FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18

Orion clears the eastern horizon by about 8 or 9 p.m. now, depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone. Upper left of Orion, bright Mars glares. Keep going upper left of Mars by a similar amount, and there's Capella.

High straighter above Orion are Aldebaran and, higher still, the little Pleiades cluster, the size of your fingertip at arm's length.

Down below Orion, Sirius rises around 10 or 11 p.m. Sirius always follows two hours behind Orion, or equivalently one month behind Orion, as they cross the sky through the night and through the seasons.

■ The Leonid meteor shower may have a predicted outburst late tonight. The Leonids could put on a show in the early-morning hours of Saturday the 19th for eastern and central North America. Last week's Sky at a Glance had the date wrong (as the 18th); that was the date of the annual normal, weak maximum.

Meteor-shower analyst Mikhail Maslow predicts a possible outburst of up to 250 or 300 meteors per hour visible starting around 1 a.m. EST Saturday morning (6:00 UT), good timing for eastern North America. The farther east you are the better. The shower's radiant, near the Sickle of Leo, will be well up by then for the East Coast and will climb higher into dawn. The light of the Moon, two days day past first quarter, will interfere to some degree.

All month Jupiter shines below the Great Square of Pegasus, boxy emblem of fall. And is your sky dark enough for you to pick out the faint Circlet of Pisces? The five stars at its angles shown here are magnitudes 4.1 to 4.5. But if you can see to 5.0, two more make the pentagon into a nice circlet.

Even in a light-polluted sky, binoculars will get the whole thing. And binoculars reveal that the Circlet star farthest east (left), not plotted here, is strikingly, unusually, red. It's the carbon star 19 Piscium (TX Piscium), a C7 supergiant.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19

■ Whenever Fomalhaut is culminating (crossing the meridian due south, which it does around 7 p.m. this week), the Pointer stars of the Big Dipper stand upright low due north, straight below Polaris.

Also at that time, the first stars of Orion are soon to rise above the east horizon (for the world's mid-northern latitudes). Starting with the rise of Betelgeuse, it takes Orion's main figure a little more than an hour to completely clear the horizon.

■ Algol in Perseus should be at its minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 10:25 p.m. EST; 7:25 p.m. PST.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20

■ With the Moon gone from the evening sky, you've got your darkest evenings for deep-sky hunting. Have you been to the Perseus Double Cluster over and over? It's always a delight... but why not try for some lesser-known open clusters, each of them different, and some interesting double stars farther south in Perseus? Use Ken Hewitt-White's "Off the Beaten Track in Perseus" article, chart, and pix in the November Sky & Telescope, page 54.

■ Do you get up very early on Monday morning? Before dawn grows bright, spot the waning crescent Moon low in the east-southeast with 1st-magnitude Spica sparkling 4° or 5° to its upper right, as shown below.

If you're early enough and get ambitious, above Spica by about a fist and a half is 3rd-magnitude Gamma Virginis, a close, equal double star for telescopes. Its current separation is 3.25 arcseconds. Its two F0 suns are aligned north-south.

In autumn, the waning crescent Moon at dawn steps down at a steep angle from day to day. Conversely, springtime is when the waxing crescent Moon steps up at a steep angle day by day in evening twilight. Celestial mechanics is full of symmetries.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

■ Vega is the brightest star high in the west after dark. Close by it are three interesting double stars for binoculars and telescopes.

Just above Vega, spot 4th-magnitude Epsilon Lyrae, the Double-Double. Epsilon forms one corner of a roughly equilateral little triangle with Vega and Zeta Lyrae. The triangle is less than 2° on a side, hardly the width of your thumb at arm's length.

Binoculars easily resolve Epsilon. And a 4-inch telescope at 120× or more should, during good seeing, resolve each of Epsilon's wide components into a tight pair.

Zeta too is a double. This pair is much closer and appears single in most binoculars, but a telescope plainly resolves it.

Delta Lyrae, upper left of Zeta by a similar distance, is a much wider and easier binocular pair. Its stars are reddish orange and blue.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22

■ Jupiter's Great Red Spot should transit the planet's central meridian around 9:52 p.m. EST; 6:52 p.m. PST.

■ Algol should be at its minimum brightness for a couple hours centered on 7:14 p.m. EST. It will take several additional hours to fully rebrighten.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23

■ New Moon (exact at 5:57 p.m. EST).

■ This is the time of year when the Great Square of Pegasus floats highest overhead in early evening. Look for it above Jupiter. Your fist at arm's length fits inside it.

The western (right) side of the Great Square points far down almost to Fomalhaut in the south. Its eastern side points down less directly toward Beta Ceti (Diphda), less far below.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

■ Does the Sun already seem to be setting about as early as it ever will? You're right! We're still nearly a month from the winter solstice — but the Sun sets its earliest around December 7th if you live near latitude 40° north, and already the Sun sets within only 3 minutes of that time.

A surprising result of this: The Sun actually sets a trace earlier on Thanksgiving than on Christmas — even though Christmas is around solstice time!

But once again, in celestial mechanics every seeming abnormality is balanced out by an equal abnormality somewhere else. The offset of the earliest sunset from the solstice date is balanced out by the opposite happening at sunrise: The Sun doesn't come up its latest until January 4th. All this is due to the tilt of Earth's axis and the eccentricity of Earth's orbit.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25

■ Now that the Pleiades and (below them) Aldebaran are shining due east after dark, can Orion be far behind? Orion's entire iconic figure, formed by its brightest seven stars, takes about an hour and a quarter to clear the eastern horizon. By roughly 8 p.m. it's just about made it, as shown below. By 10 it's up in fine, pre-winter view.

This season, Mars shines brightly to the left of the tall stack of Orion, Aldebaran with the Hyades, and the Pleiades.

■ Using a telescope, watch for Jupiter's moon Io to slowly reappear from behind Jupiter's eastern limb around 7:11 p.m. EST, soon after dark in the Eastern time zone. Then Europa does the same around 10:41 p.m. EST, better timing for the rest of North America.

Watch for each to gradually appear as a tiny bump on Jupiter's shimmering limb, then bud off and separate into open space.

Meanwhile, Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross the planet's central meridian around 7:22 p.m. EST. Fifty minutes later it's already halfway to the preceding (celestial west) limb. Jupiter rotates fast.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26

■ The bowl of the Little Dipper swings down in the evening at this time of year, left or lower left of Polaris due north. The rest of the Little Dipper is dim. By about 11 p.m. this week it hangs straight down from Polaris.

Two faint fuzzies naked-eye: The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Perseus Double Cluster are two of the most famous deep-sky objects. They're both cataloged as 4th magnitude, and in a fairly good sky you can see each with the unaided eye. Binoculars make them easier. They're located only 22° apart, very high toward the east early these evenings — to the right of Cassiopeia and closer below Cassiopeia, respectively.

But they look rather different, the more so the darker your sky. See for yourself. You can find them with the all-sky constellation map in the center of the November or December Sky & Telescope.

 


This Week's Planet Roundup

Mercury and Venus are hidden deep in the glow of sunset.

Mars, brightening from magnitude –1.6 to –1.7 this week, clears the east-northeast horizon around the end of twilight. It gains altitude until culminating nearly overhead around 1 or 2 a.m. There's no missing it; Mars now outshines even Sirius (which rises around 9 or 10 p.m.). Mars's fiery yellow-orange color always helps give it away.

Mars has passed between the horntips of Taurus, Beta and fainter Zeta Tauri, moving west (retrograde). It's on its way to opposition the night of December 7-8 when the full Moon will occult Mars for much of North America and Western Europe! Map and timetables.

Mars-colored Aldebaran, only a tenth as bright at magnitude +0.9, sparkles to Mars's upper right by 14°, roughly a fist and a half at arm's length. Somewhat farther to the planet's lower right is Mars-colored Betelgeuse. How do the three compare? Color perception can be tricky; see "Seeing the True Colors of Mars," a lesson for astronomers from a chemist, in the November Sky & Telescope, page 52.

In a telescope Mars now appears 16.7 to 17 arcseconds wide, almost the 17.2 arcseconds it will display around its closest approach to Earth on December 1st. (The reason Mars's closest-to-Earth date and opposition date are a week apart stems from the ellipticity of the two planets' orbits, Mars's especially. Mars has the most non-circular orbit of any planet but Mercury.)

Mars on October 26, 2022, imaged by Tom Williamson
Mars on October 26th, imaged by Tom Williamson of Albuquerque, NM. He used a 12½-inch Newtonian reflector, a ZWO ASI290mc planetary video camera, and sophisticated stacking and processing methods. South is a little to the right of up. At the center of Mars's gibbous face here is dark Sinus Meridiani. Clouds streak the high northern latitudes at bottom. The bright yellowish region on the limb in high southern latitudes may be airborne dust.

Jupiter blazes white high in the southeast in twilight at magnitude –2.8. It's highest in the south as early as 8 p.m. now, in dim Pisces. In a telescope it shrinks a bit this week, from 46 to 45 arcseconds wide.

Jupiter on November 14th, imaged by Christopher Go with a 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain scope and a new QHY5III200M planetary video camera. South is up. The black dot near the Great Red Spot is the shadow of Io. Writes Go, "the North Equatorial Belt is quiet in this region" unlike on the other side of Jupiter.

Saturn, magnitude +0.7 in Capricornus, glows highest in the south as twilight fades. As night progresses, it moves lower toward the southwest and sets around 10 or 11 p.m.

Saturn imaged by Christopher Go on Aug 26, 2022
Saturn imaged by Christopher Go on August 26th, just two weeks past opposition...
...And again on November 14th, around the date of the planet's eastern quadrature (when an outer planet is 90° east of the Sun). Now we view Saturn at a somewhat greater angle from the incoming sunlight lighting it. So we see around to more of the shadow the globe casts on the rings. (The shadow is to the lower right here; south is up). Quadrature is also when the difference is greatest between an outer planet's illumination angle and our viewing angle.

Uranus, magnitude 5.6 in Aries, is past opposition. It's up in the east in good binocular or telescope view by mid-evening, displaying a tiny, very slightly blue-greenish gray disk 3.8 arcseconds wide. It a telescope at high power it's obviously non-stellar. See the Uranus finder charts in the November Sky & Telescope, page 49.

Neptune, magnitude 7.9 at the Aquarius-Pisces border, is high in the evening 6° west of Jupiter. It's just 2.3 arcseconds wide, again non-stellar in a telescope but requiring more effort than Uranus. It's slightly bluish gray, if you have enough aperture to show color at all in something this faint. See the Neptune finder charts in the September Sky & Telescope, page 49.


All descriptions that relate to your horizon — including the words up, down, right, and left — are written for the world's mid-northern latitudes. Descriptions and graphics that also depend on longitude (mainly Moon positions) are for North America.

Eastern Standard Time (EST) is Universal Time minus 5 hours. Universal Time is also called UT, UTC, GMT or Z time.


Want to become a better astronomer? Learn your way around the constellations. They're the key to locating everything fainter and deeper to hunt with binoculars or a telescope.

This is an outdoor nature hobby. For an easy-to-use constellation guide covering the whole evening sky, use the big monthly map in the center of each issue of Sky & Telescope, the essential magazine of astronomy.

Once you get a telescope, to put it to good use you'll need a detailed, large-scale sky atlas (set of charts). The basic standard is the Pocket Sky Atlas (in either the original or Jumbo Edition), which shows stars to magnitude 7.6.

Pocket Sky Atlas cover, Jumbo edition
The Pocket Sky Atlas plots 30,796 stars to magnitude 7.6, and hundreds of telescopic galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae among them. Shown here is the Jumbo Edition, which is in hard covers and enlarged for easier reading outdoors by red flashlight. Sample charts. More about the current editions.

Next up is the larger and deeper Sky Atlas 2000.0, plotting stars to magnitude 8.5; nearly three times as many. The next up, once you know your way around, are the even larger Interstellarum atlas (stars to magnitude 9.5) or Uranometria 2000.0 (stars to magnitude 9.75). And be sure to read How to Use a Star Chart with a Telescope. It applies just as much to charts on your phone or tablet as to charts on paper.

You'll also want a good deep-sky guidebook. A beloved old classic is the three-volume Burnham's Celestial Handbook. An impressive more modern one is the big Night Sky Observer's Guide set (2+ volumes) by Kepple and Sanner.

Can a computerized telescope replace charts? Not for beginners, I don't think, and not on mounts and tripods that are less than top-quality mechanically, meaning heavy and expensive. And as Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer say in their Backyard Astronomer's Guide, "A full appreciation of the universe cannot come without developing the skills to find things in the sky and understanding how the sky works. This knowledge comes only by spending time under the stars with star maps in hand."


Audio sky tour. Out under the evening sky with your
earbuds in place, listen to Kelly Beatty's monthly
podcast tour of the heavens above. It's free.



"The dangers of not thinking clearly are much greater now than ever before. It's not that there's something new in our way of thinking, it's that credulous and confused thinking can be much more lethal in ways it was never before."
            — Carl Sagan, 1996

"Facts are stubborn things."
             John Adams, 1770


 

Comments


Image of Rod

Rod

November 18, 2022 at 5:22 am

I did observe Mars and a few Leonids. Last night, Observed 2200-0000 EST. Some excellent views of Mars tonight near 2300 EST. 129x and 200x views used along with red and yellow filters. Polar caps more distinct now and the Mars Profiler tool at Sky & Telescope shows the dark areas visible I could see. Central meridian longitude near 49 degrees. The 23A red filter did a very good job here. TeleVue 9-mm Nagler used with TeleVue 1.8x Barlow. Also, TeleVue 14-mm Delos used with 1.8x Barlow for 129x views. As Mars elevation angle improved to 50-degrees or more, some excellent seeing. I did see two Leonids flash by soon after the radiant rose in Leo near 2310 EST. One moving past Cassiopeia and about as bright, 2nd magnitude. Some cirrus clouds began moving into the area near midnight, so I packed it in. 0455-0505 EST morning of 18-Nov-2022. I went back out briefly and observed 2, perhaps 4th magnitude Leonids streak by Capella in Auriga moving away from the radiant in Leo up high. The waning crescent Moon in Leo was bright with earthshine. Temperature -3C.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 18, 2022 at 10:46 am

I went back and checked the December magazine for Mars opposition. It is likely in the northern region of Mars; I viewed the North Polar Hood or NPH. See Celestial Calendar, Bob King, page 48 for details. That is a system of clouds that appear whiter or for my telescope, lighter and brighter region. Come December 7th, I may enjoy watching the Moon close in on Mars, about 2 arcminute or less angular separation 🙂 Others could see the Moon occult Mars.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of TenOfSwords

TenOfSwords

November 18, 2022 at 10:54 am

How powerful a telescope will be needed to observe the November 22 conjunction of Mercury and Venus?

Of course the conjunction of the same two planets on December 29 will be a lot easier to spot.

But where's the fun in that?

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 18, 2022 at 11:09 am

TenOfSwords, I do not know 🙂 I checked Stellarium 1.1 and Starry Night Pro Plus 8 for my location in MD. 22-Nov at 1530 UT or 1030 EST, these two are sitting close to the Sun, a bit more than 7.5-degree angular separation. Venus and Mercury are also close too near or less than 1.5-degree angular separation. Even at 0800 EST or 1300 UT, tough event for me to see and earlier, much lower too. I will pass here but if you see, please post a note 🙂

