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Skywatch November 2011 (newest at top)

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Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for Wednesday, November 30th and Thursday, December 1st by Louis Suarato

As the Mars Science Laboratory carrying the new rover, Curiosity, continues on its voyage to the Red Planet, we can view its destination when the planet rises at 11:24 p.m. EST. It will take eight and a half months for the spacecraft to reach Mars, after traveling 354 million miles. During the 23 months after landing, Curiosity will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks and scooped from the ground to determine if conditions have been favorable for microbial life. Former NASA scientist and current Dean of Science at RPI, Laurie Leshin, will help control the rover's mission to the red planet. Joining Mars in Wednesday’s night sky are two of the constellation Leo’s brightest stars, Regulus, above right, and Denebola, below and to the left of the planet.

December 1st offers a good opportunity to view bright Venus as it sets almost one and one half hours after sunset, which occurs at 4:22 Eastern Standard Time. By the end of December, the time between Venus setting and sunset will increase to two and one half hours. For our latitude, Venus is fifteen degrees above the horizon at sunset and it will increase to about twenty three degrees by year-end. As Venus is setting on Thursday at 6:06 p.m., Jupiter will be 35 degrees above the horizon in the east. Venus and Jupiter are currently 123 degrees apart and closing. The two planets will pass each other in our night sky at the end of March. Looking through a telescope, you will see that Venus’ disk is currently approximately 90% full. Venus is still on the far side of the Sun at nearly 136 million miles from Earth. By the end of March, Venus will close to approximately 66 million miles away and will be seen as a crescent through a telescope. Although a crescent, the difference in distance will increase Venus’ brightness significantly. On Thursday, the 37% illuminated waxing crescent Moon rises at 11:18 a.m. and sets at 10:24 p.m.

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, November 28th and 29th.
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 4:23 PM; night falls at 6:04. Dawn breaks at 5:23 AM, ending with sunrise at 7:04.

After sunset, the Moon and two bright planets are apparent. The Moon rose during the morning and sets by 9:30 PM. It is a slender crescent in Sagittarius on Monday, and in Capricornus on Tuesday.

Jupiter is already well up in the southeast, and, by nightfall, well placed for observation. Binocular observers can see its Galilean moons, while telescope users can view the Great Red Spot, a titanic storm, cross Jupiter at 11:30 PM Monday, and 7:22 PM Tuesday.

Sunset reveals Venus moderately high in the West. Even though Venus is very bright, binoculars help find it amid the Sun's glow. In telescopes, Venus appears about 90 percent illuminated. Dimmer Mercury is quite low and binoculars help in the hunt. Mercury sets at 5 PM, while Venus lasts until 6:00 PM.

Nightfall reveals the planets Uranus and Neptune, as well as asteroids Ceres and Vesta. Astronomy magazines and websites provide observing charts. Neptune, Ceres and Vesta set by midnight.

Mars rises before midnight and, by 4:00 AM, is best for observation. The Red Planet is still quite small for most amateur telescopes but presents a bonus. It lies very close to three galaxies, M95, M96, and M 105. These galaxies are within the capability of most amateur telescopes. Under high powers, they exhibit three types of galaxies: Spirals, Barred Spirals, and Ellipticals.

Saturn rises at about 3:30 AM; by first light it, too, is high enough for observation. It lies about four degrees above the bright star Spica in Virgo. These two largest planets can be observed at opposite horizons. As Saturn rises, Jupiter prepares to set.

Last Saturday, NASA launched Curiosity, the next Mars rover. But, the longest space program is still going strong. In 1977, 34 years ago, NASA launched the Voyagers.
Both were to tour the Solar System and then plunge into interstellar space. Both are still sending back data with 1960's vintage radio equipment. Both are awaiting the solar wind to end, marking their departure from the Solar System sometime in 2015.

 

Clear Skies

Joe Slomka

 

Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for the days of Friday, November 25th, through Sunday, November 27th, 2011, written by Tony Scalise.

