Sky This Month: November 2022

Search for Neptune about 6.5° west-southwest of Jupiter, due south of the Circlet of Pisces. You possibly can spot the magnitude 7.7 planet with binoculars. It’s positioned conveniently between two brighter Seventh-magnitude stars all month, aiding its identification, and stays seen till after midnight. The 2 stars are the easternmost pair of a parallelogram of 4 stars every about 1° aside, positioned 5° east-northeast of Phi (ϕ) Aquarii. Verify the nightly progress of Neptune inside this grouping. The ice giant’s retrograde path carries it from close to the northeastern star to some extent nearly due north of the southwestern star by the tip of November, when Neptune slows simply previous to subsequent month’s stationary level. A telescope reveals its dim bluish disk, spanning 2″. A vibrant gibbous Moon lies 5° southwest of Neptune Nov. 3/4.

Jupiter is up all night and is finest seen proper after darkish, when it’s excessive within the southern sky in Pisces. On Nov. 4, a vibrant gibbous Moon stands 3° southeast of Jupiter. The planet shines at magnitude –2.8 and dips by 0.2 magnitude through the month. It halts its retrograde movement Nov. 24, then resumes shifting east.

A telescopic view is likely one of the season’s highlights, with a wealth of element seen on the 47″-wide disk. Throughout November, Jupiter shrinks barely to 44″ because the planet’s distance from Earth will increase. The belts straddling the equator are apparent in any scope; options comparable to delicate wisps of clouds and spots transfer noticeably in minutes, because of Jupiter’s speedy rotation. Look ahead to the occasional look of the Nice Pink Spot and take a look at the wandering Galilean moons.

These moons often transit the face of Jupiter, casting their accompanying shadows. November opens with a couple of properly timed night transits. As night time falls on Nov. 1, Io and its shadow are drifting in entrance of the planet, with the moon main. Round 9 P.M. EDT, the pair straddles the central meridian. Io exits at 9:50 P.M. EDT, adopted by its shadow 53 minutes later.

On Nov. 2, Ganymede’s big shadow begins a transit shortly earlier than Europa’s shadow exits. Ganymede’s shadow strikes onto the disk at 8:22 P.M. EDT, taking a number of minutes to seem. Europa’s shadow leaves the disk at 9:00 P.M. EDT. Ganymede’s shadow spends almost three hours crossing the cloud tops, seen many of the night within the U.S.

On Nov. 9 (notice daylight saving time ends Nov. 6), Europa is on the disk at dusk on the East Coast and Ganymede begins to transit at 7:15 P.M. EST. Europa’s shadow transit begins at 8:06 P.M. EST and the moon exits the disk half-hour later. Ganymede treks throughout Jupiter along with Europa’s shadow, the moon exiting at 10:03 P.M. EST, whereas the shadow transit ends 32 minutes later. The sequence repeats Nov. 16/17 with the occasions spaced farther aside, and once more Nov. 23/24.

No transits involving Callisto happen for the remainder of 2022. Callisto seems due north of Jupiter the morning of Nov. 2 and early within the night on Nov. 18, and due south Nov. 27.

Uranus in southern Aries is a straightforward binocular goal at magnitude 5.7. It lies about 7° north-northeast of Mu (μ) Ceti. North of Mu, search for Fifth-magnitude Sigma (σ) Arietis, then Rho (ρ) Arietis 3° farther alongside the identical line. Uranus’ bluish disk spends the month roughly halfway between these two stars. It’s seen all night time and is highest within the sky within the hour earlier than native midnight. The ice giant reaches opposition early on the ninth.

Uranus makes a detailed appulse to a Seventh-magnitude discipline star Nov. 18 and 19. Late on the 18th, the planet stands lower than 1′ due north of the star. The next night time, it’s 2′ due west of the star. Via a telescope underneath good circumstances, Uranus reveals a 4″-wide disk. This distant world appears tiny from Earth, but it’s almost 5 occasions bigger. It lies greater than 1.7 billion miles from Earth.

Mars continues its spectacular run throughout Taurus, nearing subsequent month’s opposition. On Nov. 1, it shines at magnitude –1.2 about 17° north of Betelgeuse. Mars rises quickly after 8 P.M. native time and stands close to the horns of the Bull. It has simply begun its retrograde path, shifting westward and assembly a gibbous Moon Nov. 10, when Mars shines with the identical brilliance as Sirius. Do you suppose they give the impression of being equally vibrant? Their shade distinction will have an effect on your impression. By the tip of the month, Mars brightens to a surprising magnitude –1.8.

On Nov. 1, Mars stands due south round 3 A.M. native time. By Nov. 30, it’s due south by midnight and likewise rises almost two hours sooner than firstly of the month.

Now could be the time to catch Mars close to its finest. It’s not as near Earth because the earlier opposition, however is at a a lot increased altitude after midnight, benefiting Northern Hemisphere observers. Via a telescope, Mars spans 15″ on Nov. 1 and grows to 17″ by Nov. 30. Early within the month, its phase is a noticeable 94 %; it reaches 99 % three weeks later. Mars comes closest to Earth the night time of Nov. 30, when it’s 50.6 million miles away.

Now that you just’ve spent months perfecting your observing strategies, it’s time to take benefit. Each polar areas are on view this month because the planet’s tilt with respect to Earth reaches 0° on Nov. 8. The Pink Planet’s rotation interval is a few 40 minutes longer than Earth’s, so for those who observe on the similar time every night time, Mars seems to rotate backward by about 10°. You possibly can alter your observing time to catch the options listed right here. Within the hours round native midnight, the next options are going through Earth (for the Midwest): Nov. 1 – Mare Sirenum; Nov. 10 – Olympus Mons and the Tharsis Ridge; Nov. 17 – Tharsis Ridge and Valles Marineris; Nov. 23 – Valles Marineris to Sinus Meridiani; Nov. 30 – Syrtis Main and Hellas. Verify a map of Mars for different close by options and revel in turning into conversant in them as we strategy subsequent month’s opposition.

Mercury passes by way of superior conjunction with the Solar Nov. 8. Venus is simply over every week previous superior conjunction as November opens and, like Mercury, stays too near the Solar for remark.