The Celestial Sphere

by Matthew Johnson

Daylight Saving Time ends on Nov. 1 at 2 a.m. With the Sun now setting more than an hour earlier and rising an hour later than in June, additional hours of darkness extend the length of time in which one can observe. Astronomers look forward to the late fall and winter because of this extra viewing time. 

The moon phases this month are the last quarter on Nov. 8, the new moon on Nov. 15, the first quarter on Nov. 23. The full moon, known as the Beaver Moon, on Nov. 30, is also a penumbral lunar eclipse.

On Nov. 13, just 30 to 45 minutes before dawn, look to the east-southeast where a thin crescent moon with be situated about 7 degrees below and to the left of brilliant Venus. The crescent moon will also be directly above the planet Mercury. Mercury can be difficult to locate, so this is one of the best times to view the elusive tiny planet. Just to the right of the tiny sliver moon is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. 

At dusk on the evening of Nov. 18 the waxing crescent moon will facilitate locating Saturn and Jupiter. About 30 to 45 minutes after the sun sets, the moon will be below and in a line with Jupiter and Saturn (the smaller of the two planets). On the Nov. 19, the moon will be just to the left of Saturn and Jupiter. 

Mars had its closest approach to the Earth in October and is now moving away. Nevertheless, the red planet remains the most brilliant of the planets in November. It can be viewed rising in the east early in the evening. On the Nov. 25, look toward the southeast and view Mars just above the large waxing moon. Having Mars so close to the Earth is a rare event occurring only once a decade. 

On the night of the Nov. 16 into the dawn of the Nov. 17, the Leonid meteor shower “peaks,” but it is expected to be only a moderate event this year, since the Earth’s orbit is intersecting only a peripheral area of comet Tempel-Tuttle’s particle stream. Comet particles entering our atmosphere at high velocities ionize our atmosphere’s molecules, giving off trails of light or meteors. Meteor showers are named after the constellations from which the meteors appear to come, the “radiant.” Thus the constellation Leo is the Leonids’ radiant. Leo is located below the bottom of the Big Dipper’s bucket, so the Leonids will appear to be streaking from below the Big Dipper.

The Northern Taurids meteor shower occurs on the evening and morning of Nov. 11-12. They radiate from the Pleiades (the seven sisters) area of the constellation Taurus and originate from comet Encke. The Northern Taurids often produce brilliant streaks but are very few in number. The Andromedids are another weak meteor shower on the nights of Nov. 25-27, radiating from the constellation of Andromeda in the south. Use a star chart to locate the various constellations and the appropriate times to view them.

On Nov. 30 we experience the fourth lunar eclipse of the year when the moon’s orbit enters the Earth’s faint outer shadow, creating a “penumbral lunar eclipse” as the Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from illuminating the moon. This is the last lunar eclipse of 2020. The moon enters the Earth’s penumbra at 2:32 a.m., darkening the moon’s northern half. The effect will be most noticeable for the half hour centered around 4:43 a.m. when the moon is deepest in the Earth’s shadow. The Moon then lightens as it slowly exits the Earth’s shadow. The event ends around 6:45 a.m.

Orion, winter’s favorite and iconic constellation, will rise on the eastern horizon by 9 p.m. during early November.

Robert Frost’s poem “The Star Splitter,” begins with his friend Bradford speaking of the constellation’s striking rise: “You know Orion always comes up sideways. / Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, / And rising on his hands, he looks in on me. . . .” Later in the poem, the poet writes: