Venus and Jupiter had a spectacular conjunction last month. Soon, Saturn and Venus will meet in the west after sunset. Guy Ottewell offers insights and charts to prepare you for this encounter between worlds.

The sun always passes in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 to December 18. That's why some call Ophiuchus an unofficial member of the zodiac.

What a week it's been for planets! Jupiter and Venus - the 2 brightest planets - were in conjunction last Sunday. Then the moon swept through the evening sky, passing Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Thanks to all in the EarthSky Community who contributed photos! A sampling here ... Links to more in this post.

We've heard no reports so far today from anyone who saw a rich burst of meteors from the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros) last night. Looks like the meteor burst did not happen.

Click here for awesome photos from members of the EarthSky community of the November 11, 2019, transit of Mercury. It'll be the last Mercury transit until 2032. A huge thank you to all who submitted to EarthSky Community Photos!

Full moon comes on November 12, 2019, as the moon is sweeping through the constellation Taurus the Bull. This full moon comes on the peak night of the North Taurid meteor shower.

Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project in Rome said he just managed to capture an image of a small asteroid - labeled 2019 UB8 - coming very close on October 29, at about half the moon's distance. Details here.

Venus passes its descending node on Friday at 2 UTC. What is it? And why does astronomer Guy Ottewell say that nodes "shape the orbits of the moving bodies and set them up for whatever else happens" ... ?

Charts and insights about this week's Orionid meteor shower from astronomer Guy Ottewell.

Nebula IC 63 - in the direction of our constellation Cassiopeia - is slowly dissipating under the influence of ionizing ultraviolet radiation from a hot, luminous variable star known as Gamma Cas.