The Sky This Week from November 10 to 17: Catch Comet Lemmon

Friday, November 10
Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) passes closest to Earth late at this time, coming inside 0.19 astronomical unit, or AU, of our planet. (One AU is the typical Earth-Solar distance of 93 million miles [150 million kilometers].)

Which means the comet will likely be at its brightest for the subsequent few days; it’s lately been reported at sixth magnitude however could brighten much more — as much as fifth magnitude or so, by some estimates. This places it squarely in simple binocular vary, and it’s up many of the night in a moonless sky — glorious situations for nabbing it.

Tonight, Comet Lemmon is in Hercules, which sits slightly below the brilliant star Vega (presently the bottom of the three factors within the Summer Triangle asterism) within the west after sundown. The area is slowly setting however, because of the early sunsets right now of 12 months, stays seen till round 10:30 P.M. native time.

This near Earth, Lemmon seems to quickly transfer by means of the sky, protecting roughly 1 / 4 of a level every hour. It’s transferring southeast by means of Hercules towards Aquila (to Hercules’ higher left within the sky), which homes Altair, the second-highest star within the Summer time Triangle because it units every night time. Take a look at the chart beneath for the place of the celebs tonight at 6 P.M. native time, and the precise place of the comet relative to these stars at 7 P.M. EST. At the moment, Lemmon will lie slightly below the tough midpoint of a line drawn between Vega and Aquila, in northeastern Hercules and about 7.4° northwest of Third-magnitude Zeta (ζ) Aquilae. Be aware that whereas the celebs will seem in roughly the identical place at 6 P.M. from any location, the comet could have moved, relying in your time zone and whether or not you look earlier than or after 7 P.M. EST particularly. Lemmon is transferring from northwest (earlier instances) to southeast (later instances).

Most binoculars — although the larger the higher, for simpler viewing — or any small (or bigger) scope will carry the comet’s fuzzy coma into view. Astrophotographers have been catching its vivid inexperienced glow and skinny tail as nicely.

Lemmon ought to be vivid and straightforward to search out for at the very least the subsequent a number of days. You possibly can try this article for extra particulars and a chart of its place by means of November 13.

Dawn: 6:39 A.M.
Sundown: 4:48 P.M.
Moonrise: 3:47 A.M.
Moonset: 3:28 P.M.
Moon Section: Waning crescent (7%)
*Instances for dawn, sundown, moonrise, and moonset are given in native time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. native time from the identical location.

Saturday, November 11
With no Moon to intrude, let’s monitor down a shocking deep-sky object with a shock in retailer. After darkish, look to Cygnus the Swan, nonetheless excessive within the west early within the night. This constellation homes our goal: the Blinking Planetary Nebula, additionally cataloged as NGC 6826.

The simplest strategy to discover this object is to first word the brilliant star Deneb, which marks the Swan’s tail and the very best star within the Summer time Triangle because the asterism units. From there, drop down towards the horizon a bit to search out 4th-magnitude Iota (ι) Cygni. The Blinking Planetary lies 2.6° southeast of Iota, or simply below 5.5° due north of Third-magnitude Delta (δ) Cyg. Take a look at the chart above for assist finding it.

The nebula itself is an effective 25″ throughout and glows softly round ninth magnitude. A small to medium telescope will present it greatest, with bigger apertures pulling out barely extra gentle. However the clue to its stunning nature is in its identify — this nebula seems to “blink” on and off, relying on the way you take a look at it!

What does that imply? First, look immediately on the nebula. It’s going to seem vivid and compact, maybe virtually starlike. You’re largely choosing up gentle from the nebula’s central star, which has thrown off the shells of gasoline now glowing because the nebula itself. Then, look barely away from it, towards the sting of your eyepiece’s subject of view. Don’t transfer the telescope, simply your eye, so that you’re wanting on the nebula in a roundabout way, however out of the nook of your eye, within the periphery. The central star ought to disappear, and as an alternative you’ll see the bigger, fuzzier nebula far more clearly! Switching between direct and averted imaginative and prescient makes the star and nebula swap middle stage in your visible subject, so the impact is that the nebula itself seems to blink brighter and fainter, and smaller and bigger. Give it a attempt!

Dawn: 6:40 A.M.
Sundown: 4:47 P.M.
Moonrise: 4:50 A.M.
Moonset: 3:50 P.M.
Moon Section: Waning crescent (3%)

Sunday, November 12
Jupiter’s small, volcanic moon Io will disappear behind the gas giant’s disk tonight in an occultation that begins shortly earlier than 10 P.M. EST.

