News on what is visable in this months sky as posted by Adrian Zielonka's in his monthly sky notes.
Thank you Adrian and thank you CADAS.
Here is the astronomy news for November.
Astronomy
News
Night
Sky 2019 - November
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Sunrise |
Sunset |
Mercury Rises |
Venus Sets |
|
1st – 10th – 20th – 30th |
1st – 10th – 20th – 30th |
15th – 20th – 25th – 30th |
1st – 10th – 20th – 30th |
|
Moon Rise |
Moon Set |
Moon Rise |
Moon Set |
|
1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – 5th – 6th – 7th – 8th – 9th – 10th – 11th – 12th – 13th – 14th – 15th – 16th – 17th – 18th – |
1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – 6th – 7th – 8th – 9th – 10th – 11th – 12th – 13th – 14th – 15th – 16th – 17th – 18th – 19th – |
19th – 21st – 22nd – 23rd – 24th – 25th – 26th – 27th – 28th – 29th – 30th – - Moon Phases First Quarter – 4th Full Moon – 12th Last Quarter – 19th New |
20th – 21st – 22nd – 23rd – 24th – 25th – 26th – 27th – 28th – 29th – 30th – - All for |
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A |
A |
From the 1st - 8th The asteroid Vesta (6.6
mag) will be travelling close to the star Omicron Tauri (3.6 mag) in
Taurus. At midnight on the 1st and 50 degrees (approx)
above the SSE horizon Vesta forms a perfect triangle with the stars
Xi Tauri (3.7 mag) and Omicron Tauri. On the 5th November
Vesta will be just ¼ a degree from Omicron Tauri. (For further
information please see the 'Asteroid' and 'Sky Chart' section in the
website above).
On the 1st at 5:30pm Saturn is 7½ degrees to the upper
left of the crescent Moon in the SSW. Jupiter is 14½ degrees to the
right of the thin Moon and 4 degrees below. The star Omicron
Sagittarii (3.7 mag) is just 1 degree to the upper right of Saturn.
The star Pi Sagittarii (2.8 mag) is 2 degrees above Saturn.
There is a planned launch on the 2nd* at 2:59pm* of an
Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Its a
resupply service mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Its cargo will include the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02, an
experiment that will look for evidence of dark, strange and
anti-matter to help us understand how our universe was formed.
An occultation of the planet Saturn by the Moon occurs on the 2nd.
This is only visible from New Zealand.
At 5:30pm on the 2nd Saturn is just 5½ degrees to the
right of the crescent Moon in the south.
An occultation of Pluto occurs on the 2nd. This is only
visible from the southern half of South America, southern Africa and
Madagascar.
On the 3rd at 5.30pm the star Psi Capricorni (4.1 mag) is
5 degrees to the left of the Moon and 3 degrees below.
There is a planned Commercial Crew Boeing Pad Abort Test on the 4th*
at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Its to prepare
CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for crew transportation to the ISS.
Boeing will test the system's launch abort capability on the pad and
during ascent.
At 8:30pm on the 4th the star Iota Capricorni (4.2 mag) is
3 degrees above the Moon in the SSW.
On the 5th at 6:00pm the star Delta Capricorni (2.8 mag)
is 4 degrees to the right of the Moon and 1½ degrees above.
At 5:30pm on the 6th the star Tau Aquarii (4th mag) is
just ½ a degree to the lower right of the Moon. Neptune is 1 degree
right of the star Phi Aquarii and 8 degrees to the upper left of the
Moon.
On the 7th at 5:30pm Neptune is 5 degrees above the Moon
and 4½ degrees to the right in the south east. The star Psi Aquarii
(4.4 mag) is 4 degrees to the right of the Moon and 1½ degrees
above.
Both the South and North Taurids meteor showers peak somewhere around
the 7th are long, spread-out showers with no well-defined peak. They
can be seen from late October till early December.
At 5:30pm on the 8th the star Iota Ceti is just 4 degrees
below the Moon and 2½ degrees to the right.
Mars is just 3 degrees to the upper left of the 1st
magnitude star Spica in Virgo at 6:45am on the 10th in the
SE.
On the 10th at 8:30pm in the south east the Moon is
approximately midway between the two stars Omicron Piscium (4.2 mag)
and Alrescha (3.8 mag). Alrescha is 3½ degrees below the Moon.
Uranus is 6 degrees to the left of the Moon and 4½ degrees above.
The asteroid 9 Metis (9th mag) is less than ¼ of a degree
to the upper right of the Moon.
Mercury is at inferior conjuction on Monday 11th November
and a Transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. It is visible
from all the UK until sunset. First contact is at 12:35:27pm and
finishes at 6:04:14pm. Greatest Transit occurs at 3:19:48pm. Let us
hope its a lovely clear day for this event. (Please Note: It is
dangerous to view this through Binoculars or Telescope without Baader
Solar Filters or equivalent).
Comet C/2018 N2 ASASSN is at perihelion on the 11th and in
the constellation of Andromeda. It will be 3.125 AU from the Sun and
2.316 AU from the Earth. Its last observed magnitude was 12 (Sept
30). For further information please see the 'Comet' section in the
website above.
