What's Up in the Night Sky?

November 2013 - Vol. 17, No. 11

Astra's Star Gate

This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.

If you are blessed with a dark observing site, the Orion arm of the Milky Way (the galaxy we inhabit) arches overhead from horizon to horizon. Embedded are the stars of constellations Cassiopeia, denoted by its familiar "W" or Sigma asterism, and Perseus. The Summer Triangle finally disappears in the W. Although there are no bright stars due S., red Aldebaran and the tiny dipper asterism of the Pleiades’s, a famous open star cluster (Taurus), as well as yellow Capella (Auriga) glow in the SE. Later follows the twins, Castor and Pollux (Gemini), and the hour-glass asterism of Constellation Orion with fuzzy M42 (Great Orion Nebula) just below its three "belt" stars, which heralds the coming of winter.

MERCURY moves into the most favorable observing opportunity this year for observers in the nouthern hemisphere during the second week of the month. VENUS visible in the evening sky, magnitude -4.0+, also favors the southern observers. JUPITER, in the constellation of Gemini, moves by Castor and Pollux this month. MARS is visible in the morning sky this month, moves from Leo in Virgo as the month progresses. SATURN is in conjunction with the Sun, will be observable by the end of the month. Uranus will be close to the Moon in the night sky on November 13.

Review how to determine Angular Measurement.

Calendar of Events

NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time. Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.

DATE EVENT
01 Venus at greatest eastern elongation.
02 Spica (Alpha Virginis) .8 deg N of the Moon. Occultation from Europe and Asia, check for local conditions.
03 Adjust clocks from Daylight Savings Time (DST) to standard time.
05 South Taurid meteor shower, expect 15 per hour during peak at 11 hours UT. Meteor showers are best seen after midnight.
06 Moon at perigee.
07 Venus 8 deg S. of the Moon.
15 North Taurid meteor shower, expect 10 per hour during peak at 10 hours UT.
17 Leonid meteor shower peak. This years full Moon will make observations more difficult.
18 Mercury at greatest western elongation, 19 deg away from the Sun! Check the morning sky, there should be four planets for your viewing pleasure, Saturn, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter.
22 Jupiter 5 deg N. of Moon. The Moon is at apogee.
24 Mercury .3 deg S of the Saturn. Both planets will be near Alpha Librae, one of Astra's favorite double stars, Zebenelgenubi. This star is considered to be green in color. Local conditions and eye sensitivity gives observer's varying impressions of its true colors.
27 Mars 6 deg N. of Moon.
28 Comet ISON perihelion. Will it brighten up to expectations? Will the Sun fling it out of the solar system? This month will bring us closer to an answer. Spica (Alpha Virginis) .9 deg S of the Moon. Occultation from North America and Mexico.

Lunar Almanac for November 2013

Phases of the Moon Phase and Date(s) Best viewed before local midnight
new moon New
03		 Deep Space Objects
first quarter moon 1st. Qtr
10		 Planets & Moon
full moon Full
17		 Moon
last quarter moon Last Qtr
25		 Deep Space & Planets

Comet ISON Steals the Sky Show

Comet ISON

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is the type of comet that is called a sun-grazer, a designation given to comets that come within 850,000 miles of the sun at perihelion. Comet ISON will make its closest approach to the Sun on Thanksgiving Day, November 28. The comet is expected to come within 730,000 miles (1.2 million km) of the solar surface. It is uncertain if the comet will survive - - but if it does, astronomers are hoping that it will be a fantastic sight. It is possible that the trajectory of this comet will be changed so that the Sun flings it out of the solar system never to return. This is the comet's first time around the Sun and astronomers all over the planet are eagerly awaiting the comet's perihelion date.

In the image above, the comet is passing through the ecliptic constellation of Leo, the comet's magnitude was reported around 10.5 at this time. The green color is the photo caused by carbon in the gases that it is expelling as it approaches the Sun. It could be a very methane rich comet.

Comet ISON was discovered on September 21, 2012 by Artyom Novichonok and Vitali Nevski, using a 16-inch telescope that is part of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON). The comet was named after the sky survey rather than the astronomers who logged it in. There re many different possibilities as to what happens to the comet when it makes its close passage to the Sun. It's closest approach to Earth (28 million miles away!) is December 26, 2013 the day after Christmas. This year's holidays may be blessed with a bright and spectacular comet or the close approach could cause the comet to break up or even crash into the Sun.

A number of websites have been created for comet ISON.

The above image of comet ISON was taken by astrophotographers Cliff Spohn and Terry Hancock from Marion, Ohio on October 11, 2013 just after Comet ISON returned to the northern night sky after being lost in the sun for northern observers . Visit Terry's Down Under Observatory for great astrophotos that may be purchased. Many thanks to Terry for sharing this astrophoto with readers of the What's up? almanac!

--See You Under the Stars!
Astra for Astra's Almanac

This installment of "Whats Up?" is ©2013 by Dawn Jenkins for Astra's Stargate. View Ron Leeseburg's Farewell Issue!