Continued great stargazing this weekend as the moon is still crescent thin and hiding much of the time in the daytime sky. By next weekend, the moonlight will be bright enough to wash out many of the fainter stars. We continue to have meteor showers which will peak in the early morning hours of Tuesday night-Wednesday morning. These are the Leonids which radiate outwards from the constellation Leo. The best viewing should be in the hours before dawn on November 18. Here is what you can see this Saturday night, if the clouds allow. If you are out on Sunday night, each star rises about four minutes earlier than written here and the moon rises 50 minutes later.
Sun sets at 5:19pm.
Sun rises at 6:20am.
Moon phase: Beginning of the first quarter, lower right limb is lit.
Moon rises at 9:45am,
Moon sets at 7:50pm.
Evening viewing
The early Saturday and Sunday evening hours offer lovely star-filled shows. Face east from 7:30 to 9:00 to watch the sparkling star cluster the Pleiades and Taurus climbing high across the sky. The bull is marked by the V-shape of its horns, one point of which is the orange-ish star Aldebaron, and by the Pleiades at its sparkly shoulder.
To the left of Taurus’ bright Aldebaron, you can pick out another bright star Capella. This star represents a baby goat held in the arms of Auriga, the charioteer.
Rising up from the eastern horizon later in the night are Orion and Gemini. All these constellations climb skyward earlier each evening.
Looking West after sunset, the current evening star is Saturn, the first bright star to break through the twilight. The first star to be visible directly overhead is Vega.
Late night/early morning
Look east around 2:00am to see Jupiter rising, followed by Mars around 2:45 and Venus at 3:10am. With good quality binoculars or a telescope, one can currently see three of the moons of Jupiter lined up on the lower side of the planet, Io is the closest in, Ganymede is in the middle and Callisto is the most distant from Jupiter. These moons appear as clear dots extending in a straight line from Jupiter; each night they are in a different alignment.
A telescope will also allow a viewer to see both of the two moons of Mars. Phobos and Deimos are just discernible along with the reddish landscape of the planet.
Venus is also an interesting celestial body to observe through the telescope. Venus actually goes through phases similar to those of the moon. It is currently in a gibbous phase, with only most of its surface facing earth lit by the sun.
Even with the naked eye, star and planet gazing is a wonderful pastime, great for children to explore with their parents. Streetlights can really hurt your ability to see these natural beauties, so if GEBE goes out some night, so should you!