To the reader:
The Skywatcher's Diary for November 1998 has been prepared by
Robert C. Victor. Credit to the author and to
Abrams Planetarium,
Department of Physics and Astronomy at
Michigan State University, and mention of our
Sky Calendar, would be appreciated.
A sample issue of the Sky Calendar is available over the Internet. It
can be viewed via the World-Wide Web at
http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/SkyCalendar/Index.html
If you would like a printed sample of the November issue, please send a long,
self-addressed stamped envelope to:
November Sky Calendar
Abrams Planetarium
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Each month, the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State
University makes the Skywatcher's Diary available over the Internet. It can be accessed at
http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/SkyWatchersDiary/Diary.html
Current and back-issues of the Skywatcher's Diary are available in our archives
at
http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/SkyWatchersDiary/Archives.html
ftp://www.pa.msu.edu/pub/swd/
Jupiter is the brightest evening planet until Venus emerges from the solar glare in late December. Jupiter gleams at magnitude -2.7 in the southeast at dusk in early November, and will stand high in the south as winter begins on December 21. Throughout this autumn Saturn trails Jupiter across the night sky, Saturn reaching its high point in the south about 2-1/2 hours after Jupiter does. The two giants are 41 to 39 degrees apart this month. The Moon slips through their region of the sky twice: As it approaches Full Oct. 31-Nov. 3; and while in waxing gibbous phase Nov. 27-30. For several days preceding these "windows" you can enjoy pointing out to novice skywatchers that a line from the Moon to Jupiter, extended eastward, points to Saturn. And for some days after these "windows", Saturn can be found along the line between the Moon and Jupiter.
Mars, the remaining bright outer planet, is now a morning object. If observed at dawn brightens, Mars climbs through the southeast in November, to high in the southern sky at year's end. Against the stars, Mars is 15 degrees east (lower left) of Regulus on Nov. 1, and midway between that star and Spica, 27 degrees from each, on Nov. 21 and 22. Mars approaches within 15 degrees of Spica on Dec. 14. The Moon appears as a waning crescent near Mars on Nov. 13. Mars brightens from mag. +1.5 in mid-November through +1.0 at the turn of the year. In April-May 1999 Mars will outshine even the brightest star, Sirius.
Mercury has a very poor evening apparition in November.
Possible spectacular meteor shower this month: See Nov. 16 in Diary, below.
Skywatcher's Diary: November 1998
An hour after sunset, the waxing gibbous Moon is in ESE. Find bright Jupiter in SE about 20 degrees to its upper right, and Saturn about the same distance to Moon's lower left.
One hour after sunset, Saturn is in east, within 7 degrees left of the nearly Full Moon. Bright Jupiter is in SE, 35 degrees to Moon's upper right. On Tuesday, one-and-a-half hours before sunrise, the Moon is low in west, with Saturn about 2 degrees to its upper right, depending on your location.
Throughout the U.S. except southern Florida, tonight's Full Moon rises a few minutes after sunset. (From Miami, Florida, moonrise occurs just one minute before sunset, and from lower Michigan about 10 minutes after sunset.) An hour after sunset, the Hunter's Moon is just north of east, with Saturn about 9 degrees upper right. Jupiter is 41 degrees upper right of Saturn. Tonight's Moon, 356,614 km (221,590 miles) from Earth at 8 p.m. EST, is the closest of the year, resulting in extremely high and low tides.
Three hours after sunset, the Moon is in the east, with the Pleiades cluster 11 degrees upper left, and first magnitude Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, 15 degrees to Moon's lower left. Parts of eastern U.S. and Canada will see the Moon cover that star early tomorrow evening.
