Skywatch: November is a stargazer’s paradise

What an autumn it’s been for stargazing all around the world. Between the frequent Aurora and Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas and all the usual celestial treasures, it’s been one heck of a show! The sun will remain active for at least the next several months, so prepare for more aurora. Unfortunately, Tsuchinshan-Atlas is fading away as it heads away from Earth, not to be seen again for another 80,000 years. In early November, it’s barely visible with the naked eye in the early evening western sky, although you really need to look for it in the darker countryside skies. You can use an app like Sky Guide to help you find this cosmic dirty snowball.

Even without all the extraordinary added attractions, November stargazing always has many things going for stargazing fans with bright stars and constellations, and this year, we also have great planet viewing, along with some meteor showers. Also, with the longer nights and the end of daylight saving time, you can begin your celestial adventures right after supper.

Venus will continue its stint as our “evening star,” popping out of the early evening twilight in the low southwest sky. On the 4th, the new crescent moon will have a tight celestial hug with Venus, just to the lower right of the extremely bright planet. As brilliant as Venus is, it’s not much of a telescope target because of its complete and thick cloud cover. Because Venus orbits around the sun inside Earth’s orbit, it goes through phases, just like our moon. For most of this month, Venus will resemble a first quarter (half) noon.

A little higher in the western sky in the early evening, there are still some summer constellations, believe it or not. Among the brighter ones are Cygnus the Swan, Lyra the Harp, and Aquila the Eagle. We won’t see them for too much longer. As our Earth orbits the sun, summer stars will gradually set earlier and earlier in the evening.

In the early evening southern sky this month, the leading attraction is the beautiful planet Saturn. Next Sunday on the 10th, the first quarter moon will be tight and bright with Saturn, just below and to the right of the ringed planet. Unfortunately, Saturn’s ring system is tough to see right now with any telescope. That’s because now, from our vantage point on Earth, the 150,000-mile-wide ring system appears on edge to us. Since the average width of the ring system is only around 30 to 50 feet on average, that doesn’t leave us that much to see. It appears as a thick straight-line piercing Saturn, and this is how it will be through about the first half of next year. After that, the angle of Saturn’s rings will begin to open again and stay open for another fourteen years.

Face north, and you’ll see old friends like the Big Dipper. The rear end and tail of Ursa Major, the Big Bear, are very close to the horizon. In the southern part of the northern hemisphere, parts of Big Dipper lie below the horizon. A little higher in the northern sky, hanging upside down, is the Little Dipper, otherwise known as Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Cassiopeia the Queen, the constellation resembling a giant sideways W, proudly shows off her stuff in the high northeast sky. The W outlines the throne of the Queen, and Cassiopeia is tied up in that throne. According to Greek mythology, she really ticked off Poseidon, the god of the sea. Cassiopeia claimed that she was more beautiful than all his daughters. Ultimately, Poseidon went crazy and angrily tossed Cassiopeia into the sky, eternally bound to her throne for all to see.

Even though it’s still autumn, some of the early bright constellations of winter are already on the rise. First, you can’t help but see a beautiful little star cluster shining brightly in the low eastern sky, resembling a tiny dipper. It’s not the Little Dipper. It’s the Pleiades star cluster, the best naked-eye star cluster in the night sky.  Astronomically, the Pleiades are a group of young stars almost 2,400 trillion miles away, born together about 100 million years ago. Along with the winter constellations Jupiter and Mars are on the rise! Jupiter’s plenty bright this month, way outshining anything else in the late evening eastern skies. It’s above the eastern horizon in early November after 8 p.m., but by Thanksgiving, Jupiter will jump out at you in the east by 6 p.m. You can’t miss it as it beams away above Orion’s head. You can also catch the nightly show put on by Jupiter’s four moons through even a small telescope. They appear like little stars on either side of Jupiter’s disk and continually change their positions as they orbit the enormous planet. You may see some of Jupiter’s many cloud bands

After 11 p.m. in early November, Mars presents itself above the low east-northeastern heavens. Mars isn’t nearly as bright as Jupiter but is still moderately bright with its distinct orange-red hue. As November turns into December, Mars will become brighter and brighter, and early next January, it’ll be the closest it’s been to Earth in over two years!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.