Sky This Month: November 2023

Saturn is already seen after darkish whereas Jupiter is rising within the japanese sky, beckoning for consideration all evening. Uranus is at its finest for the 12 months and Neptune can be on show — extra of a problem, however with a useful star close by. Venus continues its good predawn exhibiting all month and might’t be missed, rising about 4 hours earlier than the Solar.

Our planetary observing begins with the reappearance of Mercury within the night sky. It’s a problem because of its southerly declination, though fortunate observers would possibly spot it 5° to the proper of a 38-hour-old crescent Moon Nov. 14 (you’ll want a transparent southwestern horizon). Each stand 3° above the horizon 20 minutes after sundown and set shortly — you’ve got about 10 minutes to identify them. Mercury glows at magnitude –0.5. 

There’s mild enchancment as Mercury’s elongation from the Solar will increase day by day, reaching 20° east of our star on the twenty seventh, when it units an hour after the Solar. As November ends, Mercury stands 5° excessive within the southwest half-hour after sundown.

Saturn lies within the south because the sky darkens. Beginning the month at magnitude 0.7 and standing 35° excessive for U.S. observers at midlatitudes, it outshines Fomalhaut, a shiny star barely east of the planet and midway between it and the horizon. Saturn dims barely to magnitude 0.8 within the third week of the month.

Saturn stops shifting retrograde on the 4th and resumes an easterly trek throughout southern Aquarius. Its movement away from Iota (ι) Aquarii is barely noticeable till late November. The almost First Quarter Moon stands inside 10° of the planet on the nineteenth.

Saturn units shortly earlier than 2 A.M. native daylight time on the first and simply earlier than 11 P.M. native time on the thirtieth. Any telescope will reveal the rings. They span nearly 40″ at their widest; the slim axis is 6″. Brightest is Ring B, bounded by the darkish Cassini Division and dimmer outer A Ring. The innermost C Ring is partly clear.

The narrowing tilt of the rings over the previous few years is revealing the planet’s southern hemisphere. Be on the watch for brand spanking new options in Saturn’s usually hazy environment. Refined belts and zones are seen beneath regular seeing circumstances.

Of Saturn’s moons seen in a small yard scope, Titan is brightest. You’ll decide it up at magnitude 8.6, orbiting each 16 days. Discover it roughly north of the planet Nov. 10 and 26, and roughly south Nov. 2 and 18.

Tethys, Dione, and Rhea are the subsequent simply noticed moons at Tenth magnitude. They lie inside Titan’s orbit and are joined by fainter Enceladus and Iapetus, all on the western aspect of the rings, on Nov. 7. Eleventh-magnitude Iapetus is at inferior conjunction and unusually near the planet. It lies between Rhea and Dione. Magnitude 12 Enceladus is difficult in smaller scopes because of Saturn’s brilliance. It lies south of Dione within the early night. Between 9 P.M. and 10 P.M. EST, these 5 moons curve across the western finish of the rings. Watch this assortment over an hour to see their relative motions upset the good, clean arc.

Tethys undergoes transits two nights aside, on Nov. 18 and 20. Each instances it’s adopted by its shadow. It’s finest to file such occasions with a high-speed video digicam designed for planetary commentary.

Tethys’ transit on the 18th begins round 11:35 P.M. EST and lasts almost 80 minutes. On the twentieth, the transit begins round 8:50 P.M. EST and lasts about the identical length. Plan to be observing 15 to twenty minutes earlier than the beginning.

After inferior conjunction, Iapetus strikes towards its brighter western elongation, which it reaches Nov. 27. At this location in its orbit, the moon is sort of Tenth magnitude and stands 8.5′ west of the planet.

Neptune is seen a lot of the evening in Pisces. Binoculars or a small scope will present the magnitude 7.7 planet, which lies greater than 29 astronomical items (2.7 billion miles; 1 astronomical unit [AU] is the typical Earth-Solar distance) from Earth. It sits 5° due south of 4th-magnitude Lambda (λ) Piscium. 20 Psc lies about 1.5° east-northeast of the planet, shining at fifth magnitude.

Neptune’s retrograde movement carries it again into northeastern Aquarius by the tip of the month. A telescope will present the bluish, 2″-wide disk. 

Jupiter is seen all evening and reaches opposition Nov. 3. That is the perfect time of the 12 months to watch the gas giant, now closest to Earth at 3.98 AU (370 million miles). It brightens the constellation Aries with its magnitude –2.9 glow. The planet’s obvious diameter reaches 49″ and shaves off barely an arcsecond throughout the remainder of the month.

This huge obvious measurement is a superb profit, significantly for observers utilizing high-speed video. Jupiter is shiny, shortening publicity instances and permitting seize at a better body charge with good sign to noise. Shorter publicity instances assist with freezing the blurring results of our environment in a bid to seize nice element in Jupiter’s environment.