Early this evening, from eastern and southern U.S. as far west as lower Michigan and southern Wisconsin, the Moon occults or covers the first magnitude star Aldebaran. The disappearance of the star, at the Moon's bright left or lower left edge, takes place low in the sky soon after moonrise for many locations. Reappearance at the Moon's dark edge is easier to observe. The Moon is bright, only two days past full, so use a telescope to see the star's disappearance and reappearance. Here are times of D and R for selected cities: Lansing, MI 7:32-7:54 p.m. EST; Detroit 7:30-7:55 p.m.; Washington DC 7:18-7:56 p.m.; Pittsburgh 7:23-7:56 p.m.; Philadelphia 7:19-7:57 p.m.; New York City 7:20-7:58 p.m.; Boston 7:23-8:00 p.m. Reappearance only: Chicago 6:53 p.m. CST; Miami FL 7:47 p.m. EST; Atlanta GA and Charleston SC 7:52 p.m.; Cleveland 7:55 p.m. For further information, check these websites:
http://www.sky.net/~robinson/iotandx.htm
http://www.skypub.com/occults/occults.html
The Cowboy Astronomer is presented at Abrams Planetarium Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m., through Nov. 22. Noted cowboy humorist Baxter Black narrates this homespun jaunt through the night sky. For more info, call (517) 355-4672.
Three hours after sunset, the Moon has risen in the ENE. Aldebaran is about 15 degrees to Moon's upper right. In another hour or two, look for Betelgeuse, Orion's shoulder, 11 degrees to Moon's lower right.
The Moon rises farthest north tonight, 3-1/2 hours after sundown from lower Michigan. Five hours after sunset, look for the Gemini twins, Castor 4-1/2 degrees above Pollux, 17 degrees to the Moon's left. An hour before sunup on Sunday, the Moon in in SW, with the Twins above, and Procyon, brightest star in the Little Dog, to Moon's lower left.
Rusty Rocket's Last Blast (our family show) is presented 2:30 p.m. Sundays at Abrams Planetarium. Our feature show, The Cowboy Astronomer, is presented at 4 p.m. today. For information on our shows, call (517) 355-4672.
High in southwest an hour before sunrise on Monday, find the Moon, two-thirds full, with, Pollux and Castor in Gemini 10 to 15 degrees upper right, and Procyon 13 degrees below.
The largest minor planet, Ceres, on the nights of Nov. 12 and 13, is easy to locate in binoculars as a faint "star" of mag. 7.4, just 0.6 degree N of Aldebaran. For the next two weeks, follow Ceres as it retrogrades (moves west) about 0.2 degree per day across the "V" of the Hyades cluster and slowly brightens to mag. 7.0. On the nights of Nov. 26 and 27, Ceres is found within about 0.2 degree S of Delta Tauri, the 4th- mag. star midway along the western arm of the "V". A detailed Ceres finder chart, showing stars to mag. 9, appears on p. 109 of Nov. Sky & Telescope.
Just over 6-1/2 hours after sunset from lower Michigan, and longer after sunset from lower latitudes, watch for the rising Moon, about 20 degrees north of east and nearly half illuminated. The Moon has just passed Last Quarter phase. An hour before sunrise on Wednesday, the Moon is high in SSE, with the star Regulus, heart of Leo, about 5 degrees to its lower left. Mars is in SE, 21 degrees lower left of Regulus.
On Thursday one-and-a-half hours before sunrise, the crescent Moon is well up in SE, with first-magnitude Regulus 7 degrees upper right and Mars 15 degrees lower left. Second-magnitude Denebola, tail of Leo, is 11 degrees upper left of Mars. Above the Moon and upper left of Regulus, five additional stars complete the Sickle of Leo, marking the Lion's head. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings next week, between midnight and dawn, an unusual number of meteors may be seen. If their tracks are extended backward, you'll notice that most of them will seem to radiate from the direction of the Sickle of Leo. See Diary entry for Mon. Nov. 16 for more on the Leonid meteor shower.
On Friday an hour before sunrise, Moon is closing in on Mars. From East Coast they appear 3 degrees apart, and from Michigan, about 2-1/2 degrees apart. From the West Coast, Mars is only a degree or two from the Moon's edge, and from Hawaii, even closer.
On Saturday an hour before sunrise, face SE to see the crescent Moon with Mars 8 or 9 degrees to its upper right.
An hour before sunup on Sunday, look for the crescent Moon low, 30 degrees south of east, with Spica 11 or 12 degrees below. Mars is in SE, about 20 degrees to Moon's upper right. Bright Arcturus is about 30 degrees to the Moon's left.
