The 365 Days of Astronomy

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Actual Astronomy - Observer's Calendar For November Nov 05, 2026

Show notes

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. actualastronomy@gmail.com

In this episode we cover the very active Leonid Meteor Shower peaking on the night of November 17–18, 2026, produced by dust from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle with fast meteors. Explore expert guidance on tracking celestial events alike Venus pairing with Spica, lots of deep sky clusters plus the latest astronomical highlights and observational tips for stargazers of all levels.

In this episode, we are looking ahead to the night skies for the month of November. We break down the key celestial highlights—from planetary conjunctions and meteor showers to prime targets for deep-sky observers and double star enthusiasts.

The Planets This Month

Mercury: Extremely low in the east-northeast (ENE), best viewed after mid-month.
Venus: Extremely low in the east-southeast (ESE) morning twilight all month.
Mars: Looks good already.
Jupiter: Rises after 9:00 PM in the ENE and transits before 5:00 AM. Look out for multiple shadow transit events throughout the month.
Saturn: High in the south-southeast (SSE) at dusk, setting in the west around 2:00 AM.

Weekly Highlight Guide & Notable Events:

Week 1 (November 1 – November 7)

November 1: Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 AM (remember to set your clocks back!). Gegenschein is high in the south at midnight and well-positioned for the next two weeks in dark skies.
November 2: Mars passes north of the Moon; Jupiter passes north of the Moon.
November 3: Lunar Curtis X visible; M74 well-placed this evening.
November 4: Mercury at inferior conjunction. Look for two shadows on Jupiter around 11:12 PM. NGC 253 and NGC 288 are well-placed this evening.
November 6: M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) and NGC 7662 are well-placed this evening.
November 7: Venus north of the Moon. Zodiacal Light easily visible in dark skies in the east before morning twilight for the next two weeks. NGC 891 (The Silver Sliver Galaxy) is well-placed this evening. Long period variable star T Cep reaches maximum (8:00 PM).

Week 2 (November 8 – November 14)

November 8: New Moon at 2:02 AM. Callisto and Io shadow events visible on Jupiter starting at 2:24 AM. M52 and NGC 7635 (Bubble Nebula) well-placed this evening.
November 9: M103 and NGC 457 well-placed this evening. Comet 252P/LINEAR active.
November 10: NGC 7789 well-placed this evening.
November 11: Remembrance Day (Canada) / Veterans Day (USA). Venus is stationary.
November 12: NGC 7793 well-placed this evening.
November 13: Taurid meteor shower peaks (ZHR ~ 5), best seen in predawn hours. Carbon star TU Gem best in evening. Mercury stationary; Mercury at apogee.

Week 3 (November 15 – November 21)

November 15: Mars north of Jupiter. M48, M47, and M46 well-placed this morning.
November 16: Lunar X near crater Werner visible this evening. Carbon star UV Aql best in early evening.
November 17: First Quarter Moon (6:48 AM). Leonid meteor shower peak (ZHR ~ 20), best seen in predawn hours today. Lunar Straight Wall, Eyes of Clavius, and Plato sunrise rays visible ().
November 18: 55 Psc colorful double star. Carbon star TX Psc best in evening.
November 19: Jewelled Handle (). Andromedae and colorful double star; WZ Cas best in evening.
November 20: Venus north of Spica. Mercury greatest western elongation ( from Sun) in morning sky. Two shadows on Jupiter visible at 7:33 PM. 59 Andromedae and colorful double star; VX And best in evening.
November 21: Carbon star TX Psc best in evening.

Week 4 & Beyond (November 22 – November 30)

November 22: Crater Bailly (). Long period variable star W And ().
November 24: Full Moon at 9:54 AM. Mars north of Regulus. Large tides expected over the following three days. Note for northern observers: "Today's Full Moon is the Rivers Freezing Over Moon."
November 25: Moon at perigean (). Uranus at opposition (). Europa and Io shadow transit on Jupiter at 12:57 AM.
November 26: Thanksgiving Day (USA).
November 28: Uranus opposition window highlights.
November 29: Venus at greatest illuminated extent. Try to spot Uranus () unaided this weekend.
November 30: Jupiter, Moon, Regulus, and Mars within this morning.