Friday, November 25th marks the 329th day of the year with 36 days remaining.

The sun rises at about 7:01 AM and sets at 4:25 PM, Eastern Standard Time and the moon is new on Friday, very early in the morning.  

The chief object of interest this weekend is Mars.  Located in the constellation Leo the Lion, Mars will be at its highest in the southern sky by sunrise, shining like a garnet jewel.  Although Mars is still several months away from its March 2012 opposition with Earth and thus still too small for detailed telescopic observations, it is growing large enough to show the main features.  Through a telescope, Mars will be seen as a very small orange disk prominently exhibiting a gibbous phase with its north pole tilted towards the Earth.  Easily visible is its North Polar Cap, which is very large and very bright.

But just as interestingly, attempts have been in the works recently to send two spacecraft to the Red Planet. 

A Russian spacecraft, Fobos-Grunt, was launched just this past November 8th.  Carrying a small cargo of live organisms – mainly bacteria and other simple organisms, its primary mission was to retrieve a 7-ounce sample of soil from the surface of Phobos, one of the two asteroid-like moons of Mars, and return it to the Earth, along with the live cargo.  As it now stands, the 29,000-pound spacecraft is stuck tumbling in Earth orbit because its rocket engines have failed to ignite to set the craft on the course for Mars.  As of Friday, the window of opportunity for a Mars flight has closed.  After working hard to correct the problem, Russian scientists have conceded that the spacecraft now has no chance of making it to Mars and may send the spacecraft to an asteroid if possible.  But there is the added concern that the probe will simply fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled reentry and spill its highly toxic fuel over a populated area.

The other spacecraft intended to reach Mars is the NASA spacecraft Curiosity, currently scheduled for launch on Saturday, November 26th, at 10:02 AM EST. Curiosity is a 2,000 pound, six wheeled rover about the size of a small car, much larger than the previous rovers that have explored Mars.  In addition to cameras, Curiosity will carry a wide range of instruments to test the soil for organic compounds.  NASA is aiming to land Curiosity at the foot of a three-mile high mountain in the center of a 96-mile wide crater called Gale Crater.  The mountain is enticing to scientists because it was earlier shown by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft to have sedimentary layers, possibly formed by water deposition.  You can watch the launch live on NASA’s website www.nasa.gov.

This is the Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for Wednesday, November 23 and Thursday, November 24 by Louis Suarato

Wednesday’s pre-dawn eastern sky features two planets paired with bright stars. High in the southeast, red Mars is above and to the right of Regulus. Regulus, at magnitude 1.35, is the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Closer to the eastern horizon, Saturn is only 4 degrees east of Spica, the fifteenth brightest star in the sky. Below Saturn and Spica, the 5% waning crescent Moon rises at 4:57 a.m. EST. Sunrise occurs at 6:56. The Sun sets at 4:29 p.m on Wednesday followed by Venus at 5:55 p.m. Jupiter remains the highlight of the November sky, remaining in the night sky until setting at 4:28 a.m.
As the summer constellations wane and the winter constellations begin to rise, three Autumn constellations remain high in the sky. Andromeda, featuring the elliptical galaxies, M32 and M33, and the Great Andromeda spiral galaxy, M31, can be seen in the northeast. Below, and to Andromeda’s east is Pisces, with spiral galaxy M74. The Great Square of Pegasus is below Andromeda. Pegasus features the globular cluster M15. This globular cluster can be easier seen in a viewfinder or binoculars. M15 can be located 4 degrees northwest of Epsilon Pegasi, the brightest star in the constellation Pegasus, which is at the tip of the arc of stars leading away the Great Square.

 

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, November 21st and 22nd.
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 4:28 PM; night falls at 6:07. Dawn breaks at 5:16 AM, ending with sunrise at 6:55.

