By David Baumgartner
For most people it can be vary difficult to pin down the
location of the planets in the night sky. The brighter ones like
Venus and Jupiter can be somewhat easier to find mainly because of
their movement and overwhelming brilliance compared to the stars
around them. But how do you think you would fare trying to find
these two beauties in the daytime?
By David Baumgartner
For most people it can be vary difficult to pin down the location of the planets in the night sky. The brighter ones like Venus and Jupiter can be somewhat easier to find mainly because of their movement and overwhelming brilliance compared to the stars around them. But how do you think you would fare trying to find these two beauties in the daytime?
Yes, I did say the daytime. Both Venus and Jupiter will be up in our sky almost all day long this month. But trying to find them may be somewhat less than difficult. Now I must admit that I have found them in the daytime, but with the aid of my go-to telescope. As long as my scope is aligned properly, all I have to do is punch in the coordinates of each planet and it will search them out. It is almost like cheating. Sure the view is not as spectacular as it is at night, but that is not what you are looking for here anyway. What you are looking for is to just be able to find them.
One way to locate our wandering friends is to catch the planets at day break when they are still easy to find. Then continue to follow the planet as the Sun rises, and it’s fun to see how long you can track them. Because once you take your eye off the planet and try to go back and find it again, you are almost certain to lose it.
Another way is to position the planet near a landmark like a tree or some other terrestrial point for reference just in case you temporarily lose sight of the object as the sky begins to brighten. You can go a long way with this method, if you have the patience. But this month we have an extra aid in the sky to help us not only to locate but also to keep track of our targets – the Moon.
On Nov. 9 around 9am the small crescent Moon will occult the planet Jupiter. But unfortunately, we will just miss the event out here on the West Coast. Now if you want to fly back East that day you will be able to see it.
But not to worry – we will still get an unusual look at Jupiter as it approaches to within 0.92 degrees of the Moon.
So, back to the Moon giving us an extra aid towards finding the daytime planets: For one thing, the Moon is usually much easier to find in the sky because it is large. But because of its small crescent at this time, it too could be a challenge for you to find. On that Tuesday morning, you first need to spot the crescent Moon. (Very important: be careful not to look accidentally at the Sun through your telescope without a solar filter.) You need to look about 38 degrees (about four fist-widths at arm’s length) to the right of the Sun. Once you have done that, with your spotter scope or a pair of binoculars, you should be able to find Jupiter as it passes by. Now that you have found the two in the sky, think to yourself, how many people have ever seen this wondrous happening? Not many, I’ll tell you.
Now, if you are going home at noon for lunch on that same day, you could witness the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter within a 5-degree diameter circle of each other. At that time the Moon will be within 2.5 degrees of Venus and Jupiter, and Venus will be within 5 degrees of Jupiter. This viewing will be somewhat more challenging than the one at 9am, but worth the time.
How about one more? On Nov. 4 and 5 at dawn, you can catch Jupiter and Venus less than 1 degree apart from each other. No telescopic aid needed here, just your own two eyes. They both rise about three hours before the Sun, but can be seen for a short period even after sunrise.
If that’s not enough to keep you busy, then how about some meteor showers? From Nov. 14 through 21 and peaking on Nov. 17, we have the Leonid showers. Best time to view them would be around 3am. They will radiant from the constellation Leo, the Lion.
One other shower will occur on Nov. 11 and 12. Considered a minor meteor event, the Taurid showers involve the debris left behind by Comet 2P/Encke. The radiant remains visible most of the night, but numbers tend to be small. Still, this shower produces occasional fireballs, which are exciting to watch.
Saturn makes its way back into our sky in November around 10pm and as early as 8pm by the end of the month.
Well, if you had nothing to do during the month of November, now you do. There is always something up in our night skies – or as we just found out, day skies as well – that is interesting to look at. It never ceases to amaze or amuse me.
Clear skies.
David Baumgartner is in local real estate and is an avid amateur astronomer. His Sky Watch column appears monthly.
November Sky Watch
Nov. 1 Jupiter’s moons Callisto, Ganymede and Io are almost perfectly stacked west of the planet.
Nov. 2 Moon is farthest from Earth (apogee-251, 654 miles)
Nov. 3 Moon passes 5 degrees north of Saturn
Nov. 4 Venus passes 0.6 degrees north of Jupiter
Nov. 5 Last quarter Moon
Nov. 8 The Taurid meteors are active for several weeks around this date.
Nov. 9 Moon passes 0.2 degrees south of Venus, 6pm; Moon passes 1.0 degrees north of Jupiter at 8pm
Nov. 10 Moon passes 0.5 degrees south of Mars
Nov. 11 Mercury passes 2 degrees north of Antares in constellation Scorpius
Nov. 12 New Moon
Nov. 13 Moon passes 0.9 degrees south of Mercury
Nov. 14 Moon is closest to Earth (perigee-225, 130 miles)
Nov. 16 Venus passes 4 degrees north of Spica in constellation Virgo
Nov. 17 Leonid meteor shower peaks; Moon passes 5 degrees south of Neptune
Nov. 19 First quarter Moon
Nov. 21 Mercury is at greatest illumination
Nov. 26 Full Moon
Nov. 30 Moon is farthest from the Earth (apogee-252, 248); Moon passes 5 degrees north of Saturn
