NASA outlines November 2026 skywatching events

NASA said November 2026 would feature meteor showers, a close pairing of Mars and Jupiter, a Voyager 1 milestone and a supermoon. The Southern Taurids would peak around Nov. 5, followed by the Northern Taurids around Nov. 12. Each Taurid shower would produce around five meteors per hour under ideal conditions, with occasional bright fireballs.

The Leonids would be visible Nov. 17-18 before dawn and after moonset. NASA said the shower could produce up to around 15 meteors per hour under ideal conditions, though most viewers would see fewer.

Mars and Jupiter would appear 1.2 degrees apart before sunrise on Nov. 15-16. NASA said Jupiter would be the brighter point of light, with reddish Mars nearby. Both planets would be visible with the unaided eye.

On Nov. 17, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft was due to become the first human-made object to travel one light-day from Earth. NASA said a signal traveling at the speed of light would take 24 hours to reach the spacecraft and another 24 hours for the signal to return. NASA also scheduled its Shine Bright for Voyager's Light-Day activation for Nov. 17.

A full supermoon would appear on Nov. 24, rising in the east around sunset. NASA said the event would begin a series of three consecutive supermoons in November, December, and January. The supermoon would look even bigger near the horizon, but NASA said that effect would be the Moon illusion.

NASA recommended choosing a dark location, allowing about half an hour for the eyes to adjust and viewing as much sky as possible. The agency said the Taurid meteors appeared to originate in two areas of the constellation Taurus, while the Leonids could be viewed in the early morning hours after the Moon set.