<p>A November skywatching guide from Popular Science, credited to Tom Hawking and published October 31, lays out five events for 2026: a planetary lineup, a Mars–Jupiter conjunction, the Leonid meteor shower, a Beaver supermoon and a comet reaching its closest point to the Sun. The sequence offers different kinds of skywatching across the month, from predawn planets to a comet the guide says will require a telescope.</p><p>Mercury is expected to join Venus, Mars and Jupiter around November 12. The guide places the planets in the morning sky before dawn: Venus in the southeast, Mars high in the east and Jupiter lower toward the east. Mercury, which the article describes as generally difficult to spot, should appear low in the southeast before sunrise. The date is given as “November 12-ish,” while the other three planets are described as remaining in alignment through November.</p><p>Mars and Jupiter are due to draw closest together in the eastern sky just before sunrise on November 16, with the bright star Regulus nearby. The guide describes this as a conjunction. It also cautions readers to stop looking once the Sun begins to appear.</p><p>The Leonids are visible through the month, with their predicted peak on November 18. The article says the shower usually produces 10 to 15 meteors per hour. Its radiant—the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to emerge—is expected to be next to Mars and Jupiter in the constellation Leo at peak. The guide also recalls an exceptional 1966 display, when thousands of meteors were visible per minute. That historical burst is not presented as a forecast for this November; the stated usual rate is much lower.</p><p>On November 24, the full Beaver Moon will be the first of three consecutive supermoons, according to the guide. It says peak illumination will occur at 9:50 a.m. Eastern time, while the Moon is below the horizon, and that it will appear brightest on the evenings of November 23 and 24. The article explains a supermoon as a full Moon that reaches perigee, its closest point to Earth, and appears somewhat larger and brighter than usual. It links the “Beaver” name to the animals’ autumn preparations for winter and notes that other communities use different names for the November Moon.</p><p>The month’s final event is Comet 161P/Hartley–IRAS reaching perihelion—its closest point to the Sun—on November 27. The guide puts its brightness at about magnitude 12 and says a decent telescope will be needed. Citing the International Comet Quarterly, it suggests an aperture of at least 7.8 inches (20 centimeters), with the comet sought east-northeast just above the horizon.</p><p>The guide recommends getting away from light pollution and allowing time for eyes to adjust to darkness. Its directions are broad compass bearings rather than a location-specific forecast, so the article does not give local viewing times for every event.</p><p><a href="https://www.popsci.com/science/skygazing-guide-november-2026/">Source: November skygazing: Planetary alignments, a supermoon, comet, and more</a></p>