You’ll discover Jupiter within the southeast this night nicely after darkish, sitting in southern Aries some 11.5° beneath that constellation’s brightest star, magnitude 2 Hamal. Jupiter outshines this star by far, because the planet is magnitude –2.9. It’s best to spot it simply. Any small scope will present you the gas giant’s striped face, together with its 4 Galilean moons.

About an hour earlier than the occasion begins, round 9 P.M. EST, Jupiter is flanked by Europa close by and Callisto farther out to the east. To the west, Io is closing in, whereas Ganymede sits a long way away. In truth, round this time, the scene seems almost completely symmetric, one thing that doesn’t occur typically!

However maintain watching over the subsequent hour and also you’ll see Europa pulling away whereas Io continues to close the limb. The latter disappears round 9:58 P.M. EST, taking simply over two hours to cross behind the planet.

However there’s a catch — even as soon as Io reappears, it doesn’t actually reappear. That’s as a result of it pops out from behind Jupiter throughout the planet’s shadow, which stretches to the northeast. It’s best to lastly see Io blink again into view round 12:23 A.M. EST on the thirteenth, late on the twelfth in all different U.S. time zones. It’s going to seem in a roundabout way off the limb, however somewhat east of it, displaying simply how far the planet’s shadow extends. The shadow is definitely fairly quick proper now, given the geometry because the planet lately reached opposition. At different instances, it will probably stretch fairly far to 1 facet or the opposite and moons take a very long time to traverse it.

When you await Io to return to view, take a while to have a look at the detailed face of Jupiter. The Nice Purple Spot is seen round this time, making its approach throughout the planet’s 49″-wide disk. Additionally seen ought to be a number of cloud bands of alternating colours. Take your time to essentially get pleasure from all this beautiful planet has to supply.

Dawn: 6:41 A.M.
Sundown: 4:46 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:55 A.M.
Moonset: 4:15 P.M.
Moon Section: New

Monday, November 13
New Moon formally happens at 4:27 A.M. EST, guaranteeing darkish skies to search out our goal for tonight: the distant ice giant Uranus, which reaches opposition at this time at midday EST.

At opposition, planets are seen roughly all night time lengthy, rising round sundown and setting round dawn. Uranus presently shares Aries the Ram with Jupiter, which presents an incredible vivid signpost when you’re trying to discover the fainter of the 2 within the sky. Uranus is the farthest planet you’ll be able to see with the bare eye, as Neptune by no means will get vivid sufficient to see with out optical support.

Presently magnitude 5.7, Uranus is simply on the fringe of naked-eye visibility from a darkish location. And in reality, attempting to identify the planet with none support is an effective way to check the standard of your imaginative and prescient and your observing web site! Watch for the sky to develop totally darkish, an hour or two after sundown. By then, it is best to simply spot vivid Jupiter, shining at magnitude –2.9, to the higher proper of a small, vivid cluster of stars: the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus. Uranus lies roughly midway between these two, simply over 2° south-southeast of 4th-magnitude Botein (Delta Arietis). Take your time and search for a faint level of sunshine simply to the decrease proper of this star — that’s Uranus.

Even when you can’t discover it with the unaided eye, Uranus is straightforward to choose up with a pair of binoculars or any telescope. It’s going to seem like a small, “flat” star or disk with a slight grayish hue. The planet’s disk spans simply 4″ — a testomony to its distance of 18.6 AU, or 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion km) from Earth. In actuality, the planet stretches some 31,000 miles (50,000 km) throughout, or 4 instances as large as Earth!

Dawn: 6:43 A.M.
Sundown: 4:45 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:04 A.M.
Moonset: 4:47 P.M.
Moon Section: New

Tuesday, November 14
The one-and-a-half-day-old Moon passes 0.9° north of Antares, the brilliant pink big that marks the center of Scorpius the Scorpion, at 3 P.M. EST. Sadly, the shut go happens in daylight and the constellation may be very low by sundown, which means Antares could not fairly stand out from the twilight earlier than it units about half an hour after the Solar.

Nonetheless, you’ll be able to nonetheless attempt catching the fragile younger crescent Moon round sundown, which sits alongside Mercury within the southwest. By 20 minutes after sundown, the pair is simply 2° excessive, so that you’ll want a really clear horizon and ideally an elevated viewing web site to see them. Mercury will likely be simpler to identify at magnitude –0.5; the small, vivid planet sits a tad lower than 5° to the best of the Moon, which is simply barely 3 % lit. Binoculars or a small telescope ought to choose up the skinny crescent, which seems lit from the decrease proper — that’s the path of the Solar, which lies farther west alongside the ecliptic. Seeing such a younger Moon is usually a actual problem with the unaided eye, however like discovering Uranus, a enjoyable one to check your eyesight!

