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UK Night Sky This Week
9 – 14 November 2026
The UK night sky this week is as dark as it gets, with New Moon on Monday morning and only a thin crescent setting early from Thursday. That suits the Northern Taurid meteors, which peak on Thursday night. Before dawn Mars and Jupiter close to 1.4° apart, and Venus sits beside Spica. All times are GMT.
Jump to Night-by-Night Planner ↓🌠 What to See in the UK Night Sky Tonight: Taurids, Mars and Jupiter
This week the UK night sky offers the peak of the Northern Taurid meteor shower on the night of Thursday 12 to Friday 13 November, with about five slow meteors an hour and no Moon at all after 17:38 GMT. Before dawn Mars and Jupiter close from 2.8° apart on Monday 9 November to 1.4° on Saturday 14 November, 51° up in the south at 06:45 GMT, on the way to their closest pairing on Monday 16 November. Low in the east-south-east at 06:45, Venus sits 1.2° to 1.4° from Spica all week, and Mercury climbs into view lower down to the left from about Wednesday 11 November. Saturn is up every evening and highest, 39° in the south, at 21:27 GMT on Monday.
The Taurids come from debris shed by comet Encke, and there are two streams. The Southern branch peaked last week, around 5 November, and the Northern branch takes over now, so both are still adding meteors. This is a gentle shower: expect a handful an hour at best from a dark site, fewer from town. What makes it worth a look is the speed. Taurid meteors are slow, and the stream is known for the odd bright fireball. Our Taurid meteor shower guide has the full background.
This year the Northern Taurid timing could hardly be better. The 11%-lit Moon sets at 17:38 GMT on Thursday, before the sky is fully dark, and does not come back until midday on Friday. The radiant, near the Pleiades in Taurus, is 30° up in the east at 20:00, 48° by 22:00 and 59° in the south-south-east at midnight. So 22:00 to 04:00 GMT is the best window, from Plymouth to Edinburgh. Lie back, face roughly south-east and look about halfway up rather than straight at the radiant. Friday night is nearly as good, with the crescent setting at 18:39.
The dawn sky holds the brightest planets. At 06:45 on Monday Mars, magnitude +0.7, is 2.8° above and slightly to the right of Jupiter, which shines at magnitude −2.1 in Leo, about 5° from Regulus. The gap shrinks by a quarter to a third of a degree each morning: 2.1° on Wednesday, 1.6° on Friday, 1.4° on Saturday. The pair are closest, 1.2° apart, on Monday 16 November, just after this week ends.
Lower down, Venus is 1.2° to 1.4° from Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, between 11° and 15° up in the east-south-east at 06:45 all week. On Monday the two are almost level, Spica just to the left; by Saturday Spica sits just below and left of Venus. Venus, magnitude −4.7, is easy; Spica at magnitude 1.0 may need binoculars in the twilight. Mercury is the hard one. On Saturday it is 7.9° up in the east-south-east at 06:45, below and to the left of Venus, at magnitude 0.1, and it improves into next week before greatest western elongation around 20 to 21 November. Edinburgh sees it about 2° lower at the same time, but sunrise there is later, so 07:00 to 07:15 works better. Never sweep binoculars near the horizon once the Sun is up. If cloud is a worry, what you can see in the sky tonight gives a live score for your postcode.
🌟 Planets Visible from the UK This Week
What to use this week
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New Moon on Monday leaves the evenings dark all week, the best stretch of the month for faint targets. Binoculars for the Northern Taurid night, the Andromeda Galaxy and Venus beside Spica at dawn; a telescope for Saturn's rings in the evening and Mars and Jupiter drawing together before sunrise.
With no Moon in the evening sky, 15x70s show the Andromeda Galaxy as a long oval glow 71° up in the east-south-east at 20:00 GMT, the Double Cluster in Perseus 63° up in the east-north-east and the Pleiades rising in the east. Uranus, magnitude 5.6, sits 5.7° from the Pleiades. At dawn they show Spica 1.2° to 1.4° from Venus, 11° to 15° up in the east-south-east at 06:45 GMT, and by Saturday they pick up Mercury lower down to the left. A tripod adapter makes a real difference with binoculars this heavy.
Saturn is 39° high due south at 21:27 GMT on Monday, magnitude +0.5, and 100x in a 130mm Dobsonian shows the narrow rings and Titan. Before dawn Jupiter's disc is 37 arcseconds across, enough for the two main cloud belts and the four Galilean moons, 51° up in the south at 06:45. Mars is a small orange disc only 7 arcseconds wide, but at low power the two planets fit in one field by Saturday, 1.4° apart. Point it at Venus too: a thin crescent, 8% to 13% lit and 51 to 55 arcseconds across.
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🌛 What Phase Is the Moon This Week?
New Moon is at 07:02 GMT on Monday 9 November, so the Moon is out of the night sky for the first half of the week. It sets at 15:45 GMT on Monday, 16:12 on Tuesday and 16:49 on Wednesday, all before or during twilight. Check is it a full moon tonight for exact times where you are.
A thin evening crescent appears from Thursday. On Thursday 12 November it is 11% lit and only 3° up in the south-west at 17:00, setting at 17:38, so you need a clear, flat horizon to catch it. On Friday it is 17% lit, 7° up in the south-south-west at 17:00 and sets at 18:39. By Saturday it is 25% lit, 11.5° up in the south-south-west at 17:00 and sets at 19:49. Edinburgh sees it a few degrees lower and sets it about 20 minutes earlier. Look for earthshine on the dark part of the crescent on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Sunset is at 16:21 GMT on Monday and 16:14 by Saturday, and astronomical darkness starts between 18:21 and 18:15. First Quarter follows at 11:47 GMT on Tuesday 17 November, so this is the darkest week of November.
🌌 Deep Sky Targets for UK Observers This Week
This is the week to get to a dark site. Every evening is Moon-free from about 18:20 GMT, and from Thursday the crescent is gone by 17:38, 18:39 and 19:49 in turn. Try these, all timed for central England. Our UK dark sky sites map shows the nearest proper dark spot to you.
- M31, the Andromeda Galaxy: 71° up in the east-south-east at 20:00 and almost overhead by 22:00. Binoculars show a long oval glow; from a really dark site you can see it with the naked eye.
- The Double Cluster in Perseus: two star clusters in one binocular field, 63° up in the east-north-east at 20:00, below the W of Cassiopeia.
- The Pleiades: 32° up in the east at 20:00 and 50° by 22:00. Binoculars turn the six or seven naked-eye stars into a few dozen, and Uranus is 5.7° away.
- Albireo, in the beak of Cygnus: a gold and blue double star, split by any telescope at 30x, 42° up in the west at 20:00. Catch it early, as it sinks fast.
- The Milky Way: before about 21:00 it arches from Cygnus in the west, overhead through Cassiopeia and down into Perseus in the north-east. Our guide on how to see the Milky Way from the UK explains what to expect.
- M42, the Orion Nebula: 25° up in the south-east at midnight, below the belt of Orion, and 32° up by 02:00.
All of these are good targets for the best binoculars for stargazing: a 10x50 pair shows most of them. Check ISS passes tonight for evening passes, and keep an eye on the UK aurora forecast. With moonless evenings all week, any alert is worth acting on, especially from Scotland and northern England.
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📅 Night-by-Night Planner: 9 – 14 November 2026
Sunset falls from 16:21 GMT on Monday to 16:14 on Saturday, sunrise moves from 07:20 to 07:29 · Astronomical darkness starts between 18:21 and 18:15, and the Moon is gone before dark until Thursday, then sets at 18:39 on Friday and 19:49 on Saturday · All times GMT, calculated for central England