Jupiter additionally climbs increased within the sky for northern observers than at any time since 2015. The upper elevation reduces the quantity of Earth’s environment that the planet’s mild passes by way of. Add within the lengthy nights of early winter and a complete rotation of Jupiter will be captured in lower than 10 hours.

A telescope reveals the darkish equatorial belts straddling the equator. The Nice Pink Spot makes common appearances, seen for a while every evening. Finer and extra delicate particulars within the ever-changing cloud belts develop into noticeable with affected person and extended viewing, as your eye turns into accustomed to the planet’s brilliance.

The Galilean moons additionally subtend a bigger obvious diameter at opposition, aiding the recording of floor options with completely collimated telescopes and video seize. At opposition, transiting moons and their shadows almost overlap, whereas later within the month you’ll be able to see the identical moon transiting with its shadow following later.

For instance, three Io transits are seen on the evenings of Nov. 4/5, 11/12, and 20. Io and its shadow start transiting inside two minutes of one another on the 4th, beginning at 11:55 P.M. EDT (word that daylight saving time ends at 2 A.M. on Nov. 5). On the twelfth, Io’s transit begins at 12:38 A.M. EST (late on the eleventh in all different time zones) and now the shadow lags by 14 minutes, showing at 12:52 A.M. EST. On the twentieth, Io begins a transit at 8:49 P.M. EST and the shadow follows 28 minutes later, at 9:17 P.M. EST.

Europa’s transits exhibit the identical altering geometry. On Nov. 3, the evening of opposition, the moon and shadow overlap. Europa’s transit begins at 9:15 P.M. EDT and its shadow seems one minute later.

By Nov. 10, Earth is about 7° farther alongside its orbit, and Europa and its shadow are properly separated. Europa begins its transit at 10:29 P.M. EST, adopted by the shadow 22 minutes later.

Ganymede undergoes a captivating eclipse behind Jupiter’s northern limb starting Nov. 6 at 10:44 P.M. EST. As a result of shallow angle of the limb, Ganymede will mix with Jupiter a couple of minutes earlier. Whereas Ganymede ends the occultation simply earlier than 12 A.M. EST on the seventh (nonetheless firmly the sixth in different time zones), it’s in Jupiter’s shadow. The moon lastly reappears round 12:26 A.M. EST, taking greater than 10 minutes to totally emerge. 

Ganymede undergoes an identical occasion Nov. 13/14, beginning at 1:56 A.M. EST on the 14th (the thirteenth for the western U.S.), with shadow egress at 4:36 A.M. EST. One other fascinating occasion happens early on Nov. 21, finest noticed from the western half of the U.S. Ganymede disappears round 4:10 A.M. CST and reappears at 5:30 A.M. CST, when Jupiter is close to the horizon within the Midwest. Nevertheless, Ganymede stays seen solely 24 minutes earlier than coming into Jupiter’s prolonged shadow in an eclipse that lasts almost two hours, rising at 5:37 A.M. PST, when Jupiter is extraordinarily low on the West Coast.

Uranus reaches opposition Nov. 13, the second main planet to take action this month. It stands roughly halfway between Jupiter and the Pleiades (M45). Scan the area with binoculars to discover a small group of stars glowing between 4th and sixth magnitude. The brightest star on this area, 9.5° southwest of M45, is magnitude 4.3 Delta (δ) Arietis. Uranus sits roughly 2.2° south of this star all month. A virtually Full Moon lies in the identical neighborhood in a single day on Nov. 24/25.

Uranus glows at magnitude 5.7, a straightforward binocular object. An fascinating take a look at of sky circumstances is to see whether or not you’ll be able to spot the planet with the unaided eye. You’ll want very darkish skies away from any metropolis lights.

Through the month, Uranus strikes about 1.2° westward alongside a retrograde path. At opposition it lies 18.6 AU (1.7 billion miles) from Earth and thru a telescope reveals a tiny 4″-wide disk.

Venus is an excellent morning star, rising 4 hours earlier than the Solar and shining briefly at magnitude –4.4. It crosses from Leo into Virgo on the third. The planet’s movement carries it from close to Beta (β) Virginis on the fifth and sixth to a degree 1.2° south of Porrima on the 18th. A crescent Moon hangs close to Venus on the morning of Nov. 9.

Venus stands 5° north of Spica, Virgo’s 1st-magnitude star, on the twenty seventh, and ends the month 4.3° northeast of this star. Following Venus by way of a telescope reveals its altering phase, from a barely gibbous, 55-percent-lit disk on Nov. 1 to 67 % lit by the thirtieth. On the similar time, the disk shrinks from 22″ to 17″ throughout because it recedes from Earth.

Mars is simply too near the Solar for observing this month and is in conjunction with the Solar on Nov. 18.

