The New Moon on November 9, 2026, offers the darkest window of the month for deep-sky observing. From November 5 to 12, the Moon is absent: a full week without lunar light pollution. This is the perfect time to set up your telescope and photograph the major fall targets.
The Moon is the most powerful source of light pollution in the night sky. A full Moon washes out the deep sky: nebulae fade, galaxies disappear, and the faintest stars are no longer visible. Conversely, a moonless night under a truly dark sky reveals the most spectacular sights of the deep sky: the Milky Way, nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies.
In November 2026, the New Moon occurs on the 9th at 7:02 a.m. UTC. The Moon will be absent from the sky from approximately November 5 through 12. That’s a full week of astronomically dark nights. Enjoy it.
The Orion Nebula is the most spectacular object in the fall sky. Visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch in Orion’s sword, it appears through binoculars as a greenish nebula with the Trapezium star cluster at its heart. Through an 80–100 mm telescope, details become apparent: the nebula’s dark wings, the four-star Trapezium, and its outward extensions.
Orion rises around 8 p.m. in November and reaches its highest point around midnight. It’s the ideal subject for a long-exposure astrophotography session.
The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to ours and is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. It appears as an elongated patch in the constellation Andromeda. Through binoculars, it is clearly visible. Through a telescope, you can see its bright nucleus and spiral arms.
M31 reaches its highest point in the sky early in the evening in November. It’s the first target of the evening, before Orion rises high in the sky.
The Pleiades are the most famous star cluster in the sky. Seven stars are visible to the naked eye, and dozens more with binoculars. Through a telescope, the bluish reflection nebula surrounding the stars appears against a dark sky. The Pleiades rise late at night in November and reach their highest point around 2:00 a.m.
The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova observed in 1054 by Chinese astronomers. It is located near Taurus, about 1° north of Zeta Tauri. With a magnitude of 8.4, it is invisible to the naked eye but visible through a 100-mm telescope as a faint, elongated patch.
To make the most of the dark sky, the easiest thing to do is to go outside under a sky far from the city. A pair of 10×50 binoculars is enough to spot M31, M45, and M42. The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye under a Bortle 1–3 sky.
A mirrorless or DSLR camera with a wide-angle lens (14–24 mm) at f/2 or f/2.8, mounted on a camera tripod. Exposures of 10 to 20 seconds at ISO 1600–3200. Photograph the Milky Way, the sky around Orion, and the Pleiades in a wide-angle shot. The Rule of 500 (500 / focal length in mm) determines the maximum exposure time before star trails appear.
With a star tracker or an AM3N equatorial mount, exposure times can reach 60 seconds or more. You can photograph M42, M31, and M45 in greater detail. Exposures of 60–120 seconds at f/4–f/5, ISO 800–1600, using either a wide-field or small telescope, produce stunning results. An 80–100 mm telescope on a tracking mount (AM3N, Wave 100i, Star Adventurer GTi) is ideal.
For nebulae and galaxies, an 80- to 200-mm telescope on a tracking mount, with an astrophotography camera (ASI2600MC, ASI533, ASI585) and a light pollution filter. Exposure times ranging from 60 to 300 seconds, stacked over 1–3 hours, reveal nebulae in all their depth. This is why the dark window of the new moon is essential: without the moon, the sky background is darker, the signal-to-noise ratio is better, and faint nebulae become visible.
The best night is the night of November 8 to 9 or November 9 to 10: the Moon is completely absent, and the sky is as dark as it can be.
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This article is based on forecasts from Sterngucker.de (“Night Sky November 2026”), Digital Camera World (“Astrophotography November 2026”), and National Geographic (“November 2026 Night Sky Events”). The positions and magnitudes are verified for November 2026 at 47°N.
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