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The Moon and Planets in November 2009


Diary of Solar System events for November 2009.

The Major Planets in November 2009

Jupiter will remain prominent in throughout the evening. Both Mars and Saturn will rise a little earlier in the morning sky, both being visible to the northeast before the sky gets too bright.

Venus rises only a few minutes before the Sun so will not be readily visible. Mercury is also close to the Sun most of the month, but may be visible low in the evening twilight by the end of November.
Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

The planets in 2009: geocentric events and conjunctions Apparent sizes of the Planets in 2009

Bright Asteroids Jovian Satellites Saturn's Titan Artificial Satellites

Orbital diagrams for the inner planets December 2008 to March 2009, April to July 2009, July to November 2009 and the outer planets for 2009.

Date (NZDT) Diary of Solar System Events in November 2009 for New Zealand
November 1 to 3 Mars crosses M44.
November 3 Full Moon at 8:14am NZDT (Nov 2, 19:14 UT).
November 4 Venus 3.6° below Spica, magnitude 1.6, very low to east at sunrise.
November 5 Mercury at superior conjunction.
November 6 Moon furthest north, resulting in the lowest southern hemisphere transit for the month.
November 7 Moon at perigee, its closest to the Earth for the Lunar month, 368912 km.
November 10 51% lit waning Moon 7° to right of Mars, early morning sky.
November 10 Moon at last quarter 4:56am NZDT (Nov 9, 15:56 UT).
November 11 39% lit waning Moon 3.2° to upper right of Regulus, magnitude 1.4, brightest star in Leo, morning sky.
November 13 19% lit waning Moon 6° above Saturn, morning sky, before sunrise.
November 15 5% lit crescent Moon 3.5° to right of Spica, magnitude 1.4, brightest star in Leo, low to east in dawn sky.
November 17 New Moon at 8:14am NZDT, (Nov 16, 19:17 UT).
November 18 2.4% lit crescent Moon ° to upper right of Antares, magnitude 1.1, brightest star in Scorpius, low in sky following sunset.
November 19 Moon furthest south, resulting in the highest southern hemisphere transit for the month.
November 23 Moon at apogee, its greatest distance from the Earth for the Lunar month, 404734 km.
November 23 36% lit waxing Moon 6° from Jupiter evening sky, closest near midnight. Only slightly further apart the next night
November 25 Moon at first quarter 10:29am NZDT (Nov 24, 21:39 UT).
November 30 65% lit waxing Moon 6° below Uranus evening sky, closest after midnight.

Diary events derived from Dave Herald's OCCULT 4

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Notes on the Planets in November 2009

Mercury in November MERCURY is at superior conjunction, on the far side of the Sun on November 5. This will mean it is too close to the Sun for observation most of the month. After conjunction, Mercury will become an evening object, setting shortly after the Sun.

By the end of November, Mercury will set about 75 minutes after the Sun, so may be visible in the evening twilight. 40 minutes after sunset, the planet will be very low in a direction between southwest and west.


Venus in November VENUS remains a morning object, rising about half an hour before the Sun all month. So it will be a very low object, only 4 or 5 degrees above the horizon by the time the Sun rises. Given a clear horizon, between east and southeast, the brilliance of the planet should make it visible.

Spica will be some 3.5° above Venus on the morning of November 4.


Mars in November MARS continues to rise well after midnight throughout November, so remains a morning object. On the last morning of October, the planet will be on the western edge of the Praesepe (Beehive) star cluster (M44) in Cancer. It will cross the cluster over the next 3 nights to be on the eastern edge on November 3. Mars crosses just north of the centre of the cluster.

For the rest of the month, Mars will move to the east across Cancer, to lie on the boundary between it and Leo on November 30. On the morning of November 10, the Moon at last quarter will be just over 7° to the upper right of Mars, the previous morning it will be a similar distance to the left of Mars, and then 61% lit.

Jupiter in November JUPITER is now moving through the stars in a forward, that is easterly direction after being stationary in October. This will mean its distance from Neptune will again start to decrease, halving from 6° to 3° during the month.

Jupiter remains in Capricornus all month and starts the month close to the 4.3 magnitude star ιCap, the two being just over 20arc-minutes apart on November 1. Jupiter moves steadily away from the star during November.

On November 23 the 36% lit Moon will be 6° from Jupiter, the two getting a little closer through the evening. The following evening the two are only slightly further apart, although the Moon will be on the other side of Jupiter, and now 45% lit. This time the two will move apart during the evening.

Saturn in November SATURN will start moving further up in the morning sky during November, rising 2 hours earlier at the end of the month compared to the beginning. By November 30, the planet will be nearly 20° up 45 minutes before sunrise, in a direction between northeast and east.

The ring system is beginning to open as seen from the Earth, with the northern face now in view and lit by the Sun. Even though they are opening, the rings will still appear quite narrow for the next few months.

Saturn is in Virgo at present moving to the east and a little over half way between Regulus in Leo and Spica the brightest star of Virgo. On the morning of November 13, it will be joined by the crescent Moon, 19% lit. The Moon will be 6° above the planet.

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