Bright planets occupy both horizons. In the East, Jupiter is well up at sunset and remains up most of the night. Brilliant Venus is lower on the western horizon. This brightest planet, under high powers, appears about ninety percent illuminated and stands over five and a half degrees above dimmer Mercury. Venus and Mercury set by 5:52 PM. All three are visible to the naked eye.

By nightfall, Jupiter and Uranus linger in Pisces, Neptune stays in Aquarius, asteroid Ceres joins Uranus in Aquarius, while asteroid Vesta stays in Capricornus. Comet Garradd is in Hercules, seven degrees above the star Rasalhague in Ophiuchus. The comet is quite low and sets at 8:45 PM. Astronomy magazines and websites provide observing charts.

For telescopic observers of Jupiter, the moon Ganymede begins to cross the planet's face at 10:30 Monday night, followed by its shadow; both exit the scene by 2:47 AM Tuesday.

Mars has risen by midnight, appearing beneath Leo's belly.
The Red Planet is gradually brightening and growing larger.
NASA has scheduled the launch of Curiosity, the next Mars rover, for later this week.

The Moon rises before Dawn. Tuesday morning, it appears as a thin crescent with Saturn and the star Spica in Virgo. Wednesday finds a slimmer moon close to the eastern horizon.

Last week, asteroid 2005YU55 made news. The asteroid was discovered in 2005 and astronomers have been tracking it since. On November 8, it made closest approach to Earth. News accounts described the object as the size of an aircraft carrier. The asteroid posed no threat to Earth; it passed closer to the Moon than Earth. Visual observers had difficulty finding the object due to its faint magnitude and bright moonlight. That night, astronomers at Union College's Olin Observatory photographed the asteroid as it sped through. The asteroid will approach Venus in 2029 and make a return visit to Earth in 2041. Astronomers estimate that, at that time, it will be over nine million miles from our planet.

 

 

Clear Skies

Joe Slomka

 

Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for the days of Friday, November 18th, through Sunday, November 20th, 2011, written by Tony Scalise.

            

Friday, November 18th marks the 322nd day of the year with 43 days remaining.

 Sunday, November 20th, marks the 13th anniversary of the birth of the International Space Station.  It was on this day that the first module of the space station was launched into orbit by a Russian Proton rocket.  Since then well over a dozen more modules have been added and the space station has been visited by nearly 200 astronauts.  A joint venture of many nations, the International Space Station has been a technological triumph of mankind as well as a grand symbol of international cooperation.  And with the recent launch of China's own space station, Tiangong 1, there are now two space stations in Earth orbit.  Both the ISS and Tiangong can be seen flying over your backyard this weekend.  Tiangong, though uninhabited but accompanied by an unmanned spacecraft nearby, can be seen in the early evening hours while the International Space Station can be seen in the early morning hours.  Check spaceweather.com for times when the space stations will be passing overhead.

 Astronomically speaking, the sun rises at about 6:52 AM and sets at 4:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time.

 On early Friday morning, the moon, rising in the east as dawn progresses, is at last quarter. For the next several evenings, it will be exhibiting a thick waning crescent phase.

 The peak of the Leonid Meteor Shower can be seen early Friday morning.  Astronomers predict rates of about 10 to 20 meteors per hour.  But with a bright half moon lighting up the sky, many of the meteors presented by this famous shower will be washed out.

 45 minutes after sunset, look to the south-western horizon where you will see the brilliant planet Venus as well as the much dimmer planet Mercury just below it setting in the evening twilight.

 Jupiter will already be high up in the eastern sky at sundown.  Look for a brilliant, yellowish steady star and use your telescope to watch the perpetual dance of its four bright moons.

 Mars can be found using the Moon and the star Regulus as guide marks.  Mars is located in the constellation Leo the Lion just to the left of the fainter star Regulus and can be seen as a fairly bright orange star high in the southern sky by sunrise. On early Friday morning it will be located to the left of the Moon.  By early Saturday morning it will be located above the Moon.  Through a telescope, Mars will be seen as a very small orange disk prominently exhibiting a gibbous phase.

