November 10, 2026: See Venus, Jupiter, and Mars before sunrise, Saturn after sunset, and locate Uranus and Neptune with a binocular.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:34 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:35 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun: At Chicago’s latitude, daylight spans 10 hours, 1 minute, compared to 10 hours, 59 minutes in Miami. Farther north, at Anchorage’s latitude, the sun is in the sky for 7 hours, 34 minutes. The sun is overhead at local noon at 17° south latitude. In Auckland, daylight extends over 13 hours, 56 minutes, compared to 10 hours, 24 minutes in Nashville. Both cities are nearly equidistant from the equator.
Moon: The New moon phase occurred yesterday. At sunset, the crescent moon is less than 5° above the southwest horizon, setting about 30 minutes later. It is visible again tomorrow evening, low in the southwest. The view is easier in two evenings. During this season, the ecliptic makes a low angle with the western horizon, and the moon is below that plane, delaying the lunar orb’s visibility.
Inner Planets
Mercury: The Elusive Planet rises 64 minutes before sunrise. Fifteen minutes later, it is less than 5° above the east-southeast horizon. The planet is faint, lost in bright morning twilight. Better viewing is ahead when it reaches greatest elongation on November 20.
Venus: The Morning Star appears higher in the east-southeast each morning. An hour before sunrise, it is over 10° above the horizon, 1.2° to Spica’s upper right, Virgo’s brightest star. Through a telescope, the planet shows a thin crescent phase, 10% illuminated.
Bright Outer Planets
Jupiter and Mars are high in the south-southeast, to Venus’ upper right. After the Morning Star, the Jovian Giant is the second brightest celestial body in the sky this morning, even brighter than Sirius, which is nearly 25° above the southwest horizon.
Jupiter slowly rambles eastward in front of Leo, 4.8° to Regulus’ upper right, the Lion’s brightest star.
Through a binocular, Jupiter’s four largest moons are visible this morning, three to the upper right of the planet’s globe and one to the lower left, generally aligning with the plane of the ecliptic and Jupiter’s equator. A telescope reveals subtle but distinct cloud bands, whipped parallel to the planet’s equator by Jupiter’s rapid rotation.
Mars is overtaking Jupiter. This morning it is 2.4° to Jupiter’s upper right. Their conjunction occurs in six mornings.
Of the three morning planets, Mars is brighter than most of Orion’s stars, except for Rigel and Betelgeuse, although it is only 7% the brightness of Jupiter, which is about 10% of Venus’ brightness. In this comparison, Mars is only 0.8% the brightness of Venus, showing the brilliance of the Morning Star in comparison to the other celestial wonders this morning.
Saturn: The Ringed Wonder is easily found nearly 30° above the east-southeast horizon one hour after sunset. Its rings and southern hemisphere are pretty views through a telescope.
Saturn retrogrades for about another month. It is in front of a dim Cetus starfield. Watch its changing place in front of the starfield with a binocular.
Faint Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted World is in the same binocular field of view as the Pleiades star cluster. It is visible without optical assistance from a rural location away from outdoor lighting on moonless nights. By four hours after sunset—not so late with early sunsets—the star cluster is about halfway up in the east. Resembling a miniature dipper, the stellar bundle is likely first seen with peripheral vision.
Explore the star cluster’s blue-white stars through the binocular. Then shift the binocular so the Pleiades are near the top of the field. Then locate stars 32 and 33 Tauri (32 Tau and 33 Tau) near the center. Look for stars 37 and 39 Tauri (37 Tau and 39 Tau) below the center. Aquamarine Uranus, about the same brightness as stars 32, 33, and 39 Tauri, is near the bottom of the field. As stars are identified, shift the binocular so that Uranus appears closer to the center of the field of view.
Neptune: The Distant Blue World is the most difficult of the eight planets in the modern solar system model to see. It is less than 7° (one binocular field) to Saturn’s right (west), in front of a faint Pisces’ starfield. It is near 27 and 29 Piscium (27 Psc and 29 Psc). Neptune is likely first seen with averted (peripheral) vision. Look away from the center of the field and the planet might be seen. Try this across several nights before the moon brightens.
A telescope may not help with the view, especially when the tendency is to use too much magnification. Because the planet is faint, use the lowest-magnification eyepiece the telescope provides, even with a computerized mount that can point to the exact spot in the sky. Averted vision still might be needed to see the distant planet.
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