Tuesday, November 15
With moonrise delayed till late this night, situations are excellent for observing Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) shortly after sundown. Nonetheless round tenth to eleventh magnitude, ZTF requires a minimum of a 6-inch scope and clear, darkish skies, so do your finest to get away from any low-lying gentle air pollution.
The comet is making a sluggish curve by way of Serpens Caput this month, simply south of Corona Borealis. Tonight, ZTF is simply over 1.5° due south of magnitude 4.6 Delta (δ) Coronae Borealis within the Northern Crown. The comet is basically on the turning level in its curve and can now begin transferring slowly north and barely east as November continues.
When you’ve discovered the faint fuzzball, bump up your magnification to 100x or extra. Search for a well-defined southern flank and a brief, stubby fan of a tail extending barely northward. By way of the remainder of the 12 months, the comet ought to proceed to brighten. Astronomers are hoping it would placed on a very good present in early 2023, maybe as the most effective comet of the 12 months.
Dawn: 6:45 A.M.
Sundown: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:45 P.M.
Moonset: 12:53 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning gibbous (58%)
Wednesday, November 16
Final Quarter Moon happens at 8:27 A.M. EST. Early risers will now have an opportunity to get pleasure from our satellite because it guidelines the predawn skies.
Evening owls will miss our Moon; nevertheless, they will as a substitute benefit from the fast-moving moons of Jupiter. The magnitude –2.7 planet is in Pisces, simple to seek out with the bare eye. However you’ll want a telescope to observe two of its satellites transit the disk tonight, so pull out your scope and get settled in for the present.
Issues kick off round 8:30 P.M. EST, when Europa crosses onto the disk in a transit. The bigger, brighter moon Ganymede just isn’t far behind. Europa is sort of off the west aspect of the disk when its shadow lastly joins the present round 10:45 P.M. EST, showing barely northwest of Ganymede. That giant moon strikes in entrance of Jupiter round 10:50 P.M. EST, simply minutes after Io has popped into view northeast of the disk following an occultation, having crossed out of Jupiter’s darkish shadow and as soon as extra into daylight.
Europa’s shadow barely leads Ganymede throughout the planet, preserving forward the entire time. Europa leaves the disk round 11 P.M. EST, its shadow following round 1:10 A.M. EST on the seventeenth (simply after midnight within the Central time zone and nonetheless late on the sixteenth in western time zones). Ganymede slips off the disk round 1:40 A.M. EST on the seventeenth, however its personal shadow gained’t seem over the cloud tops till the planet has set for a lot of the U.S., round 12:30 A.M. PST on the seventeenth.
Dawn: 6:46 A.M.
Sundown: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:48 P.M.
Moonset: 1:21 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (48%)
Thursday, November 17
Darkish night skies proceed because the crescent Moon wanes, so let’s get pleasure from a wonderful globular cluster in Aquarius the Water-bearer tonight. M2 is a wealthy, compact globular about 4.5° due north of Third-magnitude Sadalsuud, also referred to as Beta (β) Aquarii. The cluster remains to be almost 50° excessive within the south two hours after sundown. In case your eyes are sharp and your observing web site darkish, you could even spot this magnitude 6.5 globular with out optical help, showing as a faint, cloudy glow.
However practice a telescope on this showpiece and myriad stars will come out. The cluster’s densely packed middle offers approach to busy outskirts. M2’s core spans solely about 20″, however the cluster’s full extent is about 16′ throughout. Many observers assume that core seems not fairly spherical, however barely oblate. Take your time having fun with the view, because the area gained’t set till simply earlier than midnight.
The Leonid meteor bathe peaks late tonight, however the most effective time to catch its meteors shall be early tomorrow morning, so maintain studying.
Dawn: 6:47 A.M.
Sundown: 4:42 P.M.
Moonrise: —
Moonset: 1:46 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (39%)
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