# Night sky news, November 3, 2026: moon, events, aurora

Waning Crescent, 26% lit. 1 sky event this week and 5 sourced news items for November 3, 2026.

## The sky on November 3, 2026

**Moon.** On the evening of November 3, 2026 the Moon is waning crescent, 26% illuminated. That day the Moon rises at 12:33 AM MST and sets at 2:12 PM MST. Times are for Denver, Colorado; they shift by minutes to an hour elsewhere in the US and Canada.

### Visible this week

- [Aurora Outlook: Solar Cycle 25 Decline](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/events/aurora-outlook-2026-2028), September 24, 2026 to December 31, 2028. Northern US states and all of Canada; strong geomagnetic storms can push visibility as far south as the mid-latitude US.

**Aurora outlook.** The highest predicted Kp is 2.7 over the next 24 hours and 3.7 over the next 3 days. Kp below 4 is quiet: aurora is mostly confined to the far north. Source: [NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/planetary-k-index).

## Sourced stories

### [Red and green auroras may share electron-driven origins](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-11-03/red-and-green-auroras-may-share-electron-driven-origins)

Source: [Phys.org (Space News section)](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-red-green-auroras-electron-driven.html)

Researchers from several German institutions observed auroras on May 10, 2024. The event was triggered by a intense solar storm that made auroras visible in southern Lower Saxony. The observations may help explain the origins of red and green auroras.

### [Ancient star collisions could explain mysterious Little Red Dots and 'impossible' black holes](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-11-03/ancient-star-collisions-could-explain-mysterious-little-red-dots-and-impossible-black-holes)

Source: [Space.com](https://www.space.com/astronomy/stars/ancient-star-collisions-could-explain-mysterious-little-red-dots-and-impossible-black-holes)

Researchers found ancient star collisions may explain supermassive black holes and Little Red Dots. The James Webb Space Telescope saw these strange Little Red Dots, and simulations showed densely packed stellar systems led to frequent star collisions. These collisions could create over-massive stars that collapse into black holes.

### [10 asteroid mysteries that Hera will explore](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-11-03/10-asteroid-mysteries-that-hera-will-explore)

Source: [ESA (European Space Agency)](https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2026/10/10_asteroid_mysteries_that_Hera_will_explore)

Hera spacecraft will explore asteroid mysteries. Hera arrives at the Dimorphos asteroid in November to gather data on asteroid deflection and solve scientific enigmas. The spacecraft is headed to the 151-m-diameter Dimorphos asteroid, which orbits the 780-m Didymos parent.

### [The Star Wars Eclipse, Want to see the 2027 total solar eclipse on Tatooine? Head to Tunisia](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-11-03/the-star-wars-eclipse-want-to-see-the-2027-total-solar-eclipse-on-tatooine-head-to-tunisia)

Source: [Space.com](https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/the-star-wars-eclipse-want-to-see-the-2027-total-solar-eclipse-on-tatooine-head-to-tunisia)

A total solar eclipse will cross southern Tunisia on August 2, 2027. The path of totality includes famous Star Wars filming locations such as Mos Espa and the Jundland Wastes near Tozeur, and Mos Eisley and Obi-Wan Kenobi's home on Djerba. Eclipse chasers can experience up to four minutes of totality in these areas.

### [APOD: 2026 November 3: Comet PanSTARRs and Rainbow Meteor](https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-11-03/apod-2026-november-3-comet-panstarrs-and-rainbow-meteor)

Source: [NASA (all news)](https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-november-3-comet-panstarrs-and-rainbow-meteor/)

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day features Comet PanSTARRs and a Rainbow Meteor. The image shows a meteor and a comet, but they are likely unrelated as many meteors originate from thousands of comets. The picture is part of NASA's daily feature of a different image or photograph of the universe.

---
Canonical: https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-11-03
Updated: 2026-11-03T23:00:56.686Z