November Skies 2006

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 29th, the Sun moves into the constellation of OPHIUCHUS, where it will remain until December 18th.  No naked-eye planet, except Saturn, will be easily visible this month.

The Moon:
November’s FULL MOON occurs on November 5th in ARIES.
The 3rd QUARTER Moon occurs during the day on November 12nd in LEO.
November’s NEW MOON occurs on the evening of the 20th in LIBRA.
The 1st QUARTER MOON is seen on the morning of November 28th in AQUARIUS.

In November the Moon passes near two naked-eye planets:
SATURN:     3rd Quarter Moon is East of Saturn in LEO the morning of the 13th.
MERCURY: The Moon is below and South (right) of Mercury a few minutes after 6a.m. the morning of November 19th in Libra.

The Moon will also be seen near these prominent stars:
Waning Gibbous Moon approaches the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus before dawn the morning of the 6th.  (The Moon then eclipses several Pleiades stars for observers located in Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and East Asia.)
Waning Gibbous Moon very near Beta Tauri in Taurus overnight the 6th-7th.
Waning Gibbous Moon near Castor & Pollux in Gemini overnight the 9th-10th
3rd Quarter Moon is near Regulus in Leo the morning of the 13th.
Waning Crescent Moon on either side of Spica in VIRGO the 17th & 18th.

The Evening Sky:
The Sun: Sunset on November 1st occurs at 5:28p.m., and only slightly earlier each day until the fourth week of November, when it occurs at about 5:14p.m. It will continue to set each day for another two weeks at about 5:14p.m. (This period in late November & early December has the earliest sunsets of the year, a curious situation which results from the Earth’s slightly elliptical [non-circular] orbit around the Sun and Arizona’s southerly geographic location in the Northern Hemisphere.)

Evening Planets.  (MERCURY), (VENUS), (JUPITER) and SATURN:
Mercury, in Libra, is too close to the Sun to be visible. During the afternoon of November 8th, Mercury crosses in front of the Sun’s disk and into the morning sky. Observers with telescopes can view this rare event (see Transit of Mercury Powerpoint image)

Venus remains too close to the Sun to be observed throughout November. On the far side of the Sun, the brilliant white planet is in nearly “Full” phase (about 100% illuminated).

Jupiter sets shortly after the Sun on November 1st and behind the Sun on November 21st, and into the morning sky.  Plan on first glimpsing it in the morning sky in mid-December. It will again rise before midnight as an evening planet in early April.

Saturn, in Leo the Zodiac lion and a morning planet for the past several months, becomes an Evening Planet on November 15th, rising for the first time before midnight.  Saturn then continues to rise about 4 minutes earlier each evening (at 11p.m. on the 30th), becoming gradually better placed in the sky for evening observers.  Telescopic observers can 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 10th 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 for those in Arizona.

Morning Planets: MERCURY, (MARS) & JUPITER.
Remaining in Libra all month, Mercury becomes a morning planet on November 8th, and is well-placed for morning observers from November 15th through the end of the month.  If you have a CLEAR VIEW to the horizon, Mercury will appear to rise nearly straight up from the East-Southeast horizon. Use a pair of binoculars for easiest viewing.  On November 19th, Mercury will be North of a VERY thin crescent Moon!

Mars rises a few minutes before the Sun each morning in November, but is both too faint and near the Sun to be visible this month.

Jupiter will again be visible in mid-December low in the Southeast before dawn.

What Else to See?
Two Moon – Planet 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) five stars of 6th magnitude or brighter between November 9th and 28th.
Our list of these Moon-star occultations may be found here.

November is the last month for evening skywatchers to conveniently view the “Summer Triangle” Milky Way constellations of CYGNUS, LYRA, and AQUILA.  High overhead during the summer and the past few months, these stars are steadily moving 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.

In Novembers, persons with binoculars or a small telescope will find it easy to observe many interesting Autumn AND Winter sky objects.  The Pleiades star cluster in Taurus rises before 7p.m. 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.

Morning observers can watch Orion and Gemini and the Winter Milky Way rise highest above the horizon and observe the Orion Nebula (aka “Great Nebula in Orion” or Messier 42), a sight very impressive in binoculars and even more so in a small telescope.

Prominent Double and Multiple Stars you can “split” with a small telescope include: Albireo (Beta Cygni) in Cygnus (early evening only), Mizar in URSA MAJOR (morning only). Other double/multiple stars for morning and evening observers include: Eta Cassiopeia in CASSIOPEIA, Theta Orionis (“the Trapezium”) at the center of the M42 Orion Nebula, Gamma Arietis in ARIES, and Gamma Andromeda in ANDROMEDA (visible mornings and evenings).

Good Luck Observing!