 Saturn, located in the constellation Virgo, can be found as a steady yellowish star just above the dimmer star Spica. It rises in the east at about 4:30 in the morning.  Through a telescope, Saturn's rings can be seen tilted at about 14 degrees to the Earth.

This is the Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for Wednesday, November 16 and Thursday, November 17 by Louis Suarato

Before the sun rises at 6:47 on Wednesday, Saturn can be seen on the eastern horizon approximately 5 degrees east of Spica. Much higher and to the south, Mars can be seen approximately 5 degrees to the left of Regulus. The 67% illuminated Moon is above Procyon in the southwest until setting at 11:21 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Sun sets on Wednesday at 4:32 p.m. followed by Mercury, then Venus. Look for the two planets 2 degrees apart on the western Horizon. Jupiter will be 14 degrees above the eastern horizon as the sky darkens.
Thursday, before dawn, will be the peak time to view the Leonid Meteor Showers. This year’s Leonids are expected to be modest and the last quarter Moon will interfere observing. In the past, the Leonids have displayed spectacular activity. The Leonids have been associated with Comet Temple-Tuttle. In 902 AD, observers noted that “stars fell like rain”. On November 12, 1799, the first written account of a meteor shower was recorded by surveyor Andrew Ellicott as he witnessed the Leonids off the coast of Florida. Ellicott wrote “About two o'clock in the morning, I was called up to see the shooting stars, (as it is vulgarly termed,) the phenomenon was grand and awful, the whole heavens appeared as if illuminated with skyrockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun after day break. This phenomenon extended over a large portion of the West India islands, and was observed as far north as St. Mary's, where it appeared as brilliant as with us." North American observers were treated to a Leonid meteor storm in 1833. One observer wrote “On the night of November 12-13, 1833, a tempest of falling stars broke over the Earth... The sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston, the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm. Their numbers... were quite beyond counting; but as it waned, a reckoning was attempted, from which it was computed, on the basis of that much-diminished rate, that 240,000 must have been visible during the nine hours they continued to fall”. In 1965, Comet Temple-Tuttle was rediscovered and western to central U.S. observers saw, within a two hour period, flurries of 40 meteors per hour and as many as 40 per second. The Leo radiant can be found in the east after midnight.

 

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, November 14th and 15th.
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 4:33 PM, with night falling at 6:11. Dawn breaks at 5:09 AM and ends with sunrise at 6:47.

As the sky darkens, bright Jupiter is already up in the eastern sky. Binocular viewers can watch the four Galilean moons dance around Jupiter. On Monday night, those with telescopes can see the moon Ganymede, followed by its shadow, cross the face of the giant planet. Ganymede begins its trek at 7:13 PM and ends at 10:45. In addition, the Great Red Spot, a giant storm on Jupiter, can be seen also at 10 PM.

While Jupiter is rising, brilliant Venus and slightly dimmer Mercury are preparing to set. Both hover low on the western horizon. Venus sits atop Mercury, separated by two degrees. Binoculars may help find them in the solar glare. Telescopes show Venus to be ninety-two percent illuminated, while Mercury's image is sixty-two percent. They set by 5:46 PM.

Nightfall reveals Uranus in Pisces, Neptune in Aquarius, the asteroid Ceres also in Aquarius, and the asteroid Vesta in Capricornus. Astronomy websites and magazines provide observing charts for these distant members of our Solar System.

Midnight sees the arrival of Mars on the scene. It rises in the constellation Leo. The Red Planet appears about two degrees below Regulus, Leo's brightest star. Mars is now the in the news. Russia launched a space probe to Mars with the intent of landing on the Martian moon Phobos and returning a sample. It is currently incapacitated and orbiting Earth. The US is planning to send its own rover, named Curiosity, later this month. Like Spirit and Opportunity, it will roam the Martian landscape, looking for clues of potential life.

