The Night Sky: November 2008

Contents

The Night Sky in November 2008

By Harry J. Augensen
Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Widener University

Moon’s Phases in Month
  Full "Frost" Moon on the 13thNew Moon on the 27th

Stars and Constellations
The stars of autumn are in full spendor on November evenings.  With our clocks moving back to Standard Time at the beginning of November, the sky becomes dark shortly after 5 pm.  We can still catch the “summer” right triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair high in the west after dusk.  The Great Square of Pegasus, which consists of four whitish stars, is high in the south by around 8 pm, while below it is the bright whitish star Fomalhaut in Pisces Austrinus (the Southern Fish).  High in the northeast is the familiar “W” shape of the constellation Cassiopeia.  Following Cassiopeia is the constellation Perseus, which represents the hero of mythology who rode the winged horse Pegasus and rescued Andromeda from Cetus, the Sea Monster (the Whale in modern times). 

The constellations of Andromeda and Cetus are both relatively faint, but Andromeda contains within its borders M31, otherwise known as the Great Galaxy in Andromeda.  M31 can actually be seen as a fuzzy patch with the unaided eye in locations far from light pollution.  The “M” stands for Charles Messier (1730-1817), a French astronomer of the 18th century who searched the sky for comets, which like planets, travel in orbits about the Sun.  The objects in Messier’s list look fuzzy, like comets, but in reality are mostly distant nebulae and star clusters.  Messier compiled his list of “M” objects so that other comet hunters  would not waste their time investigating these objects.  The Andromeda Galaxy lies about 2½ million light years from our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and is very similar in structure but even larger in size.

A few stars of winter can be previewed on November nights.   Low in the northeast is the bright yellow-white star Capella (meaning “little she goat”), situated in the constellation of Auriga (the Charioteer). Capella is often the first of the winter stars to make its appearance.  If you stay up late, Capella will pass nearly overhead around 1 am in mid-November.  By February, Capella will be located nearly overhead during the evening hours.  Low in the east you can find the stars of Taurus, the Bull, which contains the bright reddish star Aldebaran.  Aldebaran appears to be part of a “V” shaped cluster of stars known as the Hyades.  Even more famous is the Pleiades cluster in Taurus, a compact group of stars shaped like a miniature dipper lying somewhat above Aldebaren.

Naked-Eye Planets In the Evening and Morning Sky

Venus is unmistakable in the evening sky at dusk, shining like a brilliant yellow star above the southwestern horizon.  Venus continues to get higher and brighter in the evening sky, setting about 2 hours after the Sun at the beginning of November, but nearly 3 hours after it at month’s close.  Venus begins the month near Antares in Scorpius, but moves rapidly through Ophiuchus and into Sagittarius during November.   At the very end of November, Venus will pass very close (apparently, of course) to Jupiter, making for a spectacular sight in the sky shortly after sunset.

Jupiter continues to be a delightful presence during the early evening hours of November, resembling a brilliant cream-colored star as it slowly drifts toward the southwestern horizon.  Jupiter resides, as it has for the past several months, within the constellation Sagittarius, positioned above the famous “teapot” asterism. At the beginning of November Jupiter lies low in the southwest at dusk , and sets around 10 pm EST.  By the 30th, Jupiter sets around 7:30 pm, only about 2½  hours after sunset.  Most notably, however, is that by month’s end, Venus and Jupiter will pair up in Sagittarius, with Venus being the brighter of the two.  This will certainly present a beautiful spectacle of two “jewels” during the early evening hours.

In the morning sky, Saturn continues to improve its visibility, rising around 2 am EST in early November, and by 12:30 am around month’s end.   Saturn is easily picked out high in the south just before dawn, resembling a bright yellow star in the constellation Leo.

Mercury begins the month of November rising about an hour before the Sun, but you will need a very low horizon to see it.   It looks like a modestly bright yellow star hovering low in the southeast before dawn.   Mercury gradually vanishes into the morning twilight during the course of the month, eventually reaching superior conjunction with the Sun (i.e., aligned with the Sun on the far side from Earth) on the 25th.

Mars is too closely aligned with the Sun this month to be viewed, and it will continue its leave of absence from the night sky for several months.  Mars reaches conjunction with the Sun in early December, and will eventually re-appear in the morning sky in early 2009. 

The Leonid Meteor Shower is expected to reach its peak after midnight on November 17th.  Look generally toward the east where the constellation Leo will be rising, although meteors can be seen in any part of the sky. The  meteors are the incandescent trails produced by fragments of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle entering Earth’s atmosphere at supersonic velocities.

For more information on astronomy and weather, visit the Widener University Public Viewing Website at http://www.widener.edu/stargazing/, then click on Web Links & Resources. A set of free sky maps can be obtained at http://www.skymaps.com/

Some content for this article has been obtained from US Naval Observatory Data Services