Deep-Sky & Binocular Target Highlights

The Silver Sliver Galaxy (NGC 891): An absolute standout edge-on spiral galaxy in Andromeda, matching the Milky Way in size and structure (~30 million light-years away).
Star Clusters & Nebulae: Beautiful sweeps through M52, the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), NGC 7789, and open clusters M46, M47, and M48.
Carbon Stars & Double Stars: Keep an eye out for colorful double star systems like Andromedae and 59 Andromedae, alongside rich carbon stars such as TU Gem, UV Aql, WZ Cas, and TX Psc for deep red hues.

The visual comets expected in the Northern Hemisphere for November 2026 are 161P/Hartley-IRAS (magnitude ~10) and 10P/Tempel 2 (magnitude ~11), both observable through binoculars or small telescopes.

Visual Comets in November 2026

161P/Hartley-IRAS: Reaches an estimated visual magnitude of about 10, making it a dim target best spotted with binoculars or a small telescope in dark evening skies.
10P/Tempel 2: Reaches an estimated visual magnitude of about 11, continuing to fade slightly after its August 2026 perihelion, visible via telescope.

Notable November 2026 Meteor Showers (Comet-Related)

November features active meteor showers linked to comet debris:

Southern Taurids: Peak on the night of November 4–5, 2026, originating from comet 2P/Encke and known for slow, bright fireballs.
Northern Taurids: Peak on November 12, 2026, also connected to comet 2P/Encke.
Leonid Meteor Shower: Peaks on the night of November 17–18, 2026, produced by dust from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle with fast meteors.

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Every bit helps! Thank you!

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Awesome Astronomy - Phoenix Planets & Zombie Stars Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

Paul Hill and Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host.

Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.

This month there is news of a zombie star racing through stellar evolution, a Phoenix planet rising from the ashes of stellar death, and danger to the UKs power infrastructure from space. Bumper skyguide for November and the usual witterings of Dr. Jeni and Paul.

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Ask A Spaceman Ep. 283: What's Really Going on with UAPs? Nov 03, 2026

Show notes

Strange Skies!

Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter.

What are UFOs? What are the chances that aliens have visited the Earth? Why should we bother talking about it? I discuss these questions and more in today's Ask a Spaceman!

Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter

All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com

Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PaulMSutter

Read a book: https://www.pmsutter.com/books

Keep those questions about space, science, astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and cosmology coming to #AskASpaceman for COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF TIME AND SPACE!

Big thanks to my top Patreon supporters this month: Justin G, Chris L, Alberto M, Corey D, Michael P, Naila, Sam R, Joshua, Scott M, Rob H, Scott M, Louis M, John W, Alexis, Gilbert M, Rob W, Jessica M, Jules R, Jim L, David S, Scott R, Heather, Mike S, Pete H, Steve S, Lisa R, Kevin B, Aileen G, Michael J, Phillip L, Steven B, Mark R, Alan B, Craig B, Richard K, Joe R, David P, Justin, Tracy F, Thomas K, James C, Syamkumar M, Mark D, Bruce A, Tim Z, Linda C, The Tired Jedi, Bob C, Stephen A, James R, Allen E, Michael S, Sheryl, David W, Chris, Michael S, Erlend A, James D, Karl W, Edward K, Scott K, Vivek D, M0PPET, Brad, Azra K, Steve R, M D Malahy, Brian O, Alonna M, Joseph B, Anders J, Blaine, Ry Guy, and Phil!

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Every bit helps! Thank you!

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Astronomy Cast Ep. 807: Mission Tech Series: Ion Drives Nov 02, 2026

Show notes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUAmf_p-FKU

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Oct 27, 2026.

The majority of rockets use a chemical propulsion system, but there are other ideas, fancy ideas that sound like they came from science fiction. But they're real and they work! Today we'll talk about ion engines, used by tie fighters everywhere!

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

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------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Travelers in the Night Eps. 389 & 390 Rose Rules Again & Meteor Whispers Nov 01, 2026

Show notes

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org

From May, 2026.