Dawn: 6:44 A.M.
Sundown: 4:44 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:15 A.M.
Moonset: 5:26 P.M.
Moon Section: Waxing crescent (2%)

Wednesday, November 15
Comet Lemmon could also be stealing headlines, nevertheless it’s not the one comet value your consideration. Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan 1 is providing up a wonderful scene because it pairs with the glittering Beehive Cluster (M44) in Most cancers at this time. You possibly can both catch it excessive within the south within the early-morning hours earlier than daybreak, or late tonight within the east because it rises within the hour or two earlier than midnight.

Let’s deal with the early-morning look first. Most cancers lies almost due south round 5:30 A.M. native time and is a few 70° excessive. Within the middle of the constellation is the Beehive, a younger open cluster of stars seen to the bare eye as a fuzzy patch of sunshine with a couple of resolved pinpoints.

This morning Tsuchinshan — final noticed round magnitude 11 — lies lower than a level north of the middle of the cluster, flying by means of its outskirts. It’s a wonderful view by means of a telescope and an incredible alternative for astrophotography, which is able to choose up the fainter comet even higher. In pictures, the comet ought to glow inexperienced — it’s shut sufficient to the Solar for diatomic carbon to type a coma across the nucleus as natural materials breaks aside below the onslaught of solar photons. Think about using a 135mm telephoto lens to seize a memorable picture of the scene.

By this night, the comet may have moved east, sitting barely northeast of the middle of the cluster however nonetheless inside 2° and prepared for much more picture ops. Most cancers rises round 10 P.M. native time and it is best to have the ability to catch sight of the pairing low within the sky about half an hour later — however ready even longer for the constellation to climb larger will provide even higher views, so long as you’re keen to remain up late.

Dawn: 6:45 A.M.
Sundown: 4:44 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:25 A.M.
Moonset: 6:15 P.M.
Moon Section: Waxing crescent (6%)

Thursday, November 16
Now it’s Mercury’s flip to go Antares, transferring 3° north of the star at 1 P.M. EST. Once more, nevertheless, the pair will not be readily seen, as Scorpius remains to be setting too quickly after the Solar to provide Antares time to shine. Mercury, nevertheless, could also be a bit simpler to see than it was on the 14th, now 3° excessive 20 minutes after sundown because it strikes rapidly by means of the sky. You’ll nonetheless want a transparent southwestern horizon to see the planet, nonetheless magnitude –0.5 and prone to stand out within the falling twilight to a pointy eye, and seem readily in binoculars or telescopes.

Mercury presently lies 1.3 AU from Earth and seems 5″ large in a telescope — word that that is barely bigger than the obvious width of Uranus, which in actuality is way, a lot bigger but in addition lies a lot, a lot farther away. As a result of it circles the Solar inside Earth’s orbit, Mercury seems to undergo phases. It’s presently 90 % lit, almost full. Over the subsequent a number of weeks, it’ll wane, with much less and fewer of its face lit by the Solar. Watching this happen is usually a fascinating expertise, so remember to try Mercury within the night sky each few days all through the month because it travels from Scorpius to the east up by means of Sagittarius, the subsequent constellation alongside the ecliptic.

Dawn: 6:46 A.M.
Sundown: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:29 A.M.
Moonset: 7:15 P.M.
Moon Section: Waxing crescent (13%)

Friday, November 17
The annual Leonid meteor bathe peaks in a single day tonight; one of the best time to view it’s early tomorrow morning when Leo is excessive within the sky, however when you’re a night observer, there’ll nonetheless seemingly be some meteors to catch because the bathe ramps as much as its most.

The radiant, the place bathe meteors seem to originate, is close to Leo’s head, which is first to rise within the hour earlier than native midnight. Plus, the crescent Moon units round 10 P.M. native time, leaving the late-night sky darkish and splendid for recognizing taking pictures stars. As a result of bathe meteors look greatest — i.e., usually have the longest vivid trains by means of the sky — somewhat methods away from the radiant, you’ll be greatest served by wanting close to Gemini and up into Orion and Taurus, all of which rise earlier and lie nicely above the japanese horizon earlier than midnight.

The Leonids’ most fee isn’t significantly excessive — simply 10 meteors per hour at greatest — so this received’t be a shocking meteor storm. Nonetheless, these are significantly fast-moving meteors that always depart lengthy, glowing trails of ionized gasoline within the environment. So, when you spend some time exterior late tonight or early tomorrow morning, you’re prone to see at the very least a couple of memorable meteors streak throughout the sky!

Dawn: 6:47 A.M.
Sundown: 4:42 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:25 A.M.
Moonset: 8:24 P.M.
Moon Section: Waxing crescent (21%)

Sky This Week is dropped at you partially by Celestron.