The Night Sky: November 2009

Contents

The Night Sky in November 2009

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

Moon’s Phases in Month
  Full "Frost" Moon on the 2ndNew Moon on the 16th

Stars and Constellations

With our clocks back on standard time in November, the sky becomes dark enough to see bright stars shortly after 5 pm.  The star groups of summer are now just a memory, with one notable exception: the "summer" right triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair, which can still be seen high in the west.  But it is the stars of autumn which reach their full spendor on November evenings.  The Great Square of Pegasus, which consists of four whitish stars, is high in the south around 8 pm, while below it is the bright whitish star Fomalhaut in Pisces Austrinus (the Southern Fish).  High in the northeast is the unmistakable "W" shape of the constellation Cassiopeia, followed by the constellation Perseus, which represents the hero of mythology who rode the winged horse Pegasus and rescued Andromeda from Cetus, the Whale.  Cetus is the fourth largest constellation in the sky, but it contains mostly faint stars.  One star which is of particular interest is Omicron Ceti, also known as Mira (meaning the Wonderful One), because it varies greatly in brightness.  Mira is an enormous red giant star, nearly 350 times larger than our Sun, and it expands and contracts over a period of about 11 months. 

One faint but important autumn constellation which is part of the region known as "the Sea" is Pisces, the Fishes, located between Cetus (to its lower left)  and Pegasus (to its upper right).  In Greek mythology, Pisces represents Aphrodite and her son Eros, who were transformed into fishes and plunged into the sea to escape from the monster Typhon.  The two fishes are connected by a v-shaped pair of lines, which diverges around the Great Square of Pegasus. The lower of the two fishes, just below the Great Square, is an asterism known as the Circlet of Pisces.  It consists of seven stars, but you will need a pretty clear, dark sky to see them all.  Pisces is not only a zodiac constellation (meaning that the Sun passes through it during the year); it also contains the vernal equinox, the point in the sky where the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving from south to north.  This occurs each year around March 20th, and marks the official start of spring.  In fact, the Sun resides within the boundaries of Pisces from March 12th through April 18th of each year. 

 Winter begins next month, but a few winter stars can be previewed on November nights.  Low in the east you can spot the reddish star Aldebaran, which is the brightest star of Taurus, the Bull.  Also part of Taurus is the famous Pleiades cluster, a compact group of stars shaped like a miniature dipper. Low in the northeast to the left of Aldebaran is the bright yellow-white star Capella (meaning "little she goat"), situated in the constellation of Auriga (the Charioteer).

 Naked-Eye Planets In the Evening and Morning Sky 

In the evening sky, Jupiter continues to reign supreme, despite the fact that its distance from Earth has been increasing since August.  Resembling a brilliant cream-colored star, Jupiter passes slowly across the southern sky during the evening hours of November, and sets a little before midnight (EST) at the start of the month.  By the 30th, Jupiter sets around 10 pm.  Mars, which glides through Cancer eastward to the border with Leo during November, is getting gradually brighter as its distance from Earth continues to decrease, eventually reaching its closest approach to Earth (and opposition with the Sun) in January 2010. Mars rises around 10:30 pm EST at the start of November and by around 9:30 pm at month's end.

Venus, which has adorned the early morning sky since last spring, is slowly sinking toward the Sun.  It is still quite prominent, shining like a bright yellow-white star in the east-northeast during the predawn hours.  As November opens, Venus rises around 5 am, and, once it has ascended a generous distance above the horizon, can be spotted a bit below the star Spica in Virgo.  By month's end, Venus rises a few minutes after 6 am, or less than an hour before sunrise.  Mercury reaches superior conjunction with the Sun on the 5th, and is too close to the Sun for much of this month to be of interest to the unaided eye.   At the very end of November, Mercury begins to appear low in the west shortly after sunset.

Saturn, now well past its conjunction with the Sun back in September, has joined Venus as a resident of the early morning sky.  Saturn rises a little before 3 am as November begins, and by about 1:30 am on the 30th.  Looking east in the predawn sky, Saturn  resembles a moderately bright yellow star well to the upper right of Spica.

The Leonid Meteor Shower occurs during November, and is expected to reach its peak after midnight on the 16th.  Look generally toward the east where the constellation Leo will be rising, although meteors can be seen in any part of the sky.

 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

Times given apply for observers near to the latitude and longitude of Philadelphia, USA: 40 degrees North latitude, 75 degrees West longitude.