THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
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43.6667° N    70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
2022-2023: XXXIV
Sunrise: 7:18 a.m.
Sunset: 5:30 p.m.
Civil twilight ends: 6:00 p.m.
Sun's host constellation: Libra the Scales
Moon phase: Waxing gibbous (63% illuminated)
Moonrise: 3:14 p.m.
Moonset: 1:36 a.m. (11/3/2022)
Julian date: 2459886.21
"Honestly, deep inside, each person wants to be a Tolkien, not a Tolstoy.
We don't want our work to be heralded, our insight praised or our skills
described as 'consummate.'  We want to craft a realm, a projection of the
Universe within us that others may forever inhabit.  During the week,
students dutifully read and attempt to analyze 'War and Peace."   On the
weekend, those same students play Dungeons and Dragons and, in so doing,
luxuriate in Middle Earth."  -Xavier Herrick

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
November 2022 Night Sky Calendar Part II

*FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11: MOON NEAR MARS (BRONZE EVENT!)*
Isn't Mars looking utterly spectacular?! Well, if you haven't seen Mars
lately, perhaps you can't comment. However, tonight, one will have a
perfect opportunity to see the waning gibbous moon (91%) passing just to
the north of Musk's new home world. Currently at magnitude -1.5, Mars
shines brighter than Sirius, the night sky's brightest star. Both Mars and
the moon will rise by 6:10 p.m.

*TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15: MOON NEAR THE BEEHIVE STAR CLUSTER*
[image: M44-resized1024.jpg]
*M44:*  The Beehive Star Cluster (Image: NASA)

Tonight one will see the waning gibbous moon (60% illuminated) "close" to
Praesepe, the Beehive Star Cluster. Or, one will at least see the waning
gibbous moon close to an amorphous splotch of light that we assure is
actually the Beehive Star Cluster. Marking the center of the faint zodiacal
constellation Cancer the Crab, Praesepe is an open or galactic star
cluster. As opposed to the much larger globulars, galactic star clusters
generally contain a few hundred to a few thousand stars. They also travel
within the galaxy's spiral arms, unlike globulars that loiter within the
galactic halo, a spherical region centered on the nucleus. Galactic star
clusters tend also to be quite young, at least by galactic standards,
whereas the age of globulars is comparable to that of the galaxies to which
they're attached. Consisting of nearly 1,000 stars, Praesepe formed about
620 million years ago and, in about 400 - 500 million years is expected to
largely dissipate. Although most stars begin with such aggregates, most of
them ultimately detach from their birth clusters. The Sun is believed to
have remained within its birth cluster for about a billion years before
establishing its own route through the galaxy.

*WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16: LAST QUARTER MOON*

*SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19: LEONID METEOR SHOWER PEAKS (GOLD EVENT!!!)*
The Leonid meteor shower occurs between November 6 - 30th.  During this
period, Earth moves through a stream of particles released by Comet
Tempel-Tuttle.   When this comet moves through the inner solar system, the
Sun's heat causes the comet's surface ice to sublimate:  transition from
solid to vapor without passing through the intervening liquid phase.  Dust
released from the dissipating ice remains along the comet's path.  When
Earth travels through this stream, many of the meteoroids descend through
the atmosphere.  During their descent, the meteoroids excite surrounding
atoms, causing their electrons to ascend to higher energy orbits. When
these electrons return to their original states, they emit the photons we
perceive as the meteors.

[image: 09nov16_430.jpg]
The *Leonid Meteor Shower*.   Fragments of the Comet Tempel-Tuttle
infiltrate our atmosphere between November 6 - 30.   These descending
meteoroids excite nearby atmospheric atoms by elevating their electrons
to higher energy states.  These electrons emit photons when they
revert to their original states. