November 2005 Skies

In autumnal November the Sun continues lower in the daytime sky, while by night the Zodiac moves higher and becomes quite prominent.  The SUN begins the month in the constellation LIBRA, and remains in Libra until November 23rd. It then enters SCORPIO for a brief six days.  On November 30th, the Sun moves into the constellation of OPHIUCHUS, where it will remain until December 18th.

The Moon:
November’s NEW MOON occurs on the evening of the 1st in Virgo.
The 1st QUARTER MOON is seen on November 8th in CAPRICORNUS.
November’s FULL MOON occurs on November 15th in TAURUS.
The 3rd QUARTER Moon occurs late on November 22nd in LEO.

In November the Moon passes near four naked-eye planets:
MERCURY: Look for a triangle formed by the Moon, Mercury & Antares VERY low in the Southwest in SCORPIO about 6:10p.m. the evening of November 3rd.
VENUS: while in SAGITTARIUS low in the Southwest the evening of November 5th.
MARS: while in ARIES overnight the 14th – 15th.
SATURN: The Moon and Saturn rise together in CANCER after 11p.m. the night of the 21st    22nd.

The Moon is also found lying near these prominent stars:
Crescent Moon near Antares in SCORPIO the evening of the 3rdth.
A waning Gibbous Moon begins to occult (eclipse) the outer stars in the Pleiades
in Taurus before dawn the morning of the 16th.
The waning Gibbous Moon stands above Aldebaran in Taurus the night of the 16th-17th.
The Waning Gibbous Moon is near Castor & Pollux in Gemini the morning of the 20th
November’s 3rd Quarter Moon is near Regulus in Leo early the morning of the 23rd.

The Evening Sky:
The Sun: Sunset on November 1st occurs at 5:30p.m., and it creeps earlier a bit each day until the fourth week of November.  Then, sunrise times hardly change for about two weeks, during which time sunset occurs at about 5:14p.m. each day. (This period in late November & early December has our earliest sunsets of the year. This curious situation results from the Earth’s slightly elliptical (non-circular) orbit around the Sun and Arizona’s geographic location in the Northern Hemisphere.

Evening Planets.  MERCURY, VENUS, MARS and SATURN:
Mercury is an evening planet for the first 3 weeks of the month, but is never far from the Sun.  Mercury begins the month in Scorpio, and moves Westward past the Sun into LIBRA on November 24th.  For evening viewing of Mercury, look between November 1st and 8th.  Use binoculars and scan the Southwestern sky about 30 - 35 minutes after sunset.  The evening of the 3rd, Mercury will be a bit above and to the right (North) of a thin 2-day-old crescent Moon.

Venus, the brightest night sky object after the Moon, is in Sagittarius. Through a telescope the brilliant white planet seems to shrink in phase. It starts the month about 50% illuminated (1st  Quarter phase) and shrinks steadily into a noticeable crescent by month end.
Look for the Moon a bit lower and to the left of Venus on the evening of November 5th.

During November Venus traverses the summer Milky Way constellations of Scorpio and Sagittarius, so it can be seen near several stars.  Venus appears likely to eclipse the 5th magnitude star SAO186612 for observers in Antarctica on November 9th, an extremely unusual event. The evening of the 15th, we will see Venus pass close to Phi Sagittarii, a 3rd magnitude star in Sagittarius. As darkness falls on November 17th, Venus will be closely approaching the bright 2nd magnitude star Sigma Sagittarii (“Nunki”). The evening of November 29th, Venus appears close to 5th magnitude 51 Sagittarii.

Mars is closest to the Earth this year for a few days around the beginning of the month, and all month Mars continues retrograde (Westward) motion with respect to the stars.  The darker November nights from the 1st to the 8th and again from the 18th through the end of the month should provide excellent telescopic viewing opportunities. Even a small telescope will show the planet as a round orange disk. Telescopes of 4-inches or greater in diameter will show darker regions (volcanic areas) on the planet’s surface moving as the planet rotates.

Try to visit an Public Star Party early in the month (see below) and enjoy both nice weather and spectacular views of the red planet.  Late in the month Mars is already receding behind Earth in its orbit and appears much smaller than in early November.

A telescope will also allow observing Mars as it passes quite close to background stars on the nights of November 1 – 2,  3 – 4, and 19 – 21.

Saturn is located in CANCER the Zodiac crab all month.  It rises shortly before midnight on the 1st and about 2 hours earlier on the 30th.  Telescopic observers will notice Saturn’s prominent ring system and 3 or 4 of its brighter moons.

The Morning Sky
The Sun:  Sunrise is at 6:50a.m. on November 1st, and occurs later each day of the month. Sunrise on the 30th occurs at 7:15a.m.

The Moon: The waning MOON is best seen in the morning sky between the 13th and the 29th of the month.  On the morning of November 16th look for the Moon as it inches closer to the Pleiades in Taurus.  It begins to occult (eclipse) some outlying Pleiades stars near 5a.m., but dawn will interrupt the show.

Morning Planets: MERCURY & JUPITER.
Mercury becomes a morning planet on November 24th as it passes the Sun and races into the morning sky to remain in Libra through the end of the month.  However, Mercury will be well-placed for morning observations between about November 30th through about December 15th.

If you have a CLEAR VIEW to the horizon, try to observe Mercury and the nearby Moon the morning of November 30th.  They rise about an hour before the Sun, and will be low in the Southeast about 6:35a.m.  Mercury will be just North of a VERY thin crescent Moon!

Jupiter passed behind the Sun on October 22nd, and is still too close to the Sun to be seen in early November. However, each morning –while the Sun rises ever later –Jupiter is rising a few minutes earlier.  By about November 10th or 11th, this bright planet should rise about an hour before sunrise and be visible low in the Southeast at dawn.  After November 17th, the giant planet can begin to be seen in a dark sky.

What Else to See?  Some Moon & Planet close approaches (or “conjunctions”) are noted above.  However, observers with binoculars or small telescopes may want to watch the Moon occult (pass in front of) or graze (pass very near to) stars of 6th magnitude or brighter between November 8th and 19th. A list of several such conjunctions may be found here.

November is the last month for convenient viewing of the “Summer Triangle” Milky Way constellations of CYGNUS, LYRA, and AQUILA.  High overhead during the summer and the past few months, these stars move lower into the West-Northwest each evening.  However, since the Sun sets earlier and rises later throughout November, there should be plenty of dark evenings (and mornings) for viewing November Skies.

With binoculars or a small telescope, a November observer will find it easy to observe many interesting Autumn AND Winter sky objects.  The Pleiades star cluster in Taurus rises before 7pm on the 1st, followed by ORION and GEMINI about 10:30pm.  Check out the Winter Milky Way in the constellations of CASSIOPEIA, PERSEUS (including the famous “Double Cluster”), AURIGA and GEMINI.  A slow sweep of the winter Milky Way will reveal many attractive star clusters.

The Orion Nebula (aka “Great Nebula in Orion” or Messier 42) is impressive in binoculars and even more so in a small telescope.  Prominent Double and Multiple Stars you can “split” with a small telescope include: Mizar in URSA MAJOR, Albireo (Beta Cygni) in Cygnus, Eta Cassiopeia in CASSIOPEIA, and Theta Orionis (“the Trapezium”) at the center of the M42 Orion Nebula.

Some Phoenix-area amateur astronomy club websites are listed below.  Visit these to look for free Public Star Parties where several telescopes will be set up for public viewing of many astronomical objects of interest, including Mars, the Moon and Saturn!

Good Luck Observing!