Night Sky Guide for November 2009
Jupiter Dominates, Leonid Meteors Flash, Date of the New Moon
Oct 12, 2009
In the United States and Canada, Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2009. This early onset of sunset puts the evening rush hour in dwindling light. In Denver, for example, the sun will set at 4:58 p.m. on November 1 and 4:36 p.m. on November 30.
Planets in November
Jupiter has mostly had the evening sky to itself since summer, and this trend continues. Jupiter is easy to find, shining brighter than any other point of light in the south at magnitude -2.4. Small telescopes will show the planet's four largest moons and even a couple dark belts on the atmosphere. Jupiter is in Capricornus and next month it will come within a half degree of Neptune.
Mars is slowly joining the evening sky. At magnitude 0.2, Mars is much dimmer than Jupiter. Its distinctive reddish color makes it easy to pick out, however, as it rises in the east late in the evening. Mars is in the constellation Cancer the Crab, home to the popular Beehive Cluster (M44). Mars is moving slowly through the sky until early February, when it will pick up speed and shoot past the Beehive Cluster.
Meteor Showers in November
Two meteor showers occur about a week apart in November. The first is the Taurid meteors, which begin around November 4 and peak overnight on November 11. Debris from Comet Encke is the source of the meteors, which appear to emanate from the constellation Taurus. The good news is that Taurus is already rising in the early evening so observers don't have to stay up late to catch the most meteors, but the bad news is that the shower is not a stronger performer, with only about eight meteors an hour at peak.
The second meteor shower in November is the Leonids. Predawn on November 17 and 18 is the best time to look. The meteors, courtesy of Comet Temple-Tuttle, appear to come from the constellation Leo, which does not rise fully until after midnight. For observers who get up in the early morning hours to try to spy some of the "shooting stars," note that Mars is leading Leo the Lion and Saturn is behind it.
New Moon Premieres during a New Moon
The much-hyped movie New Moon will premiere on November 16, the date of the New Moon. However, the release of the movie is not until the end of the week, on November 20, the date of a waxing crescent.
The Full Moon for November is called the Hunter's Moon because it is the first Full Moon to follow the Harvest Moon from October. The Hunter's Moon reaches its peak of fullness at 2:14 p.m. EST on November 2.
On November 3, the nearly full moon passes the Pleiades star cluster, occulting some of the stars for observers in the eastern and southern United States. November 18 brings a beautiful young crescent moon at less than five-percent lit. November 23 brings the moon into the vicinity with Jupiter. On the last day of the month the moon joins up with the the Pleiades star cluster once again.
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