The Moon

Phases

Apogee/Perigee

Moon/Planet Pairs

For reference: The Full Moon subtends an angle of ~0.5°.

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Calendar of All Astronomical Events 2025

The Planets & Dwarf Planets

Planetary Reports generated by "TheSkyX" software. These reports provide predicted data for the planets for the first of each month for the current year. The rise and set times for the Sun and the Moon for each day of the month as well as meteor shower radiants are also included in the reports. These reports have been optimized for the Denver, Colorado location, however, the times will be approximate for other locations on Earth.

(Times are Mountain Daylight Time (MDT/MST) unless otherwise noted. Times will vary slightly depending on your location.)
Note: Due to DST ending for most of the U.S. this month, times on the 1st are MDT, times at the end of the month are MST.

Planetary Highlights for November

"Mercury switches from the evening to morning sky this month, while the giant planets dominate the night. The moons of Jupiter and Saturn offer many events. Venus stars on early November mornings, but drops lower day by day." Astronomy Magazine, November 2025, p.28.

Mercury

Is stationary on the 9th. Mercury is in inferior conjunction on the 20th. Mercury is stationary on the 29th. Mercury sets at 6:55 p.m. on the 1st. After conjunction, Mercury returns to the morning sky, rising about 5:24 a.m. by month's end. Mercury is visible about 30 minutes after sunset, low to the west, during the first week or so this month. After that, Mercury is lost in the evening and early morning twilight glow. Mercury moves from the constellation of Scorpius into Libra shining at magnitude 0.2 on the 30th.

Venus

Rises about 6:06 a.m. on the 1st and about 6:18 a.m. by month's end. Look for Venus to the east about an hour before sunrise. Venus moves from the constellation of Virgo into Libra shining at magnitude -3.9 on the 1st.

Earth

Daylight Saving Time ends for most of the U.S. on the 2nd at 2 a.m. local time.

Mars

Sets at 6:50 p.m. on the 1st and about 5:10 p.m. by month's end. Look for Mars low to the west in the evening about 30 minutes after sunset. Mars moves from the constellation of Libra into Ophiuchus shining at magnitude 1.5.

Jupiter

Is stationary on the 11th. Jupiter rises at 10:43 p.m. on the 1st and about 7:42 p.m. by month's end. Look for Jupiter to the southeast in the evening, then follow it through the night sky as it sets in the early morning hours before dawn. Jupiter is in the constellation of Gemini shining at magnitude -2.4.

Saturn

Is stationary on the 28th. Saturn rises at 4:13 p.m. on the 1st and about 1:13 p.m. by month's end. Look for Saturn to the south in the evening sky, soon after sunset. Saturn is in the constellation of Aquarius shining at magnitude 0.8.

Uranus

Is at opposition on the 21st, rising as the Sun sets. Uranus rises about 6:53 p.m. on the 1st and about 3:51 p.m. by month's end. Uranus is at its best and brightest for the year this month. Look for Uranus to the south in the evening. Uranus is in the constellation Taurus shining at magnitude 5.6.

Neptune

Rises at 4:17 p.m. on the 1st and about 1:18 p.m. by the month's end. Look for Neptune to the south in the evening just east following Saturn by a few minutes all month. Neptune is in the constellation of Pisces shining at magnitude 7.7.

Dwarf Planets

Ceres

Is stationary on the 27th. Ceres rises at 5:24 p.m. on the 1st and about 2:12 p.m. by month's end. Ceres can be spotted low to the south just below and east of Saturn and Neptune. Ceres is in the constellation of Cetus shining at magnitude 8.3.

Pluto

Sets at 11:09 p.m. on the 1st and about 8:13 p.m. by month's end. The best time to spot Pluto will be in the early evening when it is highest in the sky to the southwest. Pluto is in the constellation of Capricornus shining at magnitude 15.3.

As always, good luck at spotting Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, a large telescope and dark skies will be needed.

Constellation information provided by Go Astronomy.

