November 1996

by steve Stefanik

As November’s nocturnal sky enshrouds us with darkness earlier due to the reversion to Standard Time, Jupiter is still the brightest "star" although it lies only 20 degrees or so above the southwestern horizon in the "teaspoon" asterism above the "teapot" asterism of Sagittarius. Look for a 4 day old new-moon just above it on the night of the 14th. This will be the last month to observe its colorful bands and Galilean moons before it is lost in the glare of December’s sunsets.

Uranus and Neptune are still fairly well placed above and to the left of Jupiter along the Sagittarius-Capricorn border. Uranus can still be spotted through binoculars and appears as a small blue-green disk while Neptune can only be seen as a bluish "star" through a telescope.

Further to the southwest among the stars of the constellation Ophiuchus, comet Hale-Bopp can easily be spotted through binoculars as a fuzzy fifth magnitude "star" with a fan shaped tail. Even though Ophiuchus is beginning to set in the west the comet is now in retrograde (appearing to move in an opposite direction from the usual westward motion of right ascension) and is now headed northeastward toward the constellation Aquilla the eagle where it will be in February. It will be at its closest point to Earth on April 22 where it will be above the constellations Pegasus and Andromeda. Due to its present size and rapid brightening even though it is still more than 260 million miles from Earth, Hale-Bopp could prove to be the most spectacular comet in the past 400 hundred years making last spring’s passage of Comet Hyakutake seem second rate by comparison.

In the meantime, take advantage of the some of the other views that abound this time of year. Several not so familiar constellations that spend most of their time is the southern hemisphere are visible above the southern horizon. Cetus the whale, Sculptor, Piscis Austrinus the southern fish, Grus the crane, and part of Eridanus the river are just below the familiar constellations of Capricorn the water goat, Aquarius the water bearer, and Pisces the northern fish. Fomalhaut is the bright first magnitude star you may see just above the southern horizon. Through binoculars or even a small telescopes you may catch a glimpse of the Helix in the constellation Aquarius, a large planetary nebula spanning an area about half the diameter of the moon.

The planet Saturn is high in the southern sky between the constellations Cetus, Pisces, and Aquarius by the time Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus set. Its rings are tipped upward about 5 degrees. Look for it near a waxing gibbous moon on the nights of the 19th and 20th. Saturn remains visible all evening setting by midnight by the months’ end.

Mars rises just after midnight in November. Look for the red first magnitude planet near the first magnitude brightest blue star in the constellation Leo, Regulus. Look for it near the waning crescent moon tommorrow and Tuesday morning. It continues to move eastward away from Regulus all month.

Speaking of Leo, the annual Leonid meteor shower peaks in the wee hours of the morning on the 17th. This years’ redition will be under ideal circumstances with the first quater moon setting by 11:00 p.m. Although they are not well known for large numbers of meteors they have increased activity and put on magnificent displays in the past.