Astronomy Club of Asheville November 2016 Sky Events

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1 November 2016 Sky Events The Planets this Month - page 2 Planet Highlights - page 7 Moon Phases - page 10 November 6 th - Daylight Savings Time Ends - page 11 November 14 th - A Super Supermoon! - page 12 November 17 th Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks - page 15

2 November 2016 Sky Events the Planets The bright planets Venus, Mars, and Saturn dominate our early evening skies at the beginning of November. Shortly after sunset find Venus and Saturn in the southwest and locate Mars high in the south-southwest. By month s end, however, only Venus and Mars will remain in our early evening skies. Our great views of Saturn since early summer will come to an end in November as the ringed planet begins to descend quickly to the western horizon at sunset after the 1 st week of the month, heading towards a December conjunction with the sun. Saturn will be too low to the horizon for sharp telescopic views, but brilliant Venus, shining at magnitude -4.1, will continue to rise higher and chase Mars along the ecliptic as the month progresses.

3 November 2016 Sky Events the Planets Conjunction of the Crescent Moon with Venus and Saturn On the evenings of November 1-3, the waxing crescent Moon will accompany the bright planet Venus and Saturn low in the southwest skies. On these 3 nights, Saturn is some 900 million miles behind Venus in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus. Image courtesy of Sky & Telescope

4 November 2016 Sky Events the Planets Mercury reached superior conjunction (in orbit on the other side of the Sun from the Earth) on October 27 th and will be lost in the sun s glare until the final few days of November, when it can be found very low to the western horizon and trading positions with Saturn at dusk. Jupiter dominates our eastern dawn skies, rising about 2 hours before sunrise, and more than 20º high, at the beginning of the month. As November progresses, Jupiter continues to climb higher in the southeastern dawn skies, in the foreground of the constellation Virgo. Uranus reached opposition (directly opposite the Earth from the Sun) on October 15 th the planet s closest approach of the year and thus will be visible most of the night in the constellation Pisces. Neptune will also be observable nearly all night this month and can be found in the constellation Aquarius. You will need binoculars or a telescope to locate and observe the small distant planetary disks of Uranus and Neptune.

5 November 2016 Sky Events the Planets Uranus and Neptune are still in great viewing positions in November. Find their small distant blue disks in a telescope this month. Neptune was at opposition on Sep. 2 nd, and Uranus reached opposition on October 15 th. Uranus Neptune Images and charts courtesy of Sky & Telescope

6 November 2016 Sky Events the Planets Conjunction of the Crescent Moon, Jupiter and Spica in the Dawn Skies On the mornings of November 23 rd through the 26 th, about 1 hour before sunrise in the southeast, the waning crescent moon will join Jupiter and the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo. Image courtesy of Sky & Telescope On these mornings, Jupiter is some 565 million miles behind the Moon and Spica is an additional 250 light years away!

7 November 2016 Planet Highlights Planet Avg. Distance from Earth Constellation(s) Avg. Diameter in arc seconds Avg. Magnitude Comments Page 1 of 3 Mercury 1.3 AUs Venus 1.1 AUs Mars 1.4 AUs Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus & Sagittarius Ophiuchus & Sagittarius Sagittarius & Capricorn Lost in the sun s glare all month Shining brightly low in the SW at dusk In the S-SW skies after sunset

8 November 2016 Planet Highlights Planet Avg. Distance from Earth Constellation(s) Avg. Diameter in arc seconds Avg. Mag- nitude Comments Page 2 of 3 Jupiter 6.1 AUs Virgo Find it in the E- SE dawn skies all month Saturn 10.9 AUs Uranus 19.1 AUs Ophiuchus Observe in the early evening this month in the SW skies Pisces Visible most of the night

9 November 2016 Planet Highlights Planet Avg. Distance from Earth Constellation(s) Avg. Diameter in arc seconds Avg. Mag- nitude Comments Page 3 of 3 Neptune 29.7 AUs Aquarius Nicely positioned for observing all night

10 The Moon November 2016 First Quarter 7 th 2:51 p.m. Full Moon** 14 th 8:52 a.m. Last Quarter 21 st 3:33 a.m. New Moon 29 th 7:18 a.m. ** The Beaver Moon Unless otherwise indicated, all times are EST

11 November 2016 Sky Events Daylight Savings Time Ends on Sunday - November 6 th at 2:00 a.m. At this time each fall astronomers take delight in moving their clocks back an hour to the more natural time. The artificiality of Daylight Savings Time makes no sense, as no energy, daylight or time is saved by this ridiculous idea! And it needlessly plays with our clocks.

12 A Super Supermoon! November 2016 The morning of November 14, 2016 will experience the largest, brightest, and closest Supermoon since the year 1948! On this morning, the moon will be 350 km or 217 miles closer to the earth than the average Supermoon. Supermoons occur when the moon s full phase coincides with its closest approach to the earth, called the perigee. A perigee full moon can be up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than an apogee full moon, when the earth-moon distance is at its greatest. You ll have to wait 18 years for a closer Supermoon November 2034! An apogee full moon (left) vs. a perigee full moon, a.k.a. Supermoon.

13 The Moon s Elliptical Orbit The Moon s mean distance from Earth is about 238,000 miles About 221,000 miles away About 252,000 miles away

14 A Super Supermoon! November 2016 The moon will appear largest and brightest in the hour before sunrise on Monday morning, November 14 th, about 5:30 a.m., with a view low to the western horizon, or catch a view late Sunday night. The size difference between an apogee full moon and a perigee full moon could be compared to that of a U.S. nickel vs. a U.S. quarter about 14% larger. We ve heard of a quarter moon, but now we have a nickel moon, too!

15 November 2016 Sky Events Leonid Meteor Shower The annual Leonid meteor shower is predicted to peak during the early morning hours of Thursday, November 17 th. The Leonid meteor shower is caused by the Earth orbiting into the debris trail (comet dust) left by Comet 55P/Tempel- Tuttle. In 1966, during a 15-minute period, the Leonids produced a true hailstorm of meteors, with estimates in the thousands per minute! This year frequency is expected to be only in the 10 to 15 meteors per hour range. Unfortunately, a bright waning gibbous moon will wash out views of all but the brightest of the Leonid meteors.

16 November 2016 Sky Events Leonid Meteor Shower The constellation Leo is rising in the east after midnight on the morning of Nov. 17 th. The Leonid meteors will appear to radiate from this area of the sky hence the shower s name.

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