Mars and Jupiter Conjunction November 2026: When to Look

Quick Answer: When and Where to See Mars and Jupiter Together

Separations, magnitudes, disk sizes, rise times and altitudes were computed by Telescope Advisor from the JPL DE421 planetary ephemeris using the Skyfield library, for New York, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. We cross-checked the timing against Forecast Bar, BBC Sky at Night Magazine and Star Walk. Daylight saving time ends on November 1, so all times here are local standard time.

Morning by Morning: How Mars Slips Past Jupiter

Both planets are moving east against the stars of Leo, but Mars travels about five times faster than Jupiter. This week Mars overtakes the giant planet, passing a little over a degree north of it. Seen from the US before dawn, facing south, that means Mars starts the week perched almost directly above Jupiter. Each morning it swings a little further toward Jupiter’s left, until by November 18 it sits mostly to the left and only slightly higher. The gap shrinks from about 1.5° to 1.2° and then opens again.

Separations are for about 4–5 a.m. local time. Directions describe the view facing south from the continental US; from the West Coast, Mars appears a touch further left on each morning than from the East Coast. The geometry is the same in the UK and Europe, where the pair is also high in the south before dawn (see our UK night sky tonight page).

Sky Chart: Mars, Jupiter and Regulus in Leo

This chart shows the view facing south-southeast at about 5 a.m. local standard time from mid-northern US latitudes. Jupiter is fixed at the center because it barely moves during the week. Each numbered orange dot is Mars on that November morning. One grid square is 1°, about two full-Moon widths, or roughly the width of your little finger held at arm’s length.

Rise Times and Viewing Heights for US Cities

Mars and Jupiter come up over the eastern horizon within a few minutes of each other, shortly after 11 p.m. They climb all night and stand highest in the south as morning twilight begins. You do not need to stay up late: setting an alarm for 4:30 or 5 a.m. catches them at their best, in a dark sky. The table uses the night of November 15–16 in local standard time.

“Dark sky ends” is the start of astronomical twilight. Rise times on November 13 and 14 are a few minutes later than shown. Mars stays within about a degree of Jupiter’s altitude throughout, so the Jupiter column works for both planets. Times assume a flat horizon; other cities in the same time zone are usually within about 15 minutes of the nearest listed city.

What a Telescope Shows of Mars and Jupiter Side by Side

The fun of this conjunction at the eyepiece is the contrast. Jupiter’s disk measures about 37 arcseconds across, while Mars spans only about 7 arcseconds, so the giant looks five times wider even though it is roughly four times farther away (about 790 million km, or 490 million miles, versus about 196 million km, or 122 million miles, for Mars).

• Both in one field (25–30×): A 25mm eyepiece in a 130mm reflector with a 650mm focal length gives 26× and a field roughly 2° wide. That holds Jupiter, its four Galilean moons in a line, and the small orange dot of Mars together. In a longer-focal-length scope such as a 6-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, a 25mm eyepiece shows under a degree, so you will need to nudge from one planet to the other.
• Jupiter at 100–150×: The two dark equatorial belts are obvious, with the Great Red Spot visible when it faces Earth. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto change places from one morning to the next.
• Mars at 150× and up: Expect a small, slightly gibbous salmon disk (about 89% lit). On a steady morning, a 150mm or larger scope may hint at darker surface markings or a bright polar cap, but at 7″ most observers will see little more than colour and shape.

Tip: Both planets are about 60° high before dawn, well above the turbulent air near the horizon. Let your telescope cool outside for 30 minutes first, and look at Jupiter around 4:30–5:30 a.m., when it is close to its highest point of the night.

A spacecraft view of Mars. Through a backyard telescope this month, the planet is a tiny disk only a fifth of Jupiter’s width, but it will nearly double in size by February. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS (Viking).

The pair on November 15–16, 2026

• • Constellation: Leo, about 4.4° from Regulus
• • Jupiter: magnitude −2.1, disk 37.4″
• • Mars: magnitude +0.7, disk 7.1″, 89% lit
• • Separation: 1.2° (closest 1.19° at 02:04 UTC Nov 16)
• • Distance from the Sun in the sky: about 87–88° west

Want to know what to expect before you look? Read what Jupiter looks like through a telescope, our guide to Jupiter’s four bright moons, and the Mars observing guide for 2026.

