What is gracing the November 2024 skies? A couple occultations, a meteor shower, and a veritable parade of planets, especially on Thanksgiving.
Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.
We’ll start by talking about November’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead betteinstagrr than me.
BIG EVENTS
5th - Daylight Saving Time Ends
10th - Occultation of Saturn? - Normally, this would just be a Lunar Close Encounter, however the Moon actually passes in front of Saturn, but really only for some parts of Central and South America, as well as southern Florida. For most of us in the northern hemisphere though, the Moon will get REALLY close to Saturn, making a good telephoto shot.
17th - 18th – Leonid Meteor Shower – This annual, weak (10-15 per hour) meteor shower can have some wonderful years. This year is not one of those because the just-past-full Moon will be in the sky, making the weak meteors harder to see. Don’t give up though…
Some advice for watching:
Dedicate at least 20-30 minutes to being outside and not looking at your phone - this allows your eyes to get dark adapted and reduces the risk of you missing one because you’re going in-and-out. Stay dark-adapted by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.
Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or hammock. Bring warm clothes.
Gaze around Leo’s head. That is where the radiant is - where the meteors will appear to be coming from. You never know when a nice meteor will burn up, so take a nice look at the sky in general.
The strategy to observe this year is to get out there whenever you can, but the later you stay up, the more you’ll see, since the radiant will be higher and you’ll be closer to the peak.
Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear beforehand
27th - Occultation of Spica - Watch a lovely crescent Moon cover up a bright star, Spica. The Moon will pass in front of Spica around 5:35am (using Philadelphia times), and then reveal it from its dark side around 6:49am. Times will vary by location, so go to https://is.gd/Spica_Nov27 for more details for your closest city.
28th - Thanksgiving (US) - With sunset at 4:40pm, Thanksgiving provides us a cornucopia of opportunities to show our families how awesome astronomy is. Without a telescope, you can easily find Venus after sunset, in the SW. With a telescope, check out its Gibbous phase. Also up there is Saturn in the South, with its rings almost edge-on, and Moons visible. Jupiter rises in the ENE after 5:30, so check out its bands, belts, Great Red Spot, and Galilean Moons. If you’re extra good, you might even see the shadow of its Moon Europa cast upon it from about 7:40pm until about 10pm. Mars will rise around 8pm and march across the sky as well. And, of course, don’t forget the highlights of the Fall/Winter sky such as the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades, and the Orion Nebula.
Naked-eye PLANETS
Sunset
Venus - Starting at sunset about 15° above the horizon, Venus rises to about 22° above the SSW horizon by month’s end. Look SSW just after sunset and find the brightest non-blinking object in that direction. Using a telescope, you’ll see it in its gibbous phase, slowly getting bigger in the eyepiece. Sets between 7:30pm and 8pm.
Saturn - At sunset, Saturn will shine a little brighter than everything around it, about 30-35° above the SE horizon.
Middle of the night
Saturn - Begins in the SE, moves West throughout the night, setting in the WSW at 3am Nov 1st, around midnight Nov 30th.
Jupiter - Rises in the ENE around 8:30pm Nov 1st, 5pm Nov 30th. Moves West, and is visible in the morning.
Mars - Rises in the ENE around 11pm Nov 1st, 9pm Nov 30th. Moves West, and is visible in the morning.
Morning
Jupiter, Mars – Around sunrise, look above Taurus in the W to find bright Jupiter, with Mars up high in the South next to the twin stars Pollux and Castor in Gemini. Throughout the month, Mars will move into Cancer, and Jupiter will be just about setting as the sun rises.
Lunar Events
LUNAR CYCLE
New Moon – 1st (darkest skies)
Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)
First Quarter Moon – 9th (Visible until midnight)
Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)
Full Moon – 15th (Visible all night)
Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)
Last Quarter Moon – 22nd (Visible midnight into the morning)
Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)
LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times.
4th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent, below Venus 4°, SW sky after sunset, less than 15° above the horizon
10th - Gibbous Moon about 2° to the right of Saturn, in the SE after sunset, setting in the West before 1:30am. Closest (about 1/2°) around 10pm.
16th - 17th - Find the just-past-full Moon just about 10° up and to the right of Jupiter on the 16th, and just about 10° to the left of Jupiter on the 17th, moving West throughout the night, looking awesome in the West around sunrise.
24th - Rising in the East after 9:30pm, the Gibbous Moon will be about 4˚ to the left of Mars, moving West until it’s almost straight above us by sunrise.
And that’s the sky for this month. If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram. Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies.
Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.
All pictures simulated using Starry Night Pro Plus 8.
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