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of TenOfSwords

TenOfSwords

November 18, 2022 at 11:46 am

Thanks, Rod - and while Venus will be only slightly brighter on December 29 than on November 22, Mercury will be considerably brighter on November 22 than on December 29.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Anthony Barreiro

Anthony Barreiro

November 18, 2022 at 6:34 pm

You wouldn't need a telescope to see the conjunction of Mercury and Venus on November 22. Binoculars would do. But you would need a crystal clear sky, a completely unobstructed sunset horizon, and miraculous good luck. Venus and Mercury are only 8 degrees from the sun. Mercury sets 20 minutes after the Sun; Venus sets 5 five minutes later. Try to get on top of a high mountain with a flat desert to the southwest. 😉

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 18, 2022 at 7:13 pm

Excellent Anthony. I was thinking sunrise and daytime, sunset could work with binoculars. I checked for my location. 2200 UT or 1700 EST, both planets will be near 239 degrees and 1-2 degrees altitude. A flat earth view is necessary 🙂

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Joe Stieber

Joe Stieber

November 18, 2022 at 9:37 pm

I saw both Venus and Mercury this morning, Nov 18, 2022, between 10:30 and 11:00 am EST using a 115 mm spotting scope at 30x (no filters, just using a structure to BLOCK THE SUN). I also increased the magnification to 70x to verify the disc of each planet.

Venus was easy to spot, starting at the blocked sun. Then using Venus as a starting point, I found Mercury, which was much more difficult to see since it's dimmer and exhibited much less contrast against the blue background sky. Although their 1.5° separation was less than the 2° TFOV at 30x, I could not see them simultaneously. I had to really concentrate on Mercury to see it.

After superior conjunction on November 8, I first saw Mercury on Nov 14 with an 88 mm spotting scope at 60x (3.6° from the sun). I last saw it before superior conjunction on Nov 3 with the 88 mm scope (3.2° from the sun).

I was able to see Venus on the day of superior conjunction, October 22, with the 88 mm scope at 12:46 pm EDT, when it was just 1.06° from the sun (all separations center-to-center).

I've noticed the upcoming Venus-Mercury conjunction on Nov 22, and weather permitting, plan to look during the day (and at sunset too). Yes, Mercury is dimming as it moves away from superior conjunction, but the blue sky background deepens as it moves farther from the sun. We'll see how they balance out with respect to visibility.

I also plan to get out my 15x56 binoculars for a look at Venus in the day, and at sunset, but I doubt they will show Mercury during the day. A binocular sighting will likely be later this elongation when Mercury is in evening twilight.

BTW, my Mercury sighting on Nov 14 marks the 76th elongation in a row that I've spotted it starting in January 2011 (twelve complete years now).

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 19, 2022 at 9:30 am

Joe Stieber, thanks for sharing. What you did took some effort and correct position identification to see Venus and Mercury during the daytime. My 90-mm refractor telescope, I use a Telrad with alt-azimuth controls. The reticle could get burned out if used during daytime hours. Nice job Joe 🙂

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of misha17

misha17

November 18, 2022 at 6:04 pm

The moon phase for the night of November 18th is incorrect. The Moon will be 2 days past last quarter - not first quarter - when the possible Leonid shower occurs.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 20, 2022 at 11:05 pm

I went out tonight for some Mars viewing, very enjoyable. Observed 2100-2215 EST/0200-0315 UT. Waning crescent Moon rise in Virgo near 0408 EST. New Moon 23-Nov-2022 2257 UT/1757 EST. I enjoyed some Mars observations using the 10-inch Newtonian with TeleVue 1.8x and 2.5x Barlow lens with 14-mm Delos. Observations from 86x to 214x using #23A red filter and #12 yellow filter. The Sky & Telescope Mars Profiler tool showed the central meridian longitude at 0230 UT 21-Nov was 353 degrees. Hellas area and Syrtis Major area visible along with some other dark areas visible too. The telescope needed to temperature adjust so took about 30 minutes or a bit more before good seeing I enjoyed. Skies clear, temperature -5C with north winds 3 knots.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 21, 2022 at 6:11 am