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Astronomical Events

Meteor Showers

  • The Leonids - The duration of this shower covers the period of Nov. 14-20. Maximum occurs on Nov. 17. The maximum hourly rate typically reaches 10-15, but most notable are periods of enhanced activity that occur every 33 years - events that are directly associated with the periodic return of comet Tempel-Tuttle. During these exceptional returns, the Leonids have produced rates of up to several thousand meteors per hour. The Leonids are swift meteors, which are best known for leaving a high percentage of persistent trains.

    For more information about Meteor Showers, visit Gary Kronk's Meteor Showers Online web page.

    Meteor Shower Radiant Report

    Meteor Scatter (or Meteor burst communications) - "is a radio propagation mode that exploits the ionized trails of meteors during atmospheric entry to establish brief communications paths between radio stations up to 2,250 kilometres (1,400 mi) apart." Tune your shortwave or your HF amateur radio to 54.310 MHz SSB and see if you can hear any pings. Try other frequencies as well... 6m FT8 digital - 50.313 Mhz & 50.276 Mhz, JP-65 digital mode and the carrier frequencies of the lower VHF bands for TV channels 2, 3 & 4.

    Meteor Rx How-To by Terry Bullett (WØASP)

  • Comets

  • Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is passing through the constellation of Ophiuchus low to the west. By the end of the month, it may be too low and lost in the evening twilight glow. Comet Lemmon is visible with the naked eye provided you are away from city lights. The comet is shining around 4th magnitude at the beginning of the month but dims to about 7th magnitude by month's end, so look for Comet Lemmon early in the month. A 3-4 inch scope or greater and dark skies will still be needed to see more details.

     

     

     

     

  • Comet C/2025 R2 Swan is passing through the constellations of Aquarius and into Pisces by month's end shining around 8th magnitude then dimming to about 10th magnitude. Comet Swan is fairly close to Saturn and Neptune, so it shouldn't be too hard to find under dark sky conditions.

  • For information, orbital elements and ephemerides on observable comets, visit Observable Comets.

    For more information about Comets, visit Gary Kronk's Cometography.com webpage.

  • Eclipses

    Solar Eclipses

  • No solar eclipse activity this month.

    Lunar Eclipses

  • No lunar eclipse activity this month.

  • Observational Opportunities

  • Look for Mars and Pluto in the early evening to the southwest.
  • Look for Saturn, Neptune and Ceres in the late evening and early morning to the south.
  • Look for Uranus, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury in the morning to the east.

  • Asteroids

    (From west to east)
    • Hebe is in the constellation of Aquarius.
    • Papagena is at opposition on the 10th in the constellation of Cetus.
    • Pallas is in the constellation of Taurus.
    • Nysa is in the constellation of Cancer.

    • Information about the Minor Planets can be found at the Minor Planet Observer website.
    Ocultations

    IOTA Logo

  • Information on various occultations can be found by clicking the IOTA logo.

  • The Moon occults the Pleiades on the 9th.

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    Member Meteor Sightings

    In this section I will post meteor, fireball, etc sightings that have been published on the American Meteor Society's web site. I want to make this an active section of the web pages and newsletter and would like to publish the links to member sightings. If you have any published sightings, please provide me with the links and I will post them here for all to enjoy.

    Event ID Date/Time Location Observer Link
    3871-2015 2015-11-13 01:55 MST CO Charles N 3871a
    3587-2015 2015-11-22 17:38 MST CO Kevin S 3587aw
    3829-2015 2015-12-05 18:06 MST CO Burness A 3829a
      986-2020 2020-02-21 22:20 MST CO Lukas S 986
    3716-2020 2020-07-24 23:22 MDT CO Lukas S 3716
    4774-2021 2021-08-13 21:57 MDT UT Lukas S 4774
    7044-2021 2021-10-28 20:37 MDT CO Burness A 249058
    6763-2022 2022-10-06 05:56 CDT OK Mike C 6763
    5300-2023 2023-09-11 22:04 MDT CO Lukas S 5300
    578-2024 2024-01-28 23:05 MST CO Lukas S 578

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