November Night Sky: The Moon Meets Mars and Jupiter Over Las Vegas Tonight, and a Supermoon Follows on Nov. 24
November's sky show starts tonight. Around midnight on Nov. 2 and 3 the Moon, Mars and Jupiter line up above the eastern horizon, Mars and Jupiter close to about a degree apart mid-month, and the first supermoon since January — the full Beaver Moon — rises on Nov. 24. Las Vegas gets a dry, clear Monday night to watch the opening act.
The first act is tonight. According to National Geographic's November night-sky guide, around midnight on November 2 and 3 the Moon, Mars and Jupiter will appear in a tight line above the eastern horizon, travelling higher until sunrise, with the planets and the Moon within roughly six degrees of each other — about a binocular field — on November 2. Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, sits just below the trio. It is a naked-eye event: no telescope is required, only a clear view east after midnight.
The planets keep dancing all month. Mars and Jupiter draw closer each night before a mid-November planet parade, appearing as close as roughly one degree apart around November 14 to 16, and the Leonid meteor shower peaks on November 17-18 with up to 15 meteors an hour under good conditions, according to timeanddate's November sky guide. The month closes with the Moon rejoining Mars and Jupiter on November 30.
The headline event lands on November 24: the full Beaver Moon is the first supermoon since January, appearing up to 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than the Moon at its farthest point, with peak illumination at 14:53 UTC that day — and the best viewing, as with every supermoon, is at moonrise or moonset. Las Vegas's advantage is the sky itself: the station's live weather feed gives Monday dry with a 0 percent rain chance and a dry week behind it, so valley residents who step outside tonight — or drive a few minutes into the dark desert — get the Moon, Mars and Jupiter lineup under the clearest skies the month could ask for.
