Leonid Meteor Shower, Saturn's Rings Disappear and More In Nov. 2025 Skywatching

Space.com

There was a conjunction of Mercury and Mars on Nov. 12. The Leonid meteor shower peaks the week on Nov. 16, plus find out why Saturn's rings are disappearing this month.   Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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00:00Mars and Mercury have a cozy conjunction, the Leonid meteor shower delights, and Saturn's

00:05rings are disappearing? That's what's up for November.

00:11Mars and Mercury will cozy up together in the night sky just after sunset on November

00:1512. The planets will experience what is known as a conjunction, meaning they appear close

00:20together in the sky from our view, even though, in real life, Mars and Mercury are well over

00:25a hundred million miles apart.

00:28You can see these two long-distance pals close together if you look slightly southwest just

00:33after sunset in the early evening sky on November 12. Mars will be just to the right above Mercury,

00:39and you'll know it's Mars by its distinctive reddish-orange color.

00:44The Leonid meteor shower will sparkle across the skies this month, peaking on November 17.

00:50While the meteor shower stretches from November 3rd through December 2nd, it will be at its

00:54most visible late on the night of November 16th into the dawn of November 17th, even into

01:00the early morning of November 18th. Look for meteors coming from the shower's radiant point

01:06within the constellation Leo in the eastern sky. With dark skies, you might see 10 to 15 meteors

01:13per hour with this shower, which happens when we travel through the debris trailing the comet

01:1755p Temple Tuttle.

01:21Saturn's rings will disappear from view this November. Saturn orbits the sun leaning at an angle of 26.7 degrees.

01:29This means that, from our view, its rings shift up and down over time. On November 23rd, Saturn will be angled in

01:36such a way that its rings face us, and since they're so thin, they'll just disappear from view.

01:44But don't worry, the rings aren't gone from view forever. As the planet continues to orbit, its rings will gradually become more visible again.

01:53Here are the phases of the Moon for November.

01:57You can stay up to date on all of NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

02:05I'm Chelsea Goad from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's what's up for this month.

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