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NOVEMBER NIGHT SKY
Until November 24th at around 03h, the Sun having passed through the constellation of Libra during most of November, enters Scorpius for about a week, because on the 30th at about 09h00, it crosses into the neighbouring constellation of Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.
The Moon
The moon is at apogee, its furthest from the earth, at 13h09 on the 8th.Perigee (nearest to the earth) occurs on the 23rd at 23h13.
First Quarter at 16h38, in the constellation of Capricornus, occurs on the 2nd
Full Moon is on the 10th at 20h16, in the constellation of Aries, 12° to the west of the Pleiades, and near to Bright Jupiter.
Last Quarter at 15h09 on the 18th is in the constellation Leo.
The New Moon in November occurs on the 25th at 06h10, in the constellation of Scorpius, near its border with Libra. The moon passes just 1° below the sun and in S Africa, Antarctica and New Zealand, a partial eclipse of the sun can be seen. None of the eclipse is visible from the UK unfortunately.
You may be able to glimpse earthshine on the night hemisphere of the waning crescent moon from the 18th to the 24th.
The Planets
Although Mercury reaches its greatest angular elongation of 23° east of the sun on the 14th, the planet sets within an hour of the sun throughout the whole month and is a very difficult object to pick up even in binoculars. The reason is the low inclination of the ecliptic (the approximate position of the planets’ orbits) to the horizon during late autumn evenings and Mercury’s low southerly declination at the time.
During November, Venus, because of its brightness, becomes more readily visible low in the SW evening sky, and by the end of the month sets almost two hours after the sun. If you look in the SW twilight, on the 27th, at around 16h30, you may see the thin waxing crescent moon 6° to the upper right of Venus - Venus and the moon being 5° and 8° above the horizon respectively.
Mars continues its easterly movement through the constellation of Leo, passing just over a degree north of Regulus, Leo’s brightest star in the early hours of the morning of the 11th. Mars is now brighter than Regulus and the colour contrast between the two should be noticeable, Regulus being a bluish white star contrasting with the warm red of Mars. Mars rises throughout the month after 23h and is visible all night until swamped by early morning twilight. The moon, one day after last quarter, may be seen rising with Mars in the eastern sky at around 0h30 in the morning of the 19th, the angular distance between the two objects will be some 8° with Mars to the upper left of the moon.
As Jupiter was in opposition towards the end of last month, so throughout November it shines steadily and brightly, dominating the late autumn sky at the junction of the three constellations: Aries/Cetus/Pisces. The planet however sets around 05h, a little while before morning twilight begins. Jupiter is the brightest object in the night sky at the time unless the moon happens to be present, which it most certainly is during the evening of the 9th – when the two objects are in the same part of the sky. Indeed, on that night, the gibbous waxing moon, one day before full lies just 8° to the right of Jupiter.
Saturn rises earlier each morning as the month proceeds, so that by the end of November, the ringed planet rises some four hours before the sun. Saturn remains in Virgo, just a little to the north of the constellation’s brightest star Spica, passing 4° north of it on the 15th. The waning crescent moon joins the company, forming a delightful grouping with the pair, on the morning of the 22nd in the SE sky at around 06h. The moon lies 5° to the right of Spica and 9° to the lower right of Saturn.
By the end of November, Uranus sets by 02h and Neptune by 22h. Both are difficult objects in their respective constellations of Pisces and Aquarius, unless one has an accurate star map.
There are two interesting meteor showers this month, the first of these is the Taurid meteor shower consisting of slow moving shooting stars associated with Encke’s comet and peaking during the 3rd and 4th. The moon may interfere a little because it is just past first quarter and visible in the evening sky, however, on the 4th the moon sets at around 01h. Thereafter, the radiant is high in the south and the sky will be dark. You must be away from street and security lights to get the best from this shower. The Taurid shower is noted for producing bright slow moving events. Several years ago, another meteor shower radiating from the constellation of Leo produced several thousand meteors each hour. The Leonid shower has now subsided, and astronomers are not expecting to see more than about 20 an hour in the early morning of the 17th and 18th. The parent body of this shower is comet Temple-Tuttle, which visits the earth about every 33 years. The moon is at last quarter on the 18th and after midnight will add its own natural light pollution, making observing faint Leonids difficult. Constellations visible in the south around midnight, mid-month, are as follows: Eridanus, and the Pleiades in Taurus. Perseus is at the zenith embedded in a rich star field – take a look through binoculars and see!
All times are GMT 1° is one finger width at arm’s length.