An hour before sunup on Monday, look low in ESE for the thin crescent Moon with earthshine on its dark upper side. Note the first magnitude star Spica 6 degrees to the Moon's lower right. Spica marks the spike of wheat or ear of corn in Virgo's hand.
Will there be a meteor storm with an outburst of thousands of meteors in the predawn hours of Tuesday or Wednesday? No one really knows. See the notes on the Leonid meteors in the left margin of November and the websites listed there. Sky & Telescope's Nov. cover story, "The Return of the Leonid Meteors," includes the experts' best guesses of what might happen. Most predict that the peak of the storm, if it occurs, would be seen during predawn on the 18th in the western Pacific Ocean and east Asia. Unfortunately, North America would then be in daylight (on the 17th), and mostly on the wrong side of the world, turned away from incoming meteors. But the uncertainty of the predictions of the peak and its broader gradual rise and fall in the numbers of meteors allow for the possibility of a strong shower for North America between midnight (when the Sickle of Leo rises) and dawn on the 17th. Based on a scenario with a peak rate of 10,000 meteors per hour in east Asia by Rainer Arlt and others of International Meteor Organization (Observing Hints for the 1998 Leonid Return: see
http://www.imo.net/news/leohints.html), here is a forecast of what might be seen in the U.S. from clear very dark sites at 3:30 a.m. local time on the 17th: East Coast, about 20 to 30 Leonid meteors per hour; West Coast, 60 per hour; Hawaii, 100 per hour, with rates on the increase until dawn from all U.S. sites. (The very thin crescent Moon, rising 13 degrees S of E some 14 degrees lower left of Spica around dawn's first light on Tuesday, causes no interference with viewing meteors.) At 3:30 a.m. local time on the following morning, Rainer Arlt's prediction has meteor rates decreasing, from 20 Leonids per hour in northeastern U.S. and 10 or fewer per hour on the West Coast. For more information on the Leonid meteor shower, check these websites:
http://www-space.arc.nasa.gov/~leonid/
http://skypub.com/meteors/meteors.shtml
http://www.imo.net
There still could be some Leonid meteors visible in North America Wednesday morning, between midnight and dawn. There's a chance to see a very old Moon, especially from northeastern U.S.: Using binoculars 30 minutes before sunrise on Wednesday, look for the hairline-thin crescent 20 degrees south of east and 2-1/2 degrees above the horizon. From Boston, the very old Moon will be just 17.3 hours before New.
New Moon occurs today at 11:27 p.m. EST. Comet Giacobini-Zinner, in its 6.6-year orbit, sweeps past perihelion, 96 million miles from Sun, on Nov. 21. It passes closest to Earth, at a distance of 79 million miles, on Nov. 26, and is expected to attain 9th magnitude. Drifting ESE across Capricornus by about 1.3¡ per day, this minor comet can be spotted telescopically within half a degree SE of the double star Alpha on the evening of Nov. 18, and very close to Theta on the evening of Nov. 27. Both stars are labeled on our starmap, October Evening Skies. A finder chart for Comet Giacobini-Zinner for November appears on p. 107 of Nov. Sky & Telescope. Also on Nov. 27, Comet G-Z passes through Earth's orbital plane a scant 3 million miles outside our orbit, near the point which Earth passed by on Oct. 8. Some astronomers predicted a chance of a strong shower of Draconid meteors on that date, from particles roughly following G-Z's orbit 50 days ahead of the comet. But nothing out of the ordinary happened then. There'll be another chance for a meteor storm on the evening of October 8, 2018, when eastern North America may be in prime position to see it.
Using binoculars about 25 minutes after sunset, try for the very young Moon. From lower Michigan, the hairline-thin crescent is then 25 degrees south of west and 2-1/2 degrees up. From Lansing, MI Moon's age is 18.2 hours after New. Elsewhere in continental U.S., Moon's age ranges from about 17 hours in New England to nearly 21 hours in southern California. From Hawaii the Moon is nearly 24 hours old and quite easy for unaided eye.