Rising Moon: The ghost ring

The waxing crescent Moon is a crowd pleaser and a selenophile’s delight. On the night of the 18th, two nights earlier than First Quarter, the bewildering unfold of craters within the south provides approach to the wrinkled ridges crossing the darker lava seas to the north. Pry your eye away from the unbelievable Serpentine Ridge within the northern half of the Moon and choose a spot simply 

above the equator, the place a wild zone of ridges plies the frozen face of Mare Tranquillitatis.

Actually buried beneath the Sea of Tranquillity’s principally north-south ridges is a ghostly ring named Lamont. Astronomers consider that is all that’s left of a modestly giant influence basin, later flooded to the rim by the upwelling lavas of eons in the past. Afterward, a smaller impactor carved out the crater Arago to the northwest. A second concentric ring, about twice the scale of Lamont, is trickier to see and appears simpler if you’re not making an attempt laborious. A number of rings are a standard characteristic of the bigger basins. Simply north of Arago is a modest bump, the most important of a household of volcanic domes within the neighborhood. 

Each the wrinkles and domes are so mild that with out the low Solar angle they’ll disappear by the nineteenth. Ought to the 18th be cloudy, take your subsequent alternative and as a substitute drift on any lunar sea close to the terminator. Wrinkles, bumps, and cracks await!

Meteor Watch: Look to the Lion

This 12 months’s annual Leonid meteor bathe peaks Nov. 17/18 throughout nighttime throughout the U.S. It coincides with a five-day outdated crescent Moon that units earlier than 10P.M. native time. The Leonids are related to Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which final reached perihelion in 1998.

Lately, hourly charges have been declining and aren’t anticipated to enhance for a number of years. Nevertheless, with a lot planetary motion happening (Jupiter is seen all evening and Venus rises early), it’s a good time so as to add in a interval of meteor observing. 

Leo rises round native midnight and the radiant, situated within the Sickle asterism, is seen by way of daybreak. The hour earlier than twilight is the perfect time for all meteor showers, inserting us on the main hemisphere of Earth because it flies into the stream of meteor particles. The Leonids are recognized to be very swift, and lots of meteors go away glowing, persistent trains, that are fascinating to expertise. Look 40° to 60° away from Leo to identify the longest trails.

The bathe is energetic from Nov. 6 to 30, so be on look ahead to Leonids for no less than per week or two on both aspect of the height date.

Comet Search: Catch the bees asleep

We’re handled for a complete week to Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan (additionally referred to as Tsuchinshan 1) posing with M44 whereas the Moon is out of the sky. The one catch is that it’s not for night or suburban observers. Plan to be exterior the town, keep up previous 1 A.M., and convey alongside no less than a 4-inch scope to spy the Tenth-magnitude fuzz.

There’s extra to maintain an eye fixed out for: swift Leonids, fireball Taurids, and one other half-dozen minor meteor showers. And by 2 A.M., the marginally brighter Comet 103P/Hartley climbs up just under Hydra’s head.

Imagers can anticipate to seize the traditional inexperienced glow surrounding Tsuchinshan 1’s coma, because the comet is contained in the orbit of Mars and shut sufficient to the Solar. Think about using a 135mm telephoto lens to border it together with the sparkly and colourful Beehive Cluster. Visually, the comet will stay grey, however what’s going to the condensation be like? Diffuse with a shiny core, or step by step brightening from the surface into the center, paying homage to many elliptical galaxies?

Don’t anticipate to see or picture a tail this month, aside from the slightest trace. Tsuchinshan 1 is touring simply off the ecliptic and near opposition, so the bodily tails are streaming behind it within the solar wind. Perihelion, its closest strategy to the Solar, happens Dec. 25, however exterior Earth’s orbit.

Ought to the title Tsuchinshan sound acquainted, this observatory co-discovered C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas), which can catch media consideration subsequent October, maybe cracking magnitude 0!

Finding Asteroids: Zeus factors the way in which

When does an asteroid’s shiny signpost transfer? When it’s a planet! All month, minor planet 21 Lutetia parallels the gas giant Jupiter’s motion, nearly precisely 2° to the planet’s south.

Each come to opposition on the third, mendacity reverse the Solar, after they’ll be highest within the sky simply after midnight for many readers. As a result of Lutetia orbits in the principle belt between Jupiter and Mars, it’s nearer to us and strikes sooner throughout the sky.

The Rosetta spacecraft visited the out-of-round, 60-mile-wide asteroid in 2010. With an albedo (reflectivity) of 20 %, Lutetia is simply brighter than Tenth magnitude, which implies you’ll have to be affected person when monitoring it down. 

Drop down from Jupiter and match the sample within the background stars to the view by way of your eyepiece, remembering that it may be the other way up or flipped left to proper. Make a fast sketch of the 5 brightest stars within the area, then come again an evening or two later to see which dot moved. Simply keep away from the twenty fourth by way of the twenty sixth, when the Moon passes by.