NOVEMBER will be a good month to look up. The night sky will show bright star patterns, planets close to the Moon and to each other, and two meteor showers, the Astronomical Diary of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) for the month revealed.
At around 9 p.m. on November 15, several star patterns will be visible. In the north, look for Cassiopeia, which looks like a W, Andromeda, and Pisces, which looks like two fish tied together. In the south, you can see Cetus the whale, Sculptor, Phoenix and Tucana.
Andromeda is one of the oldest and biggest star patterns. You can find it by its three brightest stars-Alpheratz, Mirach and Almach-that form a line from the square of Pegasus. Its most famous object is the Andromeda Galaxy.
‘It is the closest big galaxy to our Milky Way and is visible as a faint smudge without a telescope. Scientists say the two galaxies will collide billions of years from now,’ Pagasa said.
Pisces is a zodiac pattern but its stars are faint. Its brightest star is Eta Piscium, about 294 light-years away. It is best known for a small circle of stars called the Circlet. Cetus is the fourth biggest pattern and crosses the equator, so it can be seen from almost anywhere. Its brightest star is Diphda and it hosts Mira, a star that brightens and dims over months. Sculptor is faint-none of its stars are very bright-but it is full of distant galaxies because it lies away from the dusty part of our galaxy. It includes the Sculptor Galaxy, also called the Silver Coin Galaxy.
Mars and Jupiter shine together
Planets will also be visible. In early November, Mars and Jupiter rise around midnight. Later in the month they rise earlier, in the late evening. Venus will be low in the east before sunrise and brightest on November 28. Mercury will be hard to see, low in the east in the second half. Saturn will be visible in the evening.
On the night of November 2 and 3, the crescent Moon will appear very close to Mars, closest around 9:39 p.m. on the 2nd. The next morning, November 3, the Moon will appear very close to Jupiter. You won’t see it exactly at those times because they will be below the horizon, but look east at 1:30 a.m. on November 3 to see the Moon, Mars and Jupiter lined up.
Starting November 12 before sunrise, you can see five planets in the same morning sky-Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. Venus, Jupiter and Mars will be easy to see. Mercury will be very low and harder to spot. Uranus is too dim and needs binoculars. On November 15, Jupiter and Mars will appear extremely close, almost touching, and will be closest on the 16th. Look around midnight.
On November 18, Mercury will look half-lit, like a half-moon. On November 21 it will be at its farthest point from the Sun, so it will be at its highest before sunrise. The same day, the Moon will appear near Saturn, visible in the west around 1 a.m. On November 30, the Moon and Jupiter will be close again, visible around midnight on December 1. All these pairings fit in one telescope view and are also visible with eyes or binoculars.
There are two meteor showers this month. The first is the Northern Taurids, active from October 20 to December 10 and peaking on November 12. It is not very strong, about 5 shooting stars per hour. The meteors seem to come from Taurus. Taurus rises in the east at about 5:58 p.m. and is highest around midnight. The shower comes from dust left by asteroid 2004 TG10. This year the peak is near a new moon, so the sky will be dark and good for watching.
The second is the Leonids, active from November 6 to 30, peaking on November 18. It is better, with about 15 meteors per hour. The meteors seem to come from Leo the lion. Leo rises around 11:49 p.m. and the best time to watch is before dawn, around 5 a.m. The Leonids come from dust left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle.
‘You don’t need a telescope for meteor showers. Just find a dark place away from city lights, with a clear view of the sky, and let your eyes adjust. The planets and Moon pairings are also visible to the naked eye,’ Pagasa noted.