What a lovely view of the waning crescent Moon in Virgo about 4.5 degrees from Spica this morning. Much earthshine visible, I enjoyed with naked eyes 🙂 0600 EST, temperature -6C.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of New Jersey Eclipse Fan

New Jersey Eclipse Fan

November 21, 2022 at 8:38 am

GMTA! To the question posed above ("Do you get up very early on Monday morning?"), I excitedly respond "Yes!" Well, at least THIS Monday morning! That's because my daughter and her family arrived at Newark Int'l. Airport from overseas @ 4:30am. So on my way to and from there, I made the same observations (as Rod). Shockingly, my daughter (35 y.o.) did not know what Earthshine was; she must've slept through that lesson. 😉

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 21, 2022 at 10:07 am

New Jersey Eclipse Fan, lol 🙂 Your post confirms we could see the same Moon this morning, it was a great sight 🙂

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of New Jersey Eclipse Fan

New Jersey Eclipse Fan

November 21, 2022 at 11:50 am

Agreed! In addition to the "obvious" reasons the Moon was created, I've often felt its presence as a travel guide, including this morning: To the right driving north to the airport and to the left driving south.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of mary beth

mary beth

November 22, 2022 at 4:26 pm

Happy Thanksgiving to both you guys!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 22, 2022 at 7:47 pm

Same to you mary beth. New Jersey Eclipse Fan sent me an email and I know he will enjoy the day too 🙂

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of mary beth

mary beth

November 23, 2022 at 10:57 am

So nice his family here! They do up the holidays, it’s so fun to read his posts! Hope you and yours have a great Thanksgiving also!

The eastern sky is so beautiful in the late evening. We had about a week of clouds so when I went out last night and it was clearing I was shocked how I could see so many bright objects, Mars, Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix…I didn’t stay out long enough to see Sirius but I’m looking forward to my first sighting!

This week’s thread has certainly attracted a lot of comments, hopefully we’ll get some good reports next week as well, nice to read everyone’s posts!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of cyrtonyx

cyrtonyx

November 22, 2022 at 3:19 pm

I too saw the thin moon this morning while driving my school bus,
I tried to explain 'earthshine' to my early students, but they could not have given a care and had no idea what I was trying to show them.
I fear for the future.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of mary beth

mary beth

November 22, 2022 at 4:25 pm

You’d have to send them a text to get their attention, or put a GIF on Snapchat.

I fear for the future as well.

Thanks for trying

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Joe Stieber

Joe Stieber

November 22, 2022 at 1:58 pm

When I was out on Monday morning, 21-Nov-2022, spotting C/2020 V2 (ZTF) as described in the comments section of Bob King's recent online comet article, I stayed a bit longer and waited for the slender lunar crescent to breach the treetops around 4:30 am EST. Indeed, the earthshine-filled moon, and bright Spica 4.3° to the southwest, were a lovely sight.

Venus and Mercury were in conjunction today, 22-Nov-2022 at 12h EST (per USNO). I was out around noon for a look and saw them between 11:42 am and 12:02 pm EST with my 88 mm apo spotting scope. Venus was easily visible at 25 to 60x, but I needed 60x to find Mercury. The latter exhibits much less contrast against the bright background sky (they're about 8° from the sun now) and is easy to lose with a small shift in gaze. Reducing magnification with the zoom eyepiece (to increase FOV) makes it even harder to see. As a result, I was unable to see both objects simultaneously.

Since my previous post, I've been able to spot Venus with my 15x56 binoculars during the day using a monopod to steady them (actually, it's pretty easy in the 15x56s now). I've also been able to see Venus just after sunset the past several days with the binoculars. However, I've not yet seen it with unaided eyes during the day or after sunset. So far, I've not been able to see Mercury after sunset with the 88 mm scope, let alone binoculars. I'll be trying again this evening.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Image of Rod

Rod

November 22, 2022 at 7:48 pm

Way to go Joe!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

You must be logged in to post a comment.