Saturn sets in twilight for the first week of November and is lost in the sun’s glare the rest of the month.
Venus, Mars and Jupiter are still close together in the morning sky this month. Right now, Venus is close to Mars, with Jupiter above them. Venus and Mars are 0.68 degrees apart the morning of Nov. 3. Venus is brighter than Jupiter, and both outshine all stars we ever see at night, so they’re easy to find even in twilight. Mars is much, much dimmer than those two. The moon is near Jupiter on Nov. 6 and near Venus on Nov. 7. During this month, watch as Venus pulls away from Mars and both pull away from Jupiter.
Autumn represents a sort of ‘intermission’ in the sky, with bright summer stars setting at dusk, while bright winter patterns such as Orion won’t rise until later (Orion is up by about 10 p.m. now and about 9 p.m. mid-month). The Summer Triangle is in the west. Meanwhile, the Great Square of Pegasus is almost overhead. The stars in the southern sky are much dimmer than those overhead and in the west because when you face south at dusk in November, you face out of the Milky Way plane. The plane of our Galaxy follows a path from the Summer Triangle in the west through Cassiopeia in the north and over to the northeastern horizon.
Constellations in the November southern sky represent beasts and gods related to water, indicating that they are part of the ‘Celestial Sea.’ Examples are Aquarius, the Water Bearer and Pisces, the Fish. Even Capricornus, the Goat, has a fish tail because he’s originally Ea, Babylonian god of the waters. Below Aquarius is Fomalhaut, marking the mouth of the Southern Fish. Ancient Mesopotamians imagined that the Persian Gulf extended upwards into the sky, joining this ‘sea’ of dim stars.
Moon Phases in November 2015:
Last Quarter: Nov. 3, 6:24 a.m.
New: Nov. 11, 11:47 a.m.
First Quarter: Nov. 19, 12:27 a.m.
Full: Nov. 25, 4:44 p.m.
On most clear Saturday nights at the George Observatory, you can hear me do live star tours on the observation deck with a green laser pointer. If you’re there, listen for my announcement.
Clear Skies!