Today's 2 topics:

- Recently my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Rose Matheny discovered 8 new Earth approaching object candidates on a single night with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona. One of them, 2017 YO is a mile and a half diameter, main belt asteroid, while the other 7 are interesting Earth approaching objects. Another one of Rose's single night discoveries is 2017 YM1. When Rose first spotted it this space rock was moving rapidly north, at 6.9 miles per second, away from the Earth in the constellation of Ursae Major. About 5 days earlier it had passed near both the Earth and Our Moon at which time it was too far south to be seen from Arizona.

- Often observers report hearing a percussive sound, like a sonic boom from an aircraft, minutes after viewing a bright meteor fireball. In addition, in a fewer number of instances, there are many reliable reports of observers hearing popping, hissing, and rustling sounds at the same time they are observing a very bright meteor traveling though the night sky. Professional astronomers have long dismissed these reports saying that what these people hear simultaneously with their visual observations cannot be due to to sound traveling from the meteors path since sound travels 800,000 times slower than light and would take 1.5 to 4 minutes to traverse the distance that the light does in a tiny fraction of a second.

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

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Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Guide To Space - Space Bites: Phobos or Bust! & "Impossible" Green Stars Are In Fact Real Oct 31, 2026

Show notes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9P_8oZ4rCA

Hosted and recorded by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain)

From Oct 23, 2026.

The Japanese mission is off to Phobos. Heck, to Deimos too! And, actually, there are green stars. Lots of colors to choose from! You want purple? We got purple!

Also: Dark matter interacts with dark matter, a mysterious Martian cloud, Euclid discovers a comet, the Milky Way's disc, a mini-mini quasar, NGC 7129 & Seagull nebula (SH 2-292) photos, Patreon question answered!

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

EVSN - Exposed Planetary Core Discovered & LIGO Reveals "Spooky Popcorn" Oct 30, 2026

Show notes

Hosted by: Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

From July 2, 2020.

Join us today as we talk about the first exposed planetary core ever discovered. We examine research that neutrinos may come from supermassive black holes. We look at the filaments found in the halo of galaxy cluster Abell 2255. And we find out that LIGO's mirrors can vibrate due to quantum noise.

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Every bit helps! Thank you!

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Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Space Stories - Let's Look at the Weirdest Corners of Space! Oct 29, 2026

Show notes

https://www.youtube.com/live/H0qVigc9gnQ

Hosted by: Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Book Talk with Dr. Kimberly K. Arcand & Megan Watzke.

Streamed live on Feb 6, 2026.

When some of our favorite people have a new book on one of our favorite topics, you know we have to have them on! We are super pleased to be joined by Dr. Kimberly K. Arcand and Megan Watzke who discuss their new book "Why Space Will Freak You Out" (Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/4rzGtXw ). This colorful book, which mixes illustrations and observations of our Universe, launches February 10. Join us to learn how they picked their targets, and why you should and should not fear our universe.

We are grateful for your support on Patreon.com/CosmoQuestX

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Space Stories - Astronomy Words: Metal Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

Written & hosted by our Director, Avivah Yamani.

Why do astronomers call oxygen and carbon metals? Explore how stars created the elements that formed planets, and eventually, us!

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Cheap Astronomy - Dear CA #142: Knowns & Unknowns Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

Who knew?

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Do gravitons exist?

Once again we're dealing with something hypothetical here – so much like virtual particle pairs that pop out of nowhere and can evaporate black holes, it's entirely possible that gravitons exist, but at this time it's probably appropriate to entertain the notion that they might not exist either. Ten years ago we would have said the same thing about the Higgs boson, but that was positively identified by the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 and hence moved from being a hypothetical to a real particle at that time.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Is the Universe full of explosions?

Well, yes it does seem that way. There are the various classes of novae, but also bursts of various kinds, ranging from radio to gamma ray bursts. They've traditionally been classified separately although the boundaries of those classifications often blur. The word nova means new – arising from the fact that when they happen a star may become visible due to a sudden transient brightening. A standard nova arises from binary systems in which one star is a white dwarf that gravitationally draws material off its binary companion star which is a red giant.

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

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