Mercury Meets the Sun in Libra: The Inferior Conjunction of November 4, 2026
On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at about 14:24 UT (16:24 Greek time), the planet Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun. Astronomers call this moment an inferior conjunction. It marks the midpoint of Mercury's current retrograde loop – and it takes place against the stars of Libra, not Scorpio, where tropical horoscopes place it.
What is an inferior conjunction?
Mercury and Venus are the two "inferior" planets: their orbits lie inside the Earth's. Twice in each cycle they line up with the Sun as seen from Earth. When a planet is on the far side of the Sun, we speak of a superior conjunction. When it swings between us and the Sun, at its closest to Earth, it is an inferior conjunction.
Mercury is the fastest planet in the Solar System, so it repeats this cycle about every 116 days – three or four times a year. Around inferior conjunction, Mercury turns its unlit side towards us and is completely lost in the Sun's glare. You could call it a "new Mercury", much like a New Moon.
Why there is no transit this time
Mercury's orbit is tilted by about 7 degrees to the Earth's, so at most inferior conjunctions it passes above or below the Sun. It can cross the solar disc – a transit – only when the conjunction falls close to the points where its orbit crosses ours, which the Earth passes around May 8 and November 10 each year.
This November's conjunction comes close, but not close enough: Mercury slips just over a third of a degree south of the Sun's centre, a little more than the Sun's own radius. It narrowly misses the disc. The next transit of Mercury will have to wait until November 13, 2032.
A retrograde loop through Libra and Virgo
Mercury turned retrograde on October 24 – the same day Venus passed through its own inferior conjunction. Over the coming days Mercury keeps sliding backwards, leaving Libra for Virgo around November 8, where it will share the constellation with retrograde Venus. Mercury turns direct on November 13 while still in Virgo, and returns to Libra around November 20.
Then comes its best morning show of the year for northern observers. On November 21, Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation, about 19.6 degrees from the Sun. Look low in the east-southeast before sunrise, roughly an hour before the Sun comes up, for a small, steady point of light.
Mercury in Libra, in the real sky
In the astrology of the 13 signs, the Sun is in Libra (October 31 – November 22), and today Mercury stands right beside it. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, the tropical zodiac has drifted by almost a full constellation from the real sky, which is why most horoscopes describe this event as "Mercury in Scorpio".
Symbolically, an inferior conjunction is a seed moment: the old thinking cycle ends and a new one quietly begins. In Libra, the constellation of the Scales, that fresh start touches fairness, dialogue and the art of finding balance between two points of view. It is a good time to listen before you speak, and to let ideas mature in silence before you share them.
The book Astrology of the 13 Signs of the Zodiac explains how to read the planets where they really are. Mercury's quiet meeting with the Sun today is a perfect example: invisible to the eye, yet precisely placed among the stars.
Vasilis Kanatas
Delphi, November 2026
Venus pentagram: Why the Morning Star Matters in 13-Sign Astrology
Look east before sunrise in the coming weeks and you will see something special: Venus, the brightest planet in our sky, rising again as the Morning Star. After weeks of absence, the planet of love and beauty is returning to view, and its return carries a surprising link to the number 13.
From Evening Star to Morning Star
For much of 2026, Venus shone in the western sky after sunset as the Evening Star. In late October it passed between the Earth and the Sun, an event astronomers call inferior conjunction. For a few days it was lost in the Sun's glare. Now it is reappearing on the other side of the Sun, rising before dawn.
The ancient Greeks once believed these were two different stars. They called the evening one Hesperos and the morning one Phosphoros, the "light-bringer", known to the Romans as Lucifer. Pythagoras and, before him, Babylonian sky-watchers realised that both were the same wandering light.
Venus Retrograde in Virgo
Around inferior conjunction, Venus seems to move backwards against the stars. This is its retrograde period, an optical effect that happens because the Earth and Venus pass each other on their orbits. Right now, retrograde Venus sits in the constellation Virgo (September 17 – October 30 in 13-sign astrology). It turns direct again around mid-November and climbs higher in the dawn sky, reaching its greatest distance from the Sun in early 2027.
