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Look up in the sky: Sky viewing for November 7-13, 2009
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Planets
Mercury is still too close to the Sun (setting only minutes after sunset) for observation this week. Venus is close to the Sun as well, rising later as the days pass. This week, you can observe this bright planet in the east within an hour of sunrise. Mars rises late in the evening throughout this week, appearing between 10:15 and 10:30 PM and moving from the east to the south as the night heads toward dawn. Jupiter is high in the southwest at sunset and lowers toward the west, setting around 11 PM each night. Look for Saturn in the early morning sky, in the east after 2:30 AM and high in the southeast just before sunrise.
Moon
The Moon reaches its Last Quarter phase on Monday morning this week. Look for the Moon to rise later and later each night as it wanes.
Spectacular Sights
While the Southern Taurid meteors begin to decrease as the week begins, the Northern Taurid meteors increase to take their place. With a peak on November 12, look for this meteor shower to produce up to 10 meteors per hour. The Taurid meteor showers are also known for producing bright fireballs – watch for these bright and long-duration meteors this week. The meteors will appear to emanate from the constellation of Taurus, which rises in New York at around 7:30 PM. Look for the shower in the east during the evening and directly overhead shortly after midnight.
And if the Taurids don’t produce enough meteors for you, the Leonid meteor shower will be peaking next week (November 17)!
Stars
The constellation of Virgo, with its bright star Spica is emerging from behind the Sun and reappearing in the pre-dawn sky. Look for Spica close to the Moon on Friday night/Saturday morning. For the best observations, look east at around 6:15 on the morning of Saturday, November 14. At that time, Spica will be only 4 degrees from the Moon.
More About:
Sky Viewing ·
Naked-Eye Astronomy ·
Moon ·
Planets ·
New York City Astronomy ·
Mars ·
Meteors
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The peak of the 2009 Leonid meteor shower occurs around 4 AM (EST) on Tuesday, November 17. You can expect to see as many as 20 to 30 meteors per hour …
- Amateur Astronomers Association of New York City
- Amateur Astronomers, Inc.
- Amateur Observers' Society of New York, Inc.
- Astronomical Society of Long Island
- Brooklyn Astronomy Meetup
- Columbia University Astronomy Public Outreach
- Inwood Astronomy Project
- New Jersey Astronomical Association
- NYC Physics and Astronomy Meetup
- NYSkies Astronomy, Inc.
- United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey, Inc.
- Westchester Amateur Astronomers
- Andrus Planetarium
- College of Staten Island Observatory
- Custer Institute
- Edwin E. Aldrin Astronomical Center
- Hayden Planetarium (American Museum of Natural History)
- Liberty Science Center
- New York Hall of Science
- Rose Center for Earth and Space (American Museum of Natural History)
- Sperry Observatory
- UACNJ Observatory at Jenny Jump State Forest
- Vanderbilt Planetarium
