Tuesday, November 15
With moonrise delayed till late this night, situations are excellent for observing Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) shortly after sundown. Nonetheless round tenth to eleventh magnitude, ZTF requires no less than a 6-inch scope and clear, darkish skies, so do your finest to get away from any low-lying mild air pollution.
The comet is making a sluggish curve by means of Serpens Caput this month, simply south of Corona Borealis. Tonight, ZTF is simply over 1.5° due south of magnitude 4.6 Delta (δ) Coronae Borealis within the Northern Crown. The comet is actually on the turning level in its curve and can now begin transferring slowly north and barely east as November continues.
When you’ve discovered the faint fuzzball, bump up your magnification to 100x or extra. Search for a well-defined southern flank and a brief, stubby fan of a tail extending barely northward. By means of the remainder of the yr, the comet ought to proceed to brighten. Astronomers are hoping it would placed on a great present in early 2023, maybe as the most effective comet of the yr.
Dawn: 6:45 A.M.
Sundown: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:45 P.M.
Moonset: 12:53 P.M.
Moon Section: Waning gibbous (58%)
Wednesday, November 16
Final Quarter Moon happens at 8:27 A.M. EST. Early risers will now have an opportunity to get pleasure from our satellite because it guidelines the predawn skies.
Night time owls will miss our Moon; nevertheless, they will as a substitute benefit from the fast-moving moons of Jupiter. The magnitude –2.7 planet is in Pisces, straightforward to search out with the bare eye. However you’ll want a telescope to look at two of its satellites transit the disk tonight, so pull out your scope and get settled in for the present.
Issues kick off round 8:30 P.M. EST, when Europa crosses onto the disk in a transit. The bigger, brighter moon Ganymede will not be far behind. Europa is sort of off the west aspect of the disk when its shadow lastly joins the present round 10:45 P.M. EST, showing barely northwest of Ganymede. That enormous moon strikes in entrance of Jupiter round 10:50 P.M. EST, simply minutes after Io has popped into view northeast of the disk following an occultation, having crossed out of Jupiter’s darkish shadow and as soon as extra into daylight.
Europa’s shadow barely leads Ganymede throughout the planet, conserving forward the entire time. Europa leaves the disk round 11 P.M. EST, its shadow following round 1:10 A.M. EST on the seventeenth (simply after midnight within the Central time zone and nonetheless late on the sixteenth in western time zones). Ganymede slips off the disk round 1:40 A.M. EST on the seventeenth, however its personal shadow received’t seem over the cloud tops till the planet has set for a lot of the U.S., round 12:30 A.M. PST on the seventeenth.
Dawn: 6:46 A.M.
Sundown: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:48 P.M.
Moonset: 1:21 P.M.
Moon Section: Waning crescent (48%)
Thursday, November 17
Darkish night skies proceed because the crescent Moon wanes, so let’s get pleasure from a lovely globular cluster in Aquarius the Water-bearer tonight. M2 is a wealthy, compact globular about 4.5° due north of Third-magnitude Sadalsuud, also called Beta (β) Aquarii. The cluster continues to be almost 50° excessive within the south two hours after sundown. In case your eyes are sharp and your observing website darkish, chances are you’ll even spot this magnitude 6.5 globular with out optical support, showing as a faint, cloudy glow.
However practice a telescope on this showpiece and myriad stars will come out. The cluster’s densely packed heart provides solution to busy outskirts. M2’s core spans solely about 20″, however the cluster’s full extent is about 16′ throughout. Many observers suppose that core seems not fairly spherical, however barely oblate. Take your time having fun with the view, because the area received’t set till simply earlier than midnight.
The Leonid meteor bathe peaks late tonight, however the most effective time to catch its meteors shall be early tomorrow morning, so hold studying.
Dawn: 6:47 A.M.
Sundown: 4:42 P.M.
Moonrise: —
Moonset: 1:46 P.M.
Moon Section: Waning crescent (39%)