About half an hour after sunset, look for the crescent Moon low in SW. Using binoculars, try for Mercury within 6 degrees to Moon's lower left.
Here's a chance to get closeup views of Jupiter and Saturn: Tonight and Saturday, MSU Observatory is open for public viewing from 9:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. if skies are clear, following the 8:00 p.m. showings of The Cowboy Astronomer at Abrams Planetarium.
On Saturday and Sunday one-and-a-half hours before sunrise, locate reddish Mars in SE, with Spica 27 degrees lower left, and Regulus the same distance to Mars' upper right. This weekend Mars is midway between Regulus and Spica. The 4th-magnitude star Beta in Virgo is within one degree south (lower right) of Mars on Sunday morning. Watch Mars shift 0.6 degree daily against the stars of Virgo.
The crescent Moon is in SW 40 minutes after sunset. Fading Mercury is about to set, 13 degrees to Moon's lower right.
The crescent Moon is in SW an hour after sunset. About 6 to 10 degrees to Moon's lower left, look for the four stars in the handle of the Teapot of Sagittarius.
At nightfall locate the bright star Capella in NE, and the Pleiades cluster in ENE 28 degrees to Capella's right. Look 14 degrees below the Pleiades for Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, with the V-shaped Hyades cluster marking the rest of the Bull's face. Binoculars give fine views of the Pleiades and Hyades.
The two brightest objects in the evening sky, the Moon and Jupiter, can be used to locate another solar system body. A line from the Moon to Jupiter, extended its own length, ends near Saturn. For the rest of this month, track the Moon's motion past these planets.
On Thursday and Friday, the 7th-magnitude minor planet (asteroid) Ceres is found within about 0.2 degree S of Delta Tauri, the 4th-mag. star midway along the western arm of the "V" of the Hyades cluster, which marks the head of Taurus the Bull. A detailed Ceres finder chart, showing stars to mag. 9, appears on p. 109 of Nov. Sky & Telescope.
Today at sunset, the Moon is in SSE, 90 degrees or one-quarter circle east (left) of the setting Sun. How soon after sunset can you spot Jupiter, 15 degrees to the Moon's east (left)? The Moon is at First Quarter phase, half full, ideal for observation with binoculars or a small telescope. Look for spectacular details in lunar surface features along the terminator, or day-night boundary, where the Sun is just rising over the lunar landscape, causing long shadows to be cast.
Have you ever seen Jupiter in the daytime? Shortly before sunset today, locate the waxing gibbous Moon in SE, with Jupiter nearby (2 degrees to Moon's upper left as seen from lower Michigan). Binoculars show Jupiter as a disk. Look at least once each hour during the course of the evening to follow the motion of the Moon relative to distant Jupiter. Watch the Moon pass closely south of Jupiter tonight, at times ranging from around sunset or soon after from the West Coast, to about 5 hours after sunset from the East Coast. Seen from southern South America, the Moon will actually cover Jupiter.
Season of Light, opening tonight, is presented at Abrams Planetarium Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m., through Dec. 20. Some of the world's diverse holiday traditions, past and present, will be shown, along with possible explanations of the Star of Bethlehem. For more information, call (517) 355-4672
The Moon is in SE an hour after sunset. Look for bright Jupiter about 13 degrees to its upper right, and Saturn about twice as far to Moon's lower left.
In the southeastern sky an hour after sunset, the Moon is accompanied by Saturn 11 degrees to its left, and bright Jupiter 28 degrees to its upper right.
Rusty Rocket's Last Blast (our family show) is presented 2:30 p.m. Sundays at Abrams Planetarium. Our feature show, Season of Light, is presented at 4 p.m. today. For information on our shows, call (517) 355-4672.
Look for Saturn in ESE at dusk, 4 or 5 degrees to Moon's upper right. Bright Jupiter is in SSE, 39 degrees upper right of Saturn. Aldebaran, first-magnitude eye of Taurus the Bull, is low in ENE, about the same distance to lower left of the Moon. Note the Moon's changing position nightly through December 3.
