By Pat Beers Block
Welcome to this month’s highlights of enjoyable evening and morning sky events!
October weather was a bit uncooperative, with many October evening skies filled with clouds and precipitation. These conditions made it difficult to view events like the orbiting of the mini-moon, the flare of the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet, and the meteors from the Orionids meteor shower. Such is the plight of the dedicated sky gazer! But there is always a new day and night, ready to inspire and delight us with exciting celestial events.
This month, we have more opportunities to view the asteroid 2024 PT5 as this “mini-moon orbits the Earth in a fashion similar to the real moon’s orbit. This asteroid, first visible in early October, will continue to be present and visible -that is, when the weather cooperates- through the entire month of November. This asteroid originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt and became caught in the Earth’s gravitational force as it traveled towards Earth. This resulted in the asteroid becoming a “mini-moon” that orbits the Earth. At the end of November, 2024 PT5 will leave Earth, orbit the Sun, and from there travel through our Solar system. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to see this mini-moon with most personal sky viewing equipment (see www.IFLScience.com/asteroid-2024-pt). Keeping tabs on its location might be possible by visiting professionally managed observatories in our area.
Other events this month include the escapades of the moon with various planets and stars, again ensuring that the moon is a key player in our celestial calendar. Additionally, there are a significant number of planetary, and planet/star conjunction alignments as well as the presence of the Leonids meteor shower that will captivate us as we gaze into the morning and evening sky to enjoy them.
The Leonids meteor shower is considered a major (Class I) shower and is anticipated to produce between 10 to 15 meteors, many of which will not be visible due to the waning (getting smaller) gibbous moon that may be brighter than the meteors ( American Meteor Society (amsmeteors.org) .
We can expect to see another full moon phase this month that results in a Supermoon. Recall the term Supermoon, as described in Wikipedia (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermoon) applies to the moon that is closest in its orbit to Earth. The result of this close proximity of moon to Earth is the appearance of a brighter and seemingly bigger full moon. This month’s Supermoon marks the fourth and last Supermoon for 2024.
Now that we have some insight into major events of October, let’s get ready for this month’s celestial excitement by getting your star gazing equipment ready, your cell phones fully charged and linked to Sky Guide, Sky View Lite, or any other star gazing applications that you find useful, and you resting in your favorite viewing spot to witness the magic of the night and early morning skies!
Fun events to view in November [extracted from Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events 2024 – Sea and Sky (seasky.org); NASA’s SKYCAL (gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL); In-The-Sky.org calendar; Highpoint Scientific (https://highpointscientific.com); starwalk.space/en/news; space.com; the Old Famer’s Almanac at www.almanac.com, and Wikipedia].
Weeks 1 and 2 (Nov. 1-9)
The first day of November marks the beginning of November’s new moon. This phase of the moon is a great time for stargazing since the bright side of the moon faces away from Earth and won’t overshadow celestial bodies and events. Of course, clouds and other weather patterns can always hinder sky viewing so try to be aware of weather predictions as you prepare for your stargazing experience.
On Nov. 3, the moon will appear in front of (termed “occultation”) the red star Antares, of the constellation Scorpius, producing a temporary “disappearance” of this star.
On Nov. 4, the chi Taurids (Class III, variable) meteor shower reaches its maximum strength. This class of showers, however, rarely produces more than one or two meteors per night; viewing is best during the evening.
The presence of the epsilon Geminid (Class II; minor) meteor shower continues from September and ends on Nov. 8. The average shower numbers can rise to two per hour on this date.
On Nov. 4, the moon will be in conjunction (visually close to one another) with the planet Venus. About 1 ½ hour after sunset, Venus will be visible by looking to the upper right portion of the waxing (getting larger) moon.
Week 3 (Nov. 10-16)
On Nov. 9, the moon is in its first quarter and appears as a half moon with the right half of the moon illuminated by the Sun’s rays. This lunar position is very conducive to viewing the sky since the moon’s shine won’t overpower the sky with its light.
On the evening of Nov. 10, the waxing (getting larger) moon will be in conjunction with Saturn, and will evolve into the occultation with Saturn. For a brief time during the occultation, Saturn will seem to disappear from the night sky.
The presence of the Northern Taurids (Class II; minor) meteor shower continues through Dec. 2, with Nov. 12 noted to be the day when this shower reaches its maximum strength. The average shower numbers can rise to five per hour on this date.
On Nov. 14, the moon moves into its perigee position, a spacial position where the moon is closest to Earth. The lunar perigee position produces the strongest tidal force on Earth’s tidal waters.
A full moon appears on Nov. 15. This full moon is known colloquially as the Beaver’s moon because it appears at a time when beavers take up regular residence in their fully stocked and furnished (with sticks for snacks) shelters. This month’s moon is the fourth and final Supermoon this year. Recall, a moon is known as a Supermoon because it appears much larger and brighter than other lunar events. Provided the sky is devoid of clouds or precipitation, the evening sky will be delightfully illuminated with the entire face of the moon visible and smiling at us with its always friendly and inviting face.
On Nov. 16, the moon is in conjunction with the Pleiades/Seven Sisters Cluster (also known as Messier 45) in the constellation Taurus.
Week 4 (Nov. 17-23)
Nov. 17 marks the maximum activity for the Leonids (Class I, Major) meteor shower during which many meteors might appear. This shower can produce a maximum of about 15 meteors each hour. Normally it is best to view these meteors after midnight, however with the Supermoon still visible, viewing the Leonid meteors a few hours after sunset and before midnight might help increase the possibility of seeing meteors.
Also on Nov. 17, the moon is in conjunction with Jupiter.
On Nov. 19, the moon will be in conjunction with the stars Castor and Pollus in the constellation Gemini in the early morning sky.
On Nov. 20, the moon will be in conjunction with Mars in the early morning sky. The moon will be in conjunction with the Beehive star cluster in the constellation Cancer in the evening sky.
The moon moves into its last quarter phase on Nov. 22. The moon will be illuminated on the left half of its surface. This date also marks the time when the moon will be in conjunction with the star Regulus in the constellation.
Week 5 (Nov. 24-30)
On Nov. 26, the moon is in the apogee position, a spacial position where the moon is the farthest from Earth. The lunar apogee position reduces the moon’s tidal force on Earth’s tidal waters to its lowest strength.
On Nov. 27, the moon will be in conjunction with Spica, a bright star in the constellation Virgo.
Finishing the month on Nov. 30, the November Orionids (Class II, Minor) meteor shower reaches its height with approximately three meteors per hour bursting through the sky.
So ends the celestial highlights for November. Enjoy exploring the November sky and hopefully finding the treasures noted above. Keep looking up to the sky this month; the sky is always changing and it can entertain you for a lifetime. As you become more familiar with planets, stars, and constellations and their locations throughout the year, you are on your way to becoming an expert astronomer who can predict where different celestial bodies might be in the morning and night sky!
Until next month, keep your eyes facing the morning and evening sky to see the wonders of our universe as we Earthlings travel through it!
