The sky in November

Mercury will be hard to see early this month. Look for it with binoculars, about twenty-three degrees below and to the right of Venus shortly after sunset. Viewers in the south will have the best chance to spot the planet this month, because it shines higher there than it does in the north. The star Antares--the red "heart" of the constellation Scorpius, the scorpion--is to Mercury's left. The planet reaches greatest eastern elongation, 23.5 degrees from the Sun, on the 3rd. That same evening, you may be able to glimpse a sliver of the crescent Moon hovering below Mercury.

Venus boldly shows itself this month, and if you know where to look (forty degrees to the left of the setting Sun, and twenty degrees above the horizon), you may even be able to catch sight of the "evening star" before sunset. The brilliant planet climbs higher in the twilit sky throughout the month; it also brightens slightly, as it catches up to Earth in its orbital race around the Sun. Like Mercury, Venus reaches its greatest elongation, forty-seven degrees east of the Sun, on the evening of the 3rd. Two nights later Venus and the crescent Moon pair up in the west-southwestern sky.

Viewers aided by a telescope will see that several days before reaching greatest elongation, Venus reaches dichotomy--it appears to be exactly half-lit.

Mars reaches opposition to the Sun on the 7th, making it visible all night. In fact, once Venus sets, Mars is the night's premier celestial attraction. The Red Planet is slowly moving retrograde, or westward, through the constellation Aries, the ram. Between the 7th and the end of the month, Mars also loses nearly half its brightness, diminishing rapidly from magnitude -2.3 to -1.6 as it recedes from the Earth. At the same time, though, Mars is becoming well-positioned for convenient viewing. On the 14th Mars will be situated below and to the left of an almost full Moon.

Telescopic observers will have a good chance to take in Mars's bright polar areas, dark surface markings, white clouds, and yellow dust storms.

At the onset of November, Jupiter doesn't rise until dawn is well advanced, at about 5:45 A.M. But it rises about three minutes earlier each morning thereafter and gradually becomes visible in a darker sky. By midmonth the planet rises before the beginning of morning twilight, and at month's end it rises at about 4:20 A.M. A waning crescent Moon pays Jupiter a visit on the mornings of the 28th and 29th.

Saturn, in the faint constellation Cancer, the crab, rises just before 11 p.m. at the beginning of the month; by month's end it rises two hours earlier. At midmonth the ringed planet appears as a bright yellow-white "star" shining at magnitude 0.3. On the evening of the 21st Saturn lies to the right of a waning gibbous Moon. Throughout the month the great ring system is tilted about eighteen degrees to our line of sight, and so Saturn, viewed through a small telescope, is a spectacular sight.

The Moon is new on the 1st at 8:24 P.M. It waxes to first quarter on the 8th at 8:57 P.M. and to full on the 15th at 7:57 P.M. The Moon wanes to last quarter on the 23rd at 5:11 P.M.

Unless otherwise noted, all times are given in eastern standard time.

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