Stargazing Challenges - November 2025
- 23rd Oct 2025
- Author: Dhara Patel
Each month, we'll be sharing a trio of stargazing challenges for you to try your hand at.
This November, look out for the Supermoon on Bonfire Night, see if you can spot the Great Square of Pegasus asterism - an easily recognisable pattern of stars, and try to find the Andromeda Galaxy located in the constellation of Andromeda.
Challenge 1 - Supermoon
On 5 November, can you catch the Supermoon?
Look towards the east after 17:00 on 5 November to catch the best supermoon of 2025. The Moon will be rising just above the horizon at this time and, as a supermoon, it will appear slightly bigger and brighter than a typical full moon. You’ll be able to spot it throughout the night (in the midst of Bonfire celebrations and fireworks), though it will appear to move across the sky, reaching the northwest by the following morning.
You don’t need any special equipment to observe it – in fact, providing the skies are clear, it’ll look stunning viewing it with your eyes alone. You can try viewing details on the Moon with binoculars or a telescope, but in its full phase it can appear very bright. So, it could be helpful to use a Moon filter to dim the light a little if using optical tools when looking.
What causes a Supermoon?
Supermoons happen roughly three to four times a year and occur because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth isn’t a perfect circle. On average the Moon is 384,000 kilometres from Earth, but its elliptical orbit brings it closer and further from our planet.
And when its closest approach coincides with a full moon we get a supermoon. It can appear 30% brighter and 14% larger than when at its furthest point. And while the size difference isn’t easily detectable, its increased brightness will be perceptible.
The technical term is a perigee-syzygy of the Sun-Earth-Moon system. Syzygy means the three bodies are in a straight-line configuration (this alignment is needed for a full moon). And perigee is when the Moon is at its closest distance to Earth.
‘Supermoon’ though, isn’t an official astronomical term – it was actually coined by an astrologer named Richard Nolle, in 1979. Whilst there is no set definition for how close the Moon needs to be to qualify it as a supermoon, he defined it as a full moon that occurs when it is within roughly 90% of its closest approach to Earth in its orbit (less than 360,000 kilometres away from us).
The full moon in October was just beyond this distance (so wouldn't count as a supermoon by this definition), but the last couple of full moons of 2025 will be supermoons with November’s being the closest of the two.
Challenge 2: Great Square of Pegasus
On 15 November, are you able to spot the Great Square of Pegasus asterism?
Facing towards the southwest on 15 November, see if you’re able to find a familiar star pattern in the constellation of Pegasus known as the Great Square of Pegasus asterism. It will be visible throughout the month but will appear closer to the horizon when viewing at the same time as we go through the month.
According to Greek mythology, Pegasus was the winged horse usually depicted as a white stallion that lies upside down in the sky. The constellation is a dominant feature in the autumn night sky for viewers in the northern hemisphere and the signature ‘Great Square’ at its centre that marks the horse’s torso is one of the most recognisable sights during this season.
The star in the square closest to the constellation of Cygnus is called Scheat, and following round clockwise is Markab, then Algenib and finally to complete the square is Alpheratz (which is actually part of the constellation of Andromeda).
You can use the Great Square of Pegasus as a navigation tool to find the Andromeda galaxy (see Challenge 3). It also hosts an important scientific discovery - it’s the location of the first exoplanet found around a star like our Sun, named 51 Pegasi b, which was discovered in 1995. And the square can also act as a light-pollution indicator with the number of stars visible inside it indicating how dark your skies are. No faint stars are visible in heavily light polluted skies, up to five can be spotted inside the square in average skies and in exceptionally dark skies, you could count as many as 35 inside it.
Challenge 3 - Andromeda Galaxy
Are you able to find the Andromeda Galaxy on 25 November?
Having spotted the Great Square of Pegasus from Challenge 2, you may be able to find the only galaxy visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere – Andromeda. Look towards the southwest on 25 November around 21:00. It will be visible throughout the month with the skies darkening earlier as we head into winter, but will appear further to the south if viewing at the same time.
Begin by locating Alpheratz – one of the stars marking the corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. Hop two stars up and then two stars to the right – while they may be fainter, they should all still be visible to the naked in average to dark skies. And just beside this last star you may see a faint smudge in the sky – this is the Andromeda Galaxy! It’s easier to try and spot the Andromeda Galaxy by not looking at it directly. Look just to the side of it and the fuzzy blur will appear more prominently in your peripheral vision. And if you have a telescope to hand, see if you can make out more detail in the Andromeda Galaxy.
It may not look like much, but the fuzzy blob is an island of distant stars over 2.5 million light years away. It’s the furthest object you can see using your eyes! And because it’s so distant, the light from it has taken an incredibly long time to reach us – so when we look at it today, we’re actually seeing the light it emitted 2.5 million years ago – mind blowing! What we’re seeing is just the bright core of our neighbouring galaxy – if we could see its entire shape including the spiral structure around the centre, it would appear about six times the diameter of the full moon.
How did you get on? Were you able to spot our stargazing highlights this month?
If you enjoyed putting your stargazing skills to the test, then keep a look out for the astronomy challenges we'll be sharing each month. And don't forget to share your photos with us using #NSCstargazers
And find out what else you can see this month with our 'What's in the Night Sky' video.
Full references / credits:
(Banner) Skyscape. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1a) Supermoon on 5 November. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1b) Supermoon and Micromoon. Credit: © National Space Centre
(2) Great Square of Pegasus on 15 November. Credit: © National Space Centre
(3) Andromeda Galaxy on 25 November. Credit: © National Space Centre
