The Leonids: Shooting Stars from the Lion
Every November, the sky offers a small celebration for anyone willing to stay up late. The Leonid meteor shower is active from early to late November, and in 2026 it reaches its peak on the night of Tuesday, November 17, into the early hours of Wednesday, November 18. The meteors seem to fly out of the constellation Leo, the Lion, and this year they share that part of the sky with Mars, Jupiter and Regulus.
What is happening in the sky
The Leonids come from comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle, which orbits the Sun about once every 33 years. Each time it passes close to the Sun, it sheds dust and tiny grains along its path. Every November, the Earth crosses this stream of debris, and the grains enter our atmosphere at about 71 kilometres per second, making the Leonids the fastest of the major meteor showers. Many leave bright, quick streaks, and some leave glowing trails that last a few seconds.
All the meteors seem to come from one point in the sky, called the radiant, inside the "Sickle" of Leo, the backward question mark that forms the Lion's head and mane. This is a perspective effect: like snowflakes in a car's headlights, parallel paths appear to spread out from a single point.
Mercury and Venus Turn Direct in Virgo: Two Planets Pause Beside Spica
On Friday, November 13, 2026, the two inner planets end their backward journeys almost together. Mercury stands still and turns direct late in the afternoon (Greek time), and Venus follows a few hours later, in the early hours of Saturday, November 14. Both pause in the same constellation, Virgo, and Venus does so only 1.4° from Spica, the brightest star of the Maiden.
What is happening in the sky
Retrograde motion is a trick of perspective. Mercury and Venus orbit the Sun inside the Earth's orbit, and they move faster than we do. When they pass between the Earth and the Sun, they overtake us, and for a few weeks they seem to slide backwards, westward against the stars.
Venus began its loop on October 3, at the very edge of Libra, and has since drifted 15.6° back into Virgo. Mercury reversed on October 24 in Libra, travelled 16° backwards and re-entered Virgo around November 8. Near a station a planet seems to hang motionless: between November 11 and November 17, Venus moves less than a tenth of a degree.
The distances add perspective. Venus is now only 0.32 AU from us, about 48 million kilometres, so its light reaches us in 2.7 minutes. Mercury is 0.81 AU away, 6.7 light-minutes. Spica, the star beside Venus, is roughly 250 light-years away. The "meeting" is only a line of sight.
Read more: Mercury and Venus Turn Direct in Virgo: Two Planets Pause Beside Spica
Mars Meets Jupiter in Leo: A Royal Conjunction Before Dawn
Set your alarm a little earlier this week. High in the predawn sky, two of the brightest planets are drifting toward each other among the stars of Leo, the Lion. On the morning of Monday, November 16, 2026, Mars catches up with Jupiter, and the pair pass about 1.2 degrees apart, roughly the width of two and a half full Moons. Just beside them shines Regulus, the Lion's heart, completing one of the loveliest planetary scenes of the autumn.
What is happening in the sky
Mars is much closer to us than Jupiter, so it moves faster against the background stars. Through October and November the red planet has been closing the gap morning after morning, and by November 12 the two are already less than two degrees apart. After the conjunction, Mars pulls ahead toward the east, and on November 26 it passes less than two degrees from Regulus itself. At the end of the month, around November 30 and December 1, the waning Moon joins the group, creating a beautiful gathering of Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Regulus.
The "meeting" is a line-of-sight effect. On November 16, Mars is about 1.3 astronomical units from Earth, while Jupiter is about 5.3, four times farther away. Light from Mars reaches us in about 11 minutes; light from Jupiter needs about 44. The two planets are nowhere near each other in space. From our viewpoint they simply line up in the same direction, against the stars of Leo.
How to see it
Leo climbs above the eastern horizon after midnight. By 5:30–6:00 a.m. Greek time, the pair stands high in the southeast. Jupiter is the brighter one, a steady cream-white light. Mars is fainter and clearly orange, sitting right beside it. No equipment is needed, but binoculars will show both planets in the same field of view, and a small telescope reveals Jupiter's four large moons. Lower in the east before sunrise you can also spot brilliant Venus near Spica in Virgo.
Read more: Mars Meets Jupiter in Leo: A Royal Conjunction Before Dawn
The Crescent Moon Crosses Ophiuchus: A Monthly Visit to the 13th Sign
On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, a slender crescent Moon, just two days after the New Moon of November 9, spends the entire day among the stars of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer. It is a perfect reminder that the 13th sign is not a theory: it is a real stretch of sky that the Moon, the Sun and the planets cross again and again.
The Moon's monthly visit to the 13th sign
The Moon circles the zodiac in about 27.3 days, moving roughly 13 degrees a day against the background stars. So every month it passes through all 13 zodiac constellations, Ophiuchus included. This time it enters the Serpent Bearer at about 02:30 Greek time on November 11 and moves on to Sagittarius (December 18 – January 19) around 15:40 on November 12. Along the ecliptic, Ophiuchus spans almost 19 degrees, nearly three times the width of its neighbour Scorpio (November 23 – November 29), the shortest sign of all.
Read more: The Crescent Moon Crosses Ophiuchus: A Monthly Visit to the 13th Sign
Scorpio, the Shortest Sign: The Moon Crosses the Scorpion in Thirteen Hours
On Tuesday, November 10, 2026, the young Moon does something it does every month, though hardly anyone notices. It crosses the whole of Scorpio (November 23 – November 29) in about thirteen hours. The Moon enters the stars of the Scorpion at 11:28 UT (13:28 Greek time) and moves on into Ophiuchus (November 30 – December 17) at about 00:28 UT on Wednesday (02:28 Greek time). No other part of the zodiac goes by so quickly.
Only a corner of the Scorpion
Scorpius is a long curve of bright stars ending in a raised stinger, yet the ecliptic, the path the Sun follows through the year, only clips its northwestern corner, near the head stars Acrab and Dschubba. Measured along that path, the constellation's official boundaries, drawn by the International Astronomical Union in 1930, cover only about 6.6 degrees. After that, the Sun's road runs through Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, for more than 18 degrees.
The rest of the Scorpion lies well to the south. Even Antares, the Scorpion's red heart, lies a little east of the point where the ecliptic leaves Scorpius, just below the stretch of the Sun's path that belongs to Ophiuchus.
Read more: Scorpio, the Shortest Sign: The Moon Crosses the Scorpion in Thirteen Hours
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