Bonus Targets Nearby: Regulus and the Leo Triplet

Regulus. The bright star a few degrees to the lower left of Jupiter is Regulus, the heart of Leo. It shines at magnitude 1.4, which makes it noticeably fainter than either planet, and it twinkles where the planets shine steadily. Mars is heading toward it: the gap between Mars and Regulus shrinks from about 5.8° on November 13 to about 3.7° on November 18, and the three draw into a tighter triangle over the following week. A small telescope at low power also picks up Regulus’s faint companion, an 8th-magnitude star about 3 arcminutes away, which makes a nice test of contrast against the bright primary.

The Leo Triplet. While your telescope is out under a moonless sky, swing east to Leo’s hindquarters, about halfway between the stars Chertan (Theta Leonis) and Iota Leonis. There you will find M65, M66 and NGC 3628, three spiral galaxies that fit together in a low-power field of a 130mm or larger scope. They are faint smudges rather than showpieces, so give your eyes 20 minutes to adapt and use averted vision.

Star-hopping help: our Leo constellation guide and how to see the Leo Triplet through a telescope.

Leonid Meteors in the Same Pre-Dawn Sky

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of November 17–18, and its radiant lies in the Sickle of Leo, about 10° above and to the left of Jupiter. That means the best hours for meteors, after the radiant climbs high in the early morning, line up exactly with the best hours for the planets. The first quarter Moon sets around midnight, leaving the rest of the night dark. Expect a modest 10 to 15 meteors per hour from a dark site, many of them fast and bright. Set up a reclining chair facing south, enjoy the planets with the naked eye, and count meteors between telescope views.

Full shower details: Leonid meteor shower 2026 viewing guide.

A Rehearsal for the February 2027 Oppositions

This conjunction is more than a pretty pairing. Both planets are on their way to opposition, the point where Earth passes between them and the Sun and they are biggest, brightest and up all night. Jupiter reaches opposition on February 10–11, 2027, and Mars follows on February 19, 2027. Between now and then, Jupiter grows from 37″ to about 44–45″, while Mars almost doubles, from about 7″ to nearly 14″.

1. Test your setup now. Find out which eyepieces give the sharpest Jupiter in your telescope, how long it takes to cool, and whether your finder is aligned. In February you will be glad the bugs are fixed.
2. Make a baseline sketch or photo. Record Mars at 7″ this month, then again at opposition. The growth in size, and the surface detail that comes with it, is striking.
3. Learn the neighbourhood. Both oppositions happen near this part of the sky in Leo, so knowing Regulus and the Sickle now makes the planets easy to find in winter.

Plan ahead with our Jupiter opposition 2027 telescope guide and our Mars opposition 2027 telescope guide.

Best Telescopes for Seeing Mars and Jupiter Together

For a conjunction like this one, a wide low-power field matters as much as magnification. Short-tube reflectors around 130mm are ideal: they frame both planets at once and still reach 100× and more for Jupiter’s belts. These are the scopes we would set up on these mornings:

Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P

A 130mm tabletop Dobsonian with a 650mm focal length, so its 25mm eyepiece shows Mars, Jupiter and the Galilean moons in one view. Quick to carry out on a cold pre-dawn morning.

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Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ

A phone app guides you to each target, which helps beginners hop from the planets to Regulus and the faint Leo Triplet without a star chart.

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Celestron NexStar 6SE

A 150mm GoTo Schmidt-Cassegrain that tracks the planets for you. Its narrower field means one planet at a time here, but it pays off with sharper detail on Mars ahead of the 2027 opposition.

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Accessories for This Pairing

You do not need much extra. A good pair of binoculars, a Barlow for more power on Jupiter, and a way to capture the view cover it:

Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars

Shows both planets side by side with room to spare, plus Jupiter's brightest moons as pinpoints when the binoculars are on a tripod.

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Celestron Omni 2x Barlow Lens

Doubles the power of each eyepiece, so you can switch from the wide two-planet view to a close look at Jupiter's belts without buying another eyepiece.

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SVBONY Universal Phone Adapter

Holds your phone steady at the eyepiece for a record shot of Mars and Jupiter together, and a baseline image to compare with February.

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Comparing more options? See our guide to the best telescopes for viewing planets and our best telescopes for Jupiter in 2026.

What Comes Next for Mars and Jupiter

All values computed from the JPL DE421 ephemeris. For every remaining 2026 event, see the astronomy events calendar and the November 2026 night sky guide.

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