The nineteen-day-old Moon rose in early evening. Tuesday's moon rises about an hour later. Gemini hosts the Moon on both nights.

Saturn rises before Dawn begins; it lies about four degrees from the Virgo's brightest star, Spica.

An intrepid astronomer, who braves the winter chill, can see all seven of the Solar System's planets in one night. Dwarf Planet Pluto is technically visible in twilight, but the planet is too small and dim for most amateur telescopes.

 

Clear Skies

Joe Slomka

Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for the days of Friday, November 11th, through Sunday, November 13th, 2011, written by Tony Scalise.

Friday, November 11th marks the 315th day of the year.  There are 50 days remaining in the year. 

On the day of November 11th in the year 1966, 45 years ago, Gemini 12 was launched into orbit with astronauts Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and James Lovell on board.  During their four day mission, the two astronauts observed a solar eclipse, conducted several science experiments, and Aldrin himself took two space walks outside the space capsule.

On the day of November 12th in the year 1981, 30 years ago, the space shuttle Columbia was launched into space for the second time since its maiden flight in April of that same year.  This was the first time in the history of space flight that a manned reusable space vehicle was launched into orbit more than once.

And on November 13th in the year 1971, 40 years ago, NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft successfully orbited the planet Mars, marking another milestone in space flight - the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.

Astronomically speaking, the sun rises at about 6:43 AM and sets at 4:36 PM, Eastern Standard Time.

On Friday evening, the moon, rising in the east after the Sun sets in the west, is one day past full.  It will be 3 degrees away from the Pleiades star cluster.  On the following two nights the moon will have waned to a noticeably gibbous phase.

On Saturday evening, 35 minutes after the Sun sets, Mercury and Venus are still found near each other less than 2 degrees apart above the southwestern horizon.

Jupiter is now a noticeable evening star that is up high in the eastern sky soon after the Sun sets.  With Jupiter now well placed in the evening sky only two weeks after its opposition, there is no finer time to study the giant planet.

Mars is a morning star that can be located in the constellation Leo the Lion but it doesn’t rise until midnight in the northeastern sky.  It will be at its highest by sunrise.  Mars is slowly getting brighter as the weeks go by for its March 2012 opposition, by which time NASA’s latest Mars rover, Curiosity, tentatively scheduled for a November 25th launch date, will be successfully on its way towards an August landing.

The ringed planet Saturn rises about two hours before the Sun does, but it is still low in the sky by the time dawn breaks, giving little time for telescopic viewing.

 

This is the Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for Wednesday, November 9 and Thursday, November 10 by Louis Suarato

Carl Sagan said “We embarked on our journey to the stars with a question first framed in the childhood of our species and in each generation asked anew with undiminished wonder: What are the stars? Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”
Carl Sagan was born on November 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and in addition to playing a leading role in the American space program, he was successful in communicating the importance and wonder of science. On Wednesday, the 91% illuminated waxing gibbous moon rises at 3:49 p.m. EST followed by Jupiter, which rises at 4:02 p.m. and shines brightly to the right of the Moon. Venus is becoming easier to spot in the western twilight before it sets at 5:44 p.m. Mars rises at 11:56 p.m. and is separated from the star Regulus by 1 degree. On Thursday morning, Saturn rises at 4:31 a.m. closely above and to the left of the star Spica. The Full Beaver Moon rises at 4:22 p.m. between Jupiter to the southeast and the Pleiades to its northeast. This moon is sometimes referred to as the ‘Frosty Moon’. Occasionally, satellites will transit the Moon and Sun. A good resource to use to determine the timing of these transits is Calsky.com. This website contains a wealth of astronomical data. Transit information can be found under the tab ‘Satellites’, then under ‘Sun/Moon Crossers’. Be sure to set your location under the ‘Intro’ tab.

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, November Seventh and Eighth.
by Joe Slomka

Now that Standard Time has resumed, the Sun sets at 4:41 PM, with night falling at 6:17. Dawn breaks at 5:01 AM and ends with sunrise at 6:38.

