November 6, 2025: Autumn reaches its midpoint tonight as a bright nearly full moon shines nearly all night. Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus highlight the sky during the night.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:30 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:39 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
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Autumn’s Midpoint
Autmn’s midpoint occurs at 11:30 p.m. Central Time, midway from the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. The seasons’ midpoints are marked by observances in some circles as four cross-quarter days – Candlemas (February 2), May Day (May 1), Lammas Day (August 1), and Halloween (October 31).
Morning Moon
The bright moon, 99% illuminated is in the west before sunrise. Rising later each evening, the lunar orb appears higher in the western sky over the next several mornings. Before sunrise, it is about 25° above the horizon and 3.6° to the lower right of the Pleiades star cluster. The Pleiads are not easily visible in this moonlight, use a binocular. After sunrise in most of North America, the moon occults (eclipses) the Pleiades from Alaska to western Europe.
The Pleiades ride on the back of Taurus in celestial artwork. The red-orange color star Aldebaran, the constellation’s brightest star, is over 15° to the moon’s upper left.
The moon is still too bright to easily see Uranus and Neptune. The Tilted World is near the Pleiades and in the same binocular field. Neptune appears in the same binocular field with Saturn and it is in the sky when the moon is present, though it set several years ago.
Bright Jupiter with Gemini
Jupiter is high in the southwest during morning twilight. Its eastward ramble slows as the Jovian Giant’s slows as the illusion of retrograde begins in less than a week. This morning it is 6.7° to Pollux’s lower left, one of the Gemini Twins.
Morning Star
Venus, the brightest starlike body in the sky, is low in the east-southeast. It retreats toward brighter twilight and its superior conjunction with the sun early next year. Find a clear view toward the planet.
This morning, find Spica, Virgo’s brightest star, 6.3° to the Morning Star’s upper right. A binocular is helpful to make the star’s initial identification, though it is high enough to sight without optical assistance.
Venus passed Spica on the 2nd and the gap between them widens each morning.
Find Arcturus, the second brightest star seen at the mid-northern latitudes, over 20° above the eastern horizon and nearly 30° to Venus’ upper left.
Mercury and Mars
Mercury and Mars are in bright western twilight after sundown and they are not visible. Mercury revolves toward inferior conjunction, passing between Earth and Sun in two weeks. Then it zips into the eastern predawn sky for its best morning apparition of the year.
Similarly, Mars is in bright twilight as it slides toward its solar conjunction early next year, followed by a slow climb into the eastern morning sky.
Saturn
Saturn, considerably dimmer than Venus and Jupiter, but brighter than most stars in the sky tonight, is in the southeastern sky after sundown. It is the lone bright planet until Jupiter rises around five hours after sundown. The Ringed Wonder is dimmer than average because its icy rings reflect light away from Earth. Currently, we see the rings from the edge, like looking at the side of a dinner plate.
Saturn is in the southern sky about four hours after nightfall. With Neptune in the same binocular field with Saturn, this would be the best time to view the most distant planet in the solar system, but the moon is in the sky.
The star Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, is low in the south-southeast, to Saturn’s lower right. As the 13th brightest star seen at the mid-northern latitudes, it is the most southerly star among the 15brightest stars for those sky watchers. Fomalhaut’s southerly position places it in the evening sky during autumn and early winter.
Deneb Kaitos, the tail of Cetus, is below Saturn and lower in the sky than Fomalhaut.
Moon After Sundown
By two hours after sundown, the moon, 95% illuminated, is low in the east-northeast spreading its light across the sky and the landscape. Tonight, it is over 6° to the Pleiades’ lower left and over 10° to Aldebaran’s upper left, that is near the horizon at this hour.
Look for the moon and three bright planets during the night.
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