November’s crisp autumn skies bring great views. Early in the month, the Moon and Saturn will appear close together in the night sky, followed just days later by a close pairing of the Moon and Jupiter. In between, observers will be treated to a brilliant supermoon, and those eager for an encore can look forward to the upcoming Leonid meteor showers and a dark sky celebration.

When two celestial objects appear close together in the sky from our perspective on Earth, it’s called a conjunction. Most conjunctions are visible to the naked eye, no telescope required, and November offers two fine examples. First, on November 1, Saturn and the Moon will rise in the eastern sky around dusk. Then, about a week later on November 9, the moon will make a showing with Jupiter around 10 PM in the constellation Gemini with better viewing in the early morning of November 10. While these alignments are only apparent—the objects remain far apart—conjunctions can make it easier to find faint objects in the sky and help observers identify the objects they are seeing.

The early part of the month will have one more bright highlight. The Beaver Moon will be the largest full moon of the year on November 5. Because the Moon is full when it is near its closest point to Earth, it will appear larger and brighter, also known as a supermoon. The latter part of this year is full of them. Full moons of both October and December qualify as supermoons too!

To round out the November celestial sights, the Leonids are expected to peak on the night of the 16th through the morning of the 18th. This meteor shower has brought “meteor storms” as recently as 2002, but a storm is not expected this year. If you need a little more, please join the City of Moab and Sand Flats Recreation Area to celebrate Moab’s dark skies, learn the basics of astronomy, and view space objects through telescopes on Wednesday, November 19 for the new moon. RSVP to savannah@moabcity.gov before the event. Stay warm and enjoy this month’s dance of the moon and planets! .