The Moon rose this afternoon, and by sunset is the brightest object in the sky. It brightens the constellation Pisces on both nights. The Moon appears near full and overwhelms its dim neighbors.

Jupiter resists the brilliant Moon with its own luster. It, too, rises in the afternoon eastern sky. By nightfall, Jupiter is quite high, to the Moon's lower left. Its four Galilean moons are visible in binoculars, but telescopic views are far more interesting. Astronomy magazines and websites provide tables for these distant satellites. Telescopic observers can see the Great Red Spot, a gigantic storm, at 9 PM on Monday and 3 AM Wednesday.

While Jupiter glows in eastern skies, two other dazzling planets, Venus and Mercury occupy the low western horizon.
Venus is highest and brightest, at minus two magnitude. Smaller and dimmer Mercury lies two degrees below its fellow planet. Under moderate telescopic views, Venus appears almost as full as the Moon, while Mercury is three-quarters illuminated. The vivid red star Antares forms a triangle with Venus and Mercury. All three set by 5:45 PM.

Mars rises shortly before Midnight in Leo. By Dawn, Mars is well positioned for observation. It glows red about two degrees above blue-white Regulus. Mars slowly grows brighter and larger this month; but many observers will experience difficulty in seeing detail on its surface.

Saturn joins Mars in the East. Saturn rises about 4:30 AM roughly four degrees above Spica in Virgo. Both Mars and Saturn outshine their neighboring stars. With Jupiter still up in the West, three bright outer planets grace the brightening firmament.

Since Mars accompanies Leo's brightest star, let’s consider Regulus. Regulus is a sun-like star, burning hydrogen to make helium, but also different. It is about 350 times brighter but only about three and a half times as massive. While our Sun takes 26 days to spin, Regulus rotates every 16 hours. As a result, Regulus is oblate – flatter at the poles and bulging at the equator.

 

Clear Skies

Joe Slomka

 

Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for the days of Friday, November 4th, through Sunday, November 6th, 2011, written by Tony Scalise.

Friday, November 4th marks the 308th day of the year.  There are 57 days remaining until the end of the year.

On the day of November 5th in the year 2007, China’s unmanned lunar spacecraft Chang’e 1 (Chang-uh one), reached lunar orbit after a 12 day trip.  Thus did China become the fifth nation to explore the moon.  Between the Soviet Union’s successful flyby of the moon with its Luna 1 space probe in 1959, and the United States’ triumphal landing of the first men on the moon in 1969, no other nation had ever ventured to the moon with either unmanned or manned space probes.  Since then Japan, the European Space Agency, China, and lately India have launched successful lunar missions.  Lunar exploration, indeed even space exploration, is no longer the exclusive domain of Russia and the United States.  Even private enterprises are now gearing up to explore the moon and beyond.

This weekend Daylight Saving Time ends.  Thus, astronomically speaking, on Friday and Saturday the sun rises at about 7:34 AM and sets at 5:44 PM, Eastern Daylight Time.  But on early Sunday morning Daylight Saving Time ends and Eastern Standard Time goes back into effect.  The old phrase “spring ahead, fall back” comes into play once more.  So be sure to observe the time honored tradition of setting your clocks back one hour before bedtime Saturday evening.  So on Sunday morning the Sun rises at 6:36 AM and sets at 4:42 PM, Eastern Standard Time, and you will, in essence, be gaining the one extra hour of time that you so grudgingly gave up last spring and the length of your day will be some 25 hours long.

The change of your clocks doesn’t affect the planetary positions and their relative times of rising and setting.  This weekend, 30 minutes after the Sun sets, Mercury and Venus continue to hang near each other and will do so for the next week as the two planets still can be seen nearly 2 degrees of each other in the evening twilight.  Look to the west-southwest horizon, with Mercury below Venus, and use a pair of binoculars.  The star Antares will be seen to the immediate left of the two planets.

