November 1, 2026: Daylight Saving Time ends as the Last Quarter moon approaches Jupiter and Mars. Find Venus, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the November sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:23 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:45 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Daylight Saving Time ends this morning. Clocks are set back one hour at 2 a.m. local time to resume Standard Time.
Sun: At Chicago’s latitude, daylight spans 10 hours, 22 minutes. The return to Standard Time does not shorten daylight’s length by an hour. It merely resets the clock one hour. From yesterday to today, daylight was shortened two minutes. Meanwhile, in Miami, the sun is in the sky for 11 hours, 10 minutes, compared to 8 hours, 29 minutes in Anchorage. The sun’s light shines most directly toward the southern hemisphere, where it is overhead at local noon at 14° south latitude. In Auckland, daylight spans 13 hours, 37 minutes, compared to 10 hours, 41 minutes in Nashville. Both cities are nearly equidistant from the equator.
Moon: The moon is at the morning half, or Last Quarter, phase at 2:28 p.m. Central Time, after it sets across most of North America. This morning, the lunar orb, 54% illuminated, is high in the southern sky during morning twilight. It approaches Jupiter and Mars. More about that below. Use a binocular to see the moon 3.5° to the Beehive star cluster’s upper right. The cluster is inside the Crab’s body, marked by Asellus Borealis, Asellus Australis, Eta Cancri (η Cnc), and Theta Cancri (θ Cnc). Look at least an hour before sunrise.
Inner Planets
Mercury: The Elusive Planet reaches inferior conjunction, between Earth and Sun, on November 4, and begins a morning appearance. Today, Mercury is east of the sun, setting less than 10 minutes after sundown.
Venus: The Morning Star emerges from bright morning twilight during the next week. This morning it is nearly 5° above the east-southeast horizon 30 minutes before sunrise. For the next several mornings, it gains 8 minutes of rising time compared to sunrise. The lunar crescent appears nearby on November 6 and 7.
Bright Outer Planets
Jupiter and Mars are in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Step outside an hour before daybreak. Jupiter is the “bright star” over halfway from the southeast horizon to overhead and to the moon’s lower left. The Jovian Giant rambles eastward in front of Leo, 6.0° to Regulus’ upper right, Leo’s brightest star.
Mars marches eastward in front of Leo, 5.6° to Jupiter’s upper right. Watch the Red Planet overtake and pass Jupiter on November 16, followed by conjunction with Regulus 10 mornings later.
This morning, the slightly gibbous moon is nearly 15° to Mars’ upper right and nearly 12° to Pollux’s lower left, one of the Gemini Twins. The Regulus-Pollux span is 37°, while the distance from Jupiter to the moon is 20°.
Saturn: The Ringed Wonder is easily located in the east-southeast as darkness falls. While not as bright as Venus or Jupiter, it is the brightest star in the region. The planet is about 45° above the southern horizon less than two hours before local midnight.
A view through a telescope reveals the icy rings and a direct view toward Saturn’s southern hemisphere. Depending on the telescope’s properties, at least Titan, the largest saturnian moon, is visible along with several others.
Saturn slowly retrogrades in front of Cetus.
Faint Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted World is easier to locate with the moon nearing the waning crescent phases. It is in the same binocular field as the Pleiades star cluster. After looking at the cluster’s blue stars, tilt the binocular slightly so the stellar heap is toward the right edge of the field of view. Locate the stars 32, 33, 37, and 39 Tauri (32 Tau, 33 Tau, 37 Tau, and 39 Tau). Aquamarine Uranus is near the left edge of the field and about the same brightness as 39 Tauri.
Neptune: The Distant Blue Planet is about 10° west (to the right) of Saturn. It is in a very faint starfield with 27 and 29 Piscium (27 Psc and 29 Psc). Try to locate it through a binocular when it is in the southern sky about five hours after sunset. This is a challenging view and may require multiple attempts across several nights. 2026, November 1: Thirty minutes before sunrise, brilliant Venus is low in the east-southeast.
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