On the 11th at 10:30pm the star Mu Ceti (4.2 mag) in Cetus
is just ½ a degree below the Moon. Uranus is 8 degrees to the right
of the Moon and 3½ degrees above.
At 6:30pm on the 12th the star named '5Tauri' (4.1 mag) in
Taurus is just 1½ degrees below the Moon.
During the evening of the 13th the Moon is amongst the
Hyades star cluster in Taurus. At 10:30pm the star Aldebaran (1st
mag) is 3 degrees below left of the Moon.
On the 14th at midnight the star Zeta Tauri (2.9 mag) is 3
degrees to the left of the Moon and 2 degrees below.
The Leonids meteor shower reach their peak on the night of the 17th
- 18th.
At 1:00am on the night of the 15th the star Mu Geminorum
(2.8 mag) is very close to the Moon. An hour before its half a degree
to the left of the Moon.
Mercury is at perihelion (closest to the Sun) on the 16th.
Between midnight and 1:00am on the night of the 16th the
star Wasat (3.5 mag) in Gemini passes within half a degree below the
Moon.
On the 18th at 6:15am the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer
is just 3 degrees to the left of the Moon.
Mercury is 3½ degrees above the horizon and at 117 degrees azimuth
(ESE) on the 18th at 6:40am.
At 6:30am on the 19th the star Regulus (1.3 mag) in Leo is
4 degrees to the right of the Moon and 1½ degrees below.
On the 21st at 6:30am the star Chertan (3.3 mag) in Leo is
8 degrees above the crescent Moon and 1 degree to the left.
The Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower reaches their peak on the on the
night of the 21st / 22nd.
Between the 21st - 26th Venus and Jupiter pass
within 4 degreess of one another. On the 24th around
5:00pm low in the SW Jupiter is in conjunction and just 1½ degrees
to the upper right of Venus. Venus is just 3 degrees above the
horizon at 222 degrees azimuth. On the 27th and at the
same time Jupiter is 3½ degrees to the right of Venus.
At 6:15am on the 23rd the crescent Moon will be between
the stars Delta Virginis (3.3 mag) and Spica (1st mag) both in Virgo.
The Moon is 6½ degrees below Delta Virginis.
On the 24th at 6:30am a thin crescent Moon will be in the
south east. Mars will be 4 degrees below the Moon and 1½ degrees to
the right while Mercury is 10 degrees below the Moon and 6 degrees to
the left. Mercury is 5½ degrees above the horizon and at 119 degrees
azimuth.
At 6:30am on the 25th a very thin crescent Moon is low in
the ESE. Mercury is 2¼ degrees to the right of the Moon and 1 degree
above. Mercury is also 5½ degrees above the horizon at 119.5 degrees
azimuth. Mars is 12 degrees above right of the Moon and 12 degrees
above the horizon at 127 degrees azimuth.
On the 27th at 4:45pm a very thin crescent Moon may be
seen low in the south west. It is 10½ degrees to the lower right of
Jupiter, 1½ degrees above the horizon at 231.5 degrees azimuth.
At 5:00pm on the 28th a thin crescent Moon will be between
Venus and Jupiter in the south western sky. Venus is 1¾ degrees to
the left of the Moon. Jupiter is 3 degrees to the right of the Moon
and 1 degree below. Its also 3½ degrees above the horizon and due
south west at 225 degrees azimuth.
Mercury is at maximum western elongation from the Sun on the 28th.
An occultation of Jupiter occurs on the 28th. This does
happen over the majority of Europe and the UK but during the day.
The star Zubenelgenubi (2.7 mag) in Libra is just 2½ degrees to the
right of Mercury at 6:45am on the 29th. Mercury is 6
degrees above the horizon and at 122.5 degrees azimuth.
Venus is at aphelion (It's most distant from the Sun in its orbit) on
the 28th.
An occultation of Saturn occurs on the 29th. This is only
visible from the lower part of New Zealand.
On the 29th at 6:00pm in the south west Saturn is 2½
degrees above the Moon and 1 degree to the left.
At 5:00pm on the 30th in the SSW Saturn is 10 degrees to
the right of the Moon and 2 degrees lower. The star Pi Sagittarii
(2.8 mag) is 2 degrees to the right of Saturn. Venus is 4 degrees
above the horizon and at 220 degrees azimuth and 12½ degrees to the
lower right of Saturn. Jupiter is 2½ degrees above the horizon and
at 236.5 degrees azimuth and 6½ degrees to the right of Venus. The
star Kaus Borealis (2.8 mag) in Sagittarius is just 1 degree to the
left of Venus.
* = Dates and times
are subject to change.
News: On the 7th October it was announced that
Saturn is the new moon king. A team has found 20 new moons orbiting
Saturn. This brings the ringed planet's total number of moons to 82,
surpassing Jupiter which has 79.
Facts: Chris Lintott's first episode of the Sky At
Night without Patrick Moore was in July 2004. It was the only episode
which Patrick Moore did not present since the show was first
broadcast on 24th April 1957 until his death in December
2012.