The Jeddah Astronomical Society has set out what skywatchers across Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world can expect during November 2026, according to a report carried by صحيفة أحوال الإلكترونية. The society's president, engineer Majed Abu Zahra, described a month of lunar phases and close pairings, meteor showers, and four planets sharing the dawn sky. All times cited in the report are in Mecca time.
The moon's cycle opens with the last quarter on Sunday 1 November at 11:28 pm, followed by the new moon on Monday 9 November at 10:02 am. First quarter falls on Tuesday 17 November at 2:48 pm, and the moon reaches full phase on Tuesday 24 November at 5:53 pm.
Why it matters
Most of what the society describes can be seen without equipment, which makes the month unusually accessible to casual observers as well as dedicated amateur astronomers. The report notes that a dark site with an open horizon, a check on the weather and roughly 20 minutes for the eyes to adjust to darkness are the main requirements, and that bright light sources should be avoided. Optical aids help mainly with the fainter targets.
A full moon that arrives near the closest point of its orbit
The full moon on 24 November comes shortly before the moon reaches perigee, its nearest approach to Earth in its orbit, on Thursday 26 November at 11:58 pm. The report says this timing is what popular coverage calls a "supermoon," because the moon appears slightly larger and brighter than a full moon occurring near apogee, its farthest point. Abu Zahra noted that the term is a media label rather than an official astronomical classification.
Dawn planets and a triangle before sunrise
On Saturday 7 November, the waning crescent sits near Venus in the morning sky. Between 13 and 22 November, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter are all visible at dawn, spread across a wide stretch of sky.
Mercury is easiest to catch between 20 and 22 November, provided the eastern horizon is clear. The planet reaches its greatest western elongation on Saturday 21 November at 1:59 am.
Before sunrise on Sunday 22 November, Mars, Jupiter and the star Regulus form a roughly isosceles triangle, according to the report. Mars sits about 2.4 degrees from each of the other two, while Jupiter and Regulus are separated by about 3.9 degrees. The grouping is visible to the naked eye.
Meteor showers and close lunar encounters
The Southern Taurids are active through the month at a theoretical rate of about five meteors an hour. The Northern Taurids peak on the night of 11 to 12 November.
The Leonids peak on the night of 17 to 18 November, with an expected rate of 10 to 15 meteors an hour under ideal conditions. The report cautions that actual counts may be lower depending on light pollution, weather and how high the radiant sits in the sky.
The moon appears near Saturn on the evening of Friday 20 November. On 24 and 25 November it passes close to the Pleiades cluster and then the star Aldebaran.
Uranus reaches opposition to the sun on Thursday 26 November at 1:47 am, putting it in the sky for most of the night. The report recommends binoculars or a telescope for the planet.
A galaxy 2.5 million light-years away
Abu Zahra described November as a good month for viewing the Andromeda galaxy, which lies about 2.5 million light-years away. Away from city lights it shows as a faint, hazy patch to the unaided eye, and binoculars make it easier to pick out.
What to watch: the Leonid peak on 17–18 November and the 22 November dawn triangle offer the month's most straightforward viewing, with the supermoon following on 24 November.
