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The sky in November

Natural History, Nov, 2003 by Joe Rao

Mercury spends most of November lost in the Sun's glare. But at month's end the planet may be visible through binoculars, low in the southwestern sky after sunset.

Brilliant Venus, at magnitude -3.9, shines low in the southwestern sky as darkness gathers. As the month begins, the planet sets less than an hour after the Sun. By month's end, though, the rapidly shortening days in the onrush to the (northern) winter solstice leave the planet setting more than an hour and a half after the Sun.

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Orange-yellow Mars makes a good apparition this month; it's already high overhead at sunset and doesn't set until around 1 A.M. In early November Mars culminates, or reaches its highest point in the sky, at about 7 P.M.; by month's end it culminates an hour earlier. On the 1st Mars is 59 million miles from Earth and shines at magnitude -1.2. Among the stars, only Sirius is brighter. By the 30th the distance to Mars increases to 79 million miles, and the planet has dimmed to magnitude -0.4. The waxing gibbous Moon overtakes Mars on November 2 and 3.

Jupiter, in the constellation Leo, rises at about 1:45 A.M. at the beginning of November and just after midnight by month's end. The best time for viewing the planet this month is at approximately 5 A.M., when it shines brightly, high in the southeast.

Saturn, in the constellation Gemini, the Twins, rises at about 8:45 P.M. on the 1st and two hours earlier by the 30th. At midmonth the planet shines with a yellow-white light at magnitude -0.2. Its great ring system is tilted at 25 degrees to our line of sight, making it breathtakingly beautiful, even through a small telescope.

Less than six months after the lunar eclipse in May, the Moon will again undergo total eclipse, this time on the 8th. And again, eastern North America has the best view: those living east of a line running roughly from Medicine Hat, Alberta, to Corpus Christi, Texas, will be able to see the entire eclipse as the full Moon slowly climbs the eastern sky. Farther west, the eclipse is under way as the Moon rises; for skywatchers along the Pacific coast of California, the beginning of the total phase nearly coincides with moonrise.

Totality is brief, just twenty-five minutes. The Moon's disk should remain relatively bright (for an eclipse). The light-scattering effects of our planet's atmosphere could make for some colorful viewing. At the midpoint of totality the Moon's upper rim should look reddish brown; its middle should glow reddish orange; and its lower rim may be brighter orange--perhaps even tinged with a whitish "cap."

The Moon enters the Earth's shadow at 6:32 P.M. and leaves it at 10:05 P.M. Totality begins at 8:06 P.M. and ends at 8:31 P.M. Our satellite waxes full on the 8th at 8:13 P.M. It wanes to last quarter on the 16th at 11:15 P.M. and to new on the 23rd at 5:59 P.M. Just one minute later the Moon arrives at perigee, its closest point to Earth, 221,722 miles away. The Moon returns to first quarter on the 30th at 12:16 P.M.

Unless otherwise noted, all times are given in Eastern Daylight Time.

The sky in November

Natural History, Nov, 2003 by Joe Rao

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