The Moon and Planets

Tonight (Sunday), observers in North America (except the west coast), northern Europe, and northwestern Asia can see the still quite full moon pass in front of (or occult) the naked eye star Aldebaran, which marks the reddish eye of Taurus (the Bull). At approximately 8:05 pm EST, not long after the moon rises in the eastern sky, the moon’s lit leading edge (or limb) will cover Aldebaran. The star will emerge from behind the opposite dark limb about 9 pm. Times vary slightly by region.

You can watch the event in binoculars or, better yet, a small telescope. Start watching a few minutes ahead of time, while Aldebaran is still nicely separated from the moon. You can watch as the moon closes the gap — and then the star will suddenly disappear behind the moon’s edge. (If the moon had an atmosphere, the star would gradually fade out!) Feel free to zoom in with your telescope for that part. If you’re not sure where Aldebaran will pop out from behind the moon, use a lower power eyepiece that shows all or most of the moon’s darkened right-hand edge. As before, start looking a few minutes beforehand. And don’t look away — it re-appears suddenly!

For the rest of the week, the moon will rise later and later while waning towards Friday’s Last Quarter phase. At that point, it will be half illuminated (on the left side) and will remain visible in the morning daytime sky.

Moon in Star Walk 2 app

Elusive Mercury continues to slide farther south, away from the evening Sun this week. It’ll be tough to glimpse because it is embedded so low in the western evening twilight.

Mighty Jupiter has been reborn this week! It has passed the Sun to re-appear just before sunrise in the eastern sky. Over the course of this week and beyond, it will steadily climb higher. Next week, it will pass VERY close to bright Venus, which is now descending towards the Sun every morning. This week, look for Venus somewhat low in the eastern sky between about 5:45 am local time and sunrise.

Jupiter in Star Walk 2 app

Sitting higher in the pre-dawn sky, about two fist diameters (19°) to the upper right of Venus, is much dimmer and reddish tinted Mars. It rises about 4 am local time. The medium bright double star named Porrima is a few finger widths to Mars’ left. Due to Mars’ orbital motion, the star shifts from below the planet to above it over the course of this week.

With the switch to standard time, Saturn is setting soon after 7 pm local time this week. The only planet visible with unaided eyes in the evening sky, look for it as a medium bright, yellowish object partway up the southwestern sky as the sky darkens. Enjoy it while you can — in a few weeks, it will be too low to see clearly.

Blue-green Uranus, still a good target in binoculars under a dark sky (or in small telescopes under less than ideal skies), is situated between the two chains of stars that form the dim constellation of Pisces (the Fishes). It’s about two fist diameters (or 20°) above the southeastern sky after dusk, and it remains observable for the rest of the night as it crosses the sky. To help guide you, there’s a medium-bright star called Omicron Piscium about 2.5 finger widths to the lower left of Uranus.

Tiny blue Neptune is located in the southern evening sky about half a finger width to the lower right of the medium-bright star Hydor in Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). It is observable from full darkness until about 1 am local time, but it is too faint to be seen without a telescope.

Northern Taurids Meteor Shower

The Northern Taurids Meteor Shower, which runs from October 19th to December 10th annually, peaks before dawn on Sunday, November 12. The weak shower, with only 5 meteors per hour at the peak, is produced from debris dropped during passes of periodic Comet 2P/Encke. The debris’ larger than average grains often produce colorful fireballs. For best results, watch for them on Saturday evening, before the last quarter moon rises.

Northern Taurids in Star Walk 2 app

The Leonid Meteor Shower, which peaks on November 17/18, has also started.

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from November 5th, 2017) by Chris Vaughan.