As the bright planet Venus sets and exits the evening sky, the other bright planet Jupiter will rise opposite Venus to take its place.  Jupiter will be seen rising in the west and will be visible all night long.  

Mars can be located in the constellation Leo the Lion but it doesn’t rise until midnight in the northeast.  It will be at its highest by sunrise.  And the ringed planet Saturn rises 1 ½ hours before the Sun does, but doesn’t give much time for telescopic viewing before the sky brightens.

 

This is the Dudley Observatory Skywatch Line for Wednesday, November 2 and Thursday, November 3 by Louis Suarato

Harlow Shapley said: “Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.”
Harlow Shapley, born on November 2, 1885, was known as “The Modern Copernicus”. Shapley correctly proclaimed that globular clusters outline the Milky Way Galaxy, and that our Galaxy is far larger than was generally believed and is centered thousands of light years away in the direction of Sagittarius. There are several globular clusters to view in the Autumn sky. M2 is a bright Globular cluster in Aquarius. On Wednesday, M2 can be found approximately 3 degrees west of the First Quarter Moon. M2 is 50,000 light years away and contains at least 17 variable stars. Another globular cluster in the Autumn night sky is M15 in the constellation Pegasus. M15 can be found approximately 5 degrees above and to the west of M2. M2 has a magnitude of 6.4 and can be seen as a fuzzy star-like object with binoculars. Over 100 variable stars populate M15. In addition to these globular clusters, the planets Jupiter and Venus remain bright and are on opposite horizons. Jupiter rises at 5:32 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, and Venus sets at 6:44 p.m.  Mars will rise after midnight at 1:04 a.m.

On Thursday, Saturn rises before Spica at 5:55 a.m. and remains above left of the bright star until they are faded by the dawn. The sun rises at 7:31. The waxing gibbous moon rises at 2:15 p.m. 

 

This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, October 31st and November 1st.
by Joe Slomka

The Sun sets at 5:49 PM, with twilight ending at 7:25. Dawn breaks at 5:53 AM and ends with the Sun rising at 7:29.

A six-day-old Moon, appearing one-third illuminated, lies due south shortly after sunset. Both evenings find the Moon within Sagittarius. The Moon sets before midnight.

Bright planets appear low on opposite sides of the horizon. Venus and Mercury glow on the western horizon, while Jupiter rises equally high in the East. Binoculars assist in finding these planets amid the sky glow.

By nightfall, Venus and Mercury have set; and, Jupiter is quite high. Other Solar System objects are now observable. Planets Uranus and Neptune maintain their usual stations, as do asteroids Ceres and Vesta. Astronomy magazines and websites provide observing guides.

Comet Garradd is also visible. It is now about six degrees above the star Rasalhague, the bright star that marks the head of the constellation Ophiuchus. The comet sets about 11 PM, so observe it when you can. Six degrees is about the average field in a pair of binoculars. If the observer puts the star on the bottom of his field, the comet should be just above the field's top.

Mars rises after 1 AM within the constellation Leo. Saturn rises in late Dawn.

A recent Internet report stated that astronomers recalculated the size of Eris to be about the same as Pluto. Eris was one of the first Kuiper Belt objects discovered, and one of the reasons for Pluto's demotion.

The technique that Chilean observatories used is a very low tech one. They knew that the Moon would occult, or eclipse, Eris. They accurately timed the disappearance and reappearance. This is a very common method for amateur astronomers to assist professionals. An organization named IOTA publishes dates, times, and places where an asteroid can be witnessed eclipsing a star. Amateur astronomers then observe the event by accurately timing it.  Results are sent to Iota's headquarters. If enough widely separated observers report in, the size and rough shape of the asteroid is determined. IOTA is one of the earliest examples of citizen science - the alliance of professionals and amateurs that advance the science of Astronomy.

 

Clear Skies

Joe Slomka