This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 5:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:26. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:32 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Three of the naked-eye planets are visible in the night sky. Mercury moves throuigh inferior conjunction with the Sun today. Tonight, Saturn will be in the east-southeastern sky as it gets dark. It is the brightest starlike object low in that direction. Venus passed between the Earth and the Sun in inferior conjunction 12 days ago, and might be seen in the morning sky for sharp-eyed observers by 6:30 AM low in the east southeast. Jupiter and Mars will be in the southern sky by then with the waning crescent moon about halfway between them and Venus. Red Mars will be above and to the right of Jupiter and slowly closing. Mars will pass just above Jupiter on the 15th.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Saturn appears in the southeast at 9 PM November 4, 2026. It is appearing with, what is normally, the loneliest star in the sky: Fomalhaut. Created using Stellarium.
Mars and Jupiter appear to the east of the bright winter stars, and are approaching Regulus, in the spring constellation of Leo at 6:30 AM, November 5, 2026. Venus will also appear close to the horizon in the east southeast. The waning crescent moon will appear between Jupiter and Venus. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon, 4 days before new, at 6:30 AM tgomorrow morning November 5, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic views of the naked-eye planets as seen in a small telescope: At 9 PM, Saturn will be 19.4″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 45.1″. At 6:30 AM, Jupiter will be 36.3″ in diameter. Mars, not shown, will appear 6.7″ in diameter. Venus, really close to the Earth now (30.3 million miles or 48.9 million kilometers) will be 57.3″ in diameter and only 5.3% illuminated. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using4Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on November 4, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 5th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn, in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, November 4, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.
