by Dave Leake

There actually quite a bit of action in the sky this month provided you take the time to get out and look. We start in the southwest where Venus is getting to be high enough to see. From early in November to midmonth, Venus is joined by Mercury. The two are only about two degrees apart (two pinky finger widths held at arm’s length) until November 15th. On the evenings of the 9th and 10th, you can see Venus with Mercury just below and then the star Antares. Use binoculars to see all three. The planetary pair sets by 5:45pm or roughly 30 minutes after the end of evening twilight. By the end of November, Mercury is heading back towards the Sun and Venus is gaining altitude. On November 26th, a lovely crescent Moon can be seen just to the right of Venus.

Higher in the sky, Jupiter rules the evening. Given opposition was late last month, Jupiter will already be up in the east as the sky darkens. It’s a great time to catch it with a telescope. See if one of the equatorial bands is darker than the other. A nearly full Moon is above Jupiter on November 8th and just to the left of the planet on the next evening.

Mars rises at about 1am this month amongst the stars of Leo. In fact, Mars comes to within a couple of degrees of the star Regulus on the evening of November 10th and 11th. Since Mars is currently moving from west to east, use Regulus to monitor the planet’s weekly movement against the starry backdrop. Mars is brightening some and appearing larger through the eyepiece as the Earth catches up to the planet in its slightly faster orbit. Opposition for Mars is March 3, 2012 in the constellation of Leo. The Mars Science Lab (better known now as the “Curiosity“ rover) is due to launch on November 25th at roughly 9:30am.

Saturn is in the morning sky near the star Spica in Virgo. It rises around 6am so you’ll have to set an early alarm. If you do that, you might wait until the morning of the 26th when a waning crescent Moon is just to the right of the planet.

As far as smaller solar system bodies go, there are a couple of objects currently in the sky of note. First Comet Garradd is in the northwest near the stars of Hercules, west of the bright star Vega. Garradd was discovered in August of 2009 by Gordon Garradd from Australia. The comet is thought to be large BUT it won’t come any closer than the Sun than the planet Mars. And comets are notoriously brighter as they get closer to the Sun. Being farther away from Earth (nearly twice the Earth/Sun distance.) it also doesn’t move very much in our sky. You can find it just east of a sign connecting the stars Alpha and Delta Herculis. Just the opposite is the asteroid 2005YU55. The 1300-foot diameter chunk of rock will take about 11 hours to complete a trip from Altair through the Great Square of Pegasus. That comes out to about 7 arc seconds per seconds of movement. The good news is that there’s no chance this object will hit the Earth (despite what you might see at the supermarket check-out stand!) but it will only reach magnitude 11.2, meaning you won’t be seeing this in binoculars. Still, check it out!

The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks during the early morning hours of November 18. The shower is very potent every 33 years and this year is not “the year.“ You still might see a few bright meteors in the pre-dawn sky, though keep in mind that a 3rd quarter Moon will brighten the sky some. Good luck!

Moon Phases

1st quarter: November 2, December 2

Full: November 10, December 10

Last quarter: November 18, December 17

New: November 25, December 24

If you would like to see the phases of the moon, past, present, and future, log on to
http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/phases-moon