The Sun passes through two constellations in November, there are three meteor showers, we see the last supermoon of 2024 and Uranus comes closest to Earth and provides the best view of the Ice Giant all year.
The Sun leaves Libra (The Scales) on 22 November at 8.40 pm and enters Scorpius
(The Scorpion). However, the Sun does not dwell in this constellation but leaves
Scorpius (The Scorpion) and enters Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer) on 29 November
at 9:04 am which was reconnected to the ecliptic zodiac by the IAU one hundred
years ago. Daylight shortens from 09:11 (9.181 hours) on 1 November to 07:26
(7.434 hours) on 30 November so we gain 1 hour and 45 minutes of night time
by month’s end.
The new Moon appears on 1 November at 12:47 pm in Libra (The Scales) beginning
a new Lunar (synodic) month which will last 29 days, 17 hours and 34 minutes.
The first quarter of the new cycle shows up on 9 November at 5:55 am in Capricornus
(The Sea Goat). Lunar perigee (closest to Earth) on 14 November at 11:24 am finds
the Moon some 360,122 km away from Earth—around 24,278 km closer than
average—subtending an angle of 33.2 arc-minutes. The full Beaver Moon makes an
appearance on 15 November at 9:29 pm in Aries (The Ram). November’s full Moon is
also the last supermoon of the calendar year. The Moon enters last quarter on 23
November at 1:28 am in Leo (The Lion). Lunar apogee (furthest from Earth) that
occurs on 26 November at 12:03 pm and takes the Moon to 405,281 km away from
Earth—around 20,881 km further than average—subtending an angle of 29.5
arc-minutes. The Moon encounters Pollux in Gemini (The Twins) in the wee hours
of 20 November and Regulus in Leo (The Lion) around midnight on 23 November.
For the inferior planets: Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation on 16
November. Although it gets 83 million km closer to Earth, it fades from -0.35
magnitudes to +1.89 magnitudes as the illuminated side turns away from us.
Setting so closely after the Sun, it is lost in the Sun’s twilit glare. Venus,
however, remains an evening planet, for an hour or so after sunset, and gets 30
million km closer to Earth brightening from -4.0 to -4.2 magnitudes. She
crosses the boundary from Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer) into Sagittarius (The
Archer) on 8 November.
Mars is the bobby-dazzler in November in Cancer (The Crab). Mars gets 32
million km closer and brightens from +0.1 magnitudes to -0.5 (gaining 75% in
brightness), rising earlier as the month progresses. The Red Planet lies
2.3 degrees east of the waning gibbous Moon on 20 November at 10:28 pm.
Jupiter and Uranus are visible all night, all month long. Jupiter never leaves
Taurus (The Bull) but comes 27 million km closer to Earth and brightens to -2.8
magnitudes. Uranus, the Ice Giant, is also in Taurus (The Bull) and will be
4.2 degrees south of the full Moon on 15 November but, as always, requires
binoculars or a telescope to see it at +5.6 magnitudes. It is worth setting up
your preferred ocular device, though, as it will be closest to the Earth at 2.8
billion km on 16 November and at opposition on 17 November at 2:45 am. This
will be the best view all year.
Saturn, in Aquarius (The Water Bearer), recedes by 70 million ending at +0.95
magnitudes. The Ringed Planet conjuncts with the waxing gibbous Moon on 10
November in the late evening hours but will be occulted after it sets. It
returns to a direct orbit mid-month and, in the latter half of the month, we
lose Saturn completely. Neptune, the blue giant and windiest planet, remains in
Pisces (The Fishes) and will be 0.6 degrees north of the
waxing gibbous Moon on 12 November at 1:56 am.
The Southern Taurid meteor shower is radiant from one of the Bull’s hooves near
the star ‘Tau o-1’ on the map provided. These meteors peak on the night of
5–6 November and ‘Tau o-1’ rises around 1 hour after Sunset so the shower
should be viewable all night. The ZHR is low but the waxing crescent Moon is
only 10% illuminated. The Northern Taurids, radiant from near M45 (The
Pleiades), peak a week later but the 78% waxing gibbous Moon will spoil the
show. The parent comet is 2P/Encke, co-discovered by Mechain and Messier in
1786, is named after the astronomer who first calculated the body’s orbit.
Alas, the 94% illuminated Moon, very close to full, will also severely degrade
observation of the Leonids, radiant from Leo (The Lion). They peak on 16–17
November and the parent comet is 55P/Tempel-Tuttle discovered in 1865.
There are no bright comets during November visible from Edinburgh and Lothian.
T CrB, the Blaze Star, continues to elude astronomers as an active recurrent
nova. It is still expected to brighten 10,000-fold but predictions as to when
are uncertain. We can still see Corona Borealis (The Northern Crown) in the
November sky for 3–4 hours after Sunset.
At the time of our sky map, some constellations visible are Cassiopeia (The
Seated Queen) at zenith, Ursa Major (The Great Bear) in the north, Orion (The
Hunter) in the east, Cygnus (The Swan) in the west, and Cetus (The Sea Monster)
in the south. The ecliptic hosts Cancer (the Crab), Gemini (The Twins), Taurus
(The Bull), Aries (The Ram), Pisces (The Fishes), Aquarius (The Water Bearer)
and Capricornus (The Sea Goat).
The Summer Triangle’—Vega in Lyra (The Lyre), Altair in Aquila (The Eagle)
and Deneb in Cygnus (The Swan)—sets in the west. Circumpolar
constellations—always above the horizon—include Cepheus (The King),
Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), Draco (The Dragon) and Ursa Minor (The Lesser
Bear).
Phil Daly is a former employee of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh (now UKATC) on Blackford Hill.
He has worked on the UK's overseas telescopes in Hawaii (UKIRT, JCMT) and on large telescopes
at major astronomical observatories worldwide. He is currently part of an international collaboration
searching for optical counterparts to gravity wave events using multi-messenger astronomy.