In astrology, a Venus retrograde is traditionally a time to reflect on relationships, values and what we find beautiful. Instead of starting something brand new, it is a season to revisit, repair and rediscover.
The Pentagram and the Number 13
Venus has one of the most elegant rhythms in the solar system. It returns to the same position relative to the Sun every 584 days, its synodic period. Five of these cycles add up to almost exactly eight Earth years. If you mark the five places where inferior conjunctions occur against the zodiac, they trace a nearly perfect five-pointed star, the famous "pentagram of Venus".
There is another beautiful coincidence. Venus orbits the Sun in about 224.7 days, so in those same eight years it completes 13 orbits. Eight Earth years equal roughly 2,922 days; thirteen Venus years equal about 2,921 days. Every eight years, Venus, Earth and the Sun return almost to the same arrangement, and the dance that brings this harmony counts to 13.
For anyone who follows the 13 signs of the zodiac, this is a lovely reminder that the number 13 is woven into real celestial cycles, not only into the 13 constellations the Sun crosses each year.
Watching Venus Yourself
You need no telescope to enjoy the Morning Star. Find a clear eastern horizon about 45 minutes before sunrise. In the first days Venus will be low and may be hard to spot, but each week it rises a little earlier and shines more brightly. Through binoculars or a small telescope you might even see its thin crescent shape, just like a tiny Moon.
As the Morning Star brightens through November and December, it can be a gentle daily ritual: a moment to notice the sky, think about what you value, and greet the day with a little more light. To learn how the planets move through all 13 constellations, including Ophiuchus, you can explore the book Astrology of the 13 Signs of the Zodiac.
Vasilis Kanatas
Delphi, November 2026
A Royal Gathering in Leo: The Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Regulus Before Dawn
If you are an early riser this week, step outside before sunrise and look toward the east and south-east. High above the horizon, the constellation of Leo, the Lion, is hosting a rare little gathering: the bright planet Jupiter, the reddish planet Mars, the star Regulus and, for a couple of mornings, a slim waning Moon.
Who Is in the Lion's Den?
In the real sky – the sky of the 13 constellations of the zodiac – Jupiter has been travelling through Leo for several weeks, and it is easily the brightest point of light in that part of the sky. Mars has only just crossed the border from Cancer into Leo and now shines with a steady, orange-red glow a few degrees west of Jupiter. Close by sits Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, marking the heart of the Lion.
On Monday, November 2, the Moon itself moves out of Cancer and into Leo in the afternoon, passing Mars later that day. By the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, November 3, the crescent Moon, about one-third lit, will stand between Jupiter and Regulus – an easy and beautiful sight with the naked eye, and even better through binoculars.
Read more: A Royal Gathering in Leo: The Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Regulus Before Dawn
November 1 and the Sun Is in Libra: Welcome to the Real Sky
Open almost any horoscope today and it will tell you the Sun is in Scorpio. Yet if you could switch off the daylight and look behind the Sun, you would find it standing in front of the stars of Libra, the Scales. The Sun crossed into Libra on October 31 and will stay there until November 23. So why the difference?
Why the Calendar Dates Drifted
The traditional zodiac is tied to the seasons, not to the stars. It begins at the spring equinox and divides the year into twelve equal slices of 30 degrees. Around two thousand years ago, those slices matched the constellations that gave them their names fairly well.
But the Earth wobbles slowly on its axis, like a spinning top. This motion, called precession, completes one full circle in about 25,800 years and shifts the equinox by roughly one degree every 72 years. Over the centuries, the signs and the constellations have drifted almost a whole constellation apart. The names stayed the same, but the sky moved on.
Thirteen Constellations, Unequal Seasons
In 1930 the International Astronomical Union officially fixed the boundaries of all 88 constellations. The path of the Sun, the ecliptic, passes through thirteen of them, including Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, between Scorpio and Sagittarius.
Read more: November 1 and the Sun Is in Libra: Welcome to the Real Sky
Where the Planets Really Are on October 31, 2026
On the afternoon of October 31, 2026, two bodies change constellation almost together: Mars leaves Cancer and enters Leo, and about the same hour the Sun leaves Virgo and enters Libra. It is a good day to ask a simple question: where are the planets really, and where does a Western horoscope say they are?
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