Sunrise and sunset times

• The sun rises at 7:31 am and sets at 5:59 pm on Day 1, EDT

• The sun rises at 7:03 am and sets at 4:37 pm on the 30th, EST

Phases of the Moon in October

• New Moon on day 1

• “Beaver Moon” full on the 17th

Leonid meteor shower

The Leonid meteor shower is best visible from November 17 to 18.

The source of the meteors are tiny particles from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, whose dust trail will pass through Earth at that time.

Unfortunately, that night’s bright, waning gibbous moon will wash out all but the brightest meteors.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) did not disappoint during its passage through the evening sky in the second half of October.

The comet, which originated in the distant Oort Cloud, is now moving away from the inner solar system. It could return in 80,000 years, if it does not leave the solar system completely.

The comet will fade well below naked-eye visibility during November, so binoculars or a telescope will be needed to see it.

Planets with the naked eye

The five planets visible to the naked eye accumulate in the first half of the night, although two of them remain visible until dawn.

The innermost planet, Mercury, is on display during evening twilight throughout the month of November. It appears as a bright star-like point, low above the southwestern horizon, shortly after sunset.

This is not a favorable nighttime appearance, as Mercury sets only an hour after sunset, even when it reaches its greatest elongation with the sun at
half of the month

Binoculars will help spot this elusive planet in the bright twilight.

Venus shines like a yellow-tinted searchlight over the southwestern horizon at dusk. Venus greatly accelerates its rise above the western horizon at dusk this month, setting about two hours after the sun in early November, but three hours later at the end of the month.

Venus approaches Antares in Scorpio as November begins, but as the month progresses it quickly slides eastward through Ophiuchus and into Sagittarius.

Saturn, which resembles a bright cream-colored star, illuminates the otherwise dark constellation of Aquarius.

In November, Saturn rises quite high in the southeast at dusk, and reaches its highest point in the south around 8 pm. Saturn sets around 1:45 am EDT at the beginning of November and just before 11 pm EST at the end of the month.

Saturn’s rings are now seen almost edge-on, and its largest moon, Titan, is visible even with a small telescope.

Glorious Jupiter rises above the northeastern horizon around 8 pm EDT on November 1 and at 5 pm EST on the 30th.

Jupiter reaches its highest altitude above the southern horizon around 2 a.m. in mid-November.

Jupiter, currently shining from within the bright winter constellation of Taurus, reaches opposition to the sun just days after November ends on December 7, when it will rise in the northeast just as the sun sets, and remain visible all night

Mars, current occupant of the faint constellation Cancer, appears as a bright reddish-orange star as it rises in the northwest during the evening hours.

As November begins, Mars appears as bright as Capella, the second brightest luminary in the winter sky after Sirius, although it is fainter than Jupiter in nearby Taurus.

The Red Planet rises at 11 pm EDT when November begins, and at 8:30 pm EST at the end of the month.

Mars’ brightness will increase as the distance between it and Earth continues to shrink until mid-January, when the faster-moving Earth circles Mars.
their respective orbits.

At that time, Mars’ brightness will rival that of Sirius, although it will still be only one-third the brightness of Jupiter.

Stars and constellations

November is one of those months that many people fear.

While it is not the coldest month of the year in the northern mid-latitudes (January has that honor), the average decrease in daily maximum temperature from November 1 to November 30 is typically the fastest, around 11 degrees, so which seems to increase. colder every day.

Add to that the fact that daylight saving time ends in early November (this year on the 3rd) in most of the country, so the sky darkens an hour earlier in the evening, when most people travel home from work. .

The good thing is that now sunrise is also an hour earlier, so it’s not as dark when early risers get ready for work. And night sky watchers are delighted that, as November begins, the sky darkens enough to see bright stars and constellations around 5:30 p.m.

Looking west around 8 pm, we find that the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair is still high, but lowering with each passing night.

But November is actually the best month to see the fall star clusters, which are in all their glory during the evening hours. One of the most famous is the Great Plaza of Pegasus, made up of four stars (Alpheratz, Markab, Scheat and Algenib) and rising high in the sky.
heading south in the early afternoon.

Far below Pegasus, in the south, is the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, which contains the only star of first magnitude in the autumn sky, the whitish Fomalhaut.

Far below the Grand Plaza and east of Fomalhaut lies the fourth largest constellation in the sky: Cetus, the sea monster (or whale). Its two brightest stars lie at opposite ends of the constellation: Diphda, or Deneb Kaitos (“the tail of the whale”), on the southwest side, and Menkar on the northeast side.

Diphda and Menkar are cooler, larger and brighter than the sun. They are classified as orange and red giant stars, respectively.

High in the northeast we find another characteristic autumn constellation: the unmistakable “W” shape of the Cassiopeia constellation, which, as the sky rotates, gradually adopts an “M” shape. Cassiopeia, like Ursa Major, is a circumpolar constellation in the far north. It never sets as seen from latitudes north of about 30 degrees, which include almost all of the United States and Canada and much of Europe and Asia.

As an interesting footnote, Cassiopeia is located on the opposite side of the sky to the southern constellation Centaurus.

Future space travelers to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our solar system, would see the Sun as the brightest star in Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia contains no first magnitude stars, but several moderately bright ones, including Alpha (also known by its proper name Shedir), which marks the lower right corner of the “W.” Beta (also known as Caph) is the top right point of the “W” and Gamma marks the center of the “W.”

Cassiopeia is historically notable because Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe saw a bright supernova within its boundaries in November 1572. It apparently was as bright as the planet Venus and remained visible to the naked eye for two years before disappearing from view.

Astronomers today estimate that the supernova’s progenitor was probably about 9,000 light years away. The remains of the explosion are today detectable in radio, optical and X-ray wavelengths.

In the northeast, below Cassiopeia, rises Perseus, representing the hero of mythology who rode the winged horse Pegasus and rescued the maiden Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus.

All these characters are represented as constellations in the autumn sky.

Winter officially begins in December, but some winter stars can be seen late on November nights. Below to the east is orange Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus the Bull.

This year, Jupiter is to the left or upper left of Aldebaran. Additionally, at the tip of one of Taurus’s horns is the famous Pleiades cluster, a compact group of stars shaped like a miniature saucepan.

In the northeast, to the left of Aldebaran, is the bright yellowish-white star Capella (meaning “little goat”), located in the constellation Auriga.

Test your intelligence

Astronomy question of the month: What is the difference between classical cosmology and quantum cosmology? (Reply next month)

Last month’s astronomy question (What are gamma ray bursts?): Gamma-ray bursts are highly energetic bursts of electromagnetic radiation from distant galaxies. They originate when extremely massive stars end their lives in supernova explosions, with enormous amounts of electromagnetic radiation (gamma rays, the doomed star Bursts last from a few milliseconds to several hours.

The small print

• Astronomical information is obtained from The Astronomical Almanac (2021-2025) by Richard J. Bartlett and Astronomical Calendar 2024 by Guy Ottewell, available online at www.universalworkshop.com/calendario-astronomical-2024.

• For more information about the night sky, visit Widener Observatory’s stargazing website at www.widener.edu/stargazing.

• You can get a set of free sky maps at www.skymaps.com.

Augensen is director of the Widener University Observatory and professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Widener University.