Namibia's night sky in November: Comet Lemmon after sundowner

 This month, stargazers in Namibia will be in for a treat in the evenings and mornings. After the sundowner, a comet will grace their view, and before sunrise, shooting stars will invite them to make a cheerful wish.

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) low in the west, to the right of the constellation Scorpius: The evening sky on November 18 at 8:00 PM, as seen from Windhoek, looking west-southwest. Image: Screenshot from an interactive star chart on TimeAndDate.com

To observe Comet C/2025 A6, also dubbed 'Lemmon', you should hurry and make sure to have a good pair of binoculars. It will already be near the horizon in the west after sunset, to the right of the constellation Scorpius.

Of the five planets visible to the naked eye, only Saturn appears in the starry sky at night. Mercury and Mars are located between and below the claws of Scorpio and are therefore already below the horizon. Saturn, on the other hand, can be seen high in the northeast. It sets in the west shortly after 3:00 a.m.

Leonids in the early morning

Center of the Leonid meteor shower in the head of the constellation Leo: The morning sky on November 18 at 4:00 a.m., as seen from Windhoek, looking northeast. Image: Screenshot of an interactive star chart on TimeAndDate.com

A major attraction in the starry sky in the early morning is the Leonid meteor shower. From November 6 to 30, the Earth moves through the particle belt left behind by Comet Temple-Tuttle.

The center of the area in the sky where the meteors appear is located in the head of the constellation Leo – hence their name. The Leonids are probably best observed from 4:30 a.m. until dawn. The meteor shower is strongest on November 18, with up to 10 meteors per hour.

Jupiter and the Moon offer another unusual event on November 10. Viewed from Earth, the two orbs appear very close together. Jupiter rises around 11:30 p.m. and is high in the north, near the constellation Gemini, around 5:00 a.m. the following morning.

Unfortunately, Venus will not appear above the horizon until 5:20 a.m. (all planetary times are based on Windhoek, November 15; see TimeAndDate.com ). Since this is only about 45 minutes before sunrise, it quickly fades into the morning twilight.

Sun and Moon

Sunrise on 1 November is around 6.06 am, sunset around 7.04 pm. On 30 November, the sun rises at around 5.58 am and sets at around 7.22 pm. The length of the day (time with sunlight) will therefore increase by 26 minutes over the course of the month – from 10 hours and 58 minutes to 11 hours and 24 minutes (see Timeanddate.com).

The phases of the moon in November: full moon 5 November, last quarter 12 November, new moon 20 November, first quarter 28 November. The moonlight is therefore the least disturbing when observing the stars and planets from mid to late November.

You can also find out more about the Namibian starry sky in October in the Astro News by Lutz von Dewitz in the news section on the website of the Namibia Scientific Society.