WE have the first month of darker evenings as we are now running on GMT. Wrap up warm and take advantage of any clear night to go outside, and remember - we have Cornish astronomer John Couch Adams to thank for securing Greenwich as the world’s prime meridian, way back in 1884!

Look out for your first sighting of Orion, surely the most impressive constellation in the sky; it is being led across the heavens by the Open Star Cluster Pleiades.

The phases of the moon are as follows: Full Moon, November 5; Last Quarter, November 12; New Moon, November 20; First Quarter, November 28. Note that the Full Moon will be another supermoon, occurring at the closest point to Earth during the moon’s orbit and appearing larger and brighter.

In meteor showers, the Leonids peak on November 27 with about 15 per hour. Leo rises after dark, so it is possible to see meteors shooting up from below the horizon ahead of Leo itself.

It’s not a good month for the planets, although Mars may be glimpsed following the sun down in the western sky (take all usual precautions and ensure the sun has set).

However there is a forecast that the nova T Cor Bor may blow on November 10. It will shine as a 2mag star for a week; miss it and you have to wait for 80 years!

It is caused by two stars, a Red Giant and a White Dwarf, orbiting each other; the White Dwarf is drawing material from the Red Giant until it reaches a critical mass. It then puffs up for a few days and equals the Pole Star in brightness – hence its nickname, the Blaze Star. We already have an image taken of the host constellation (Corona Borealis) so we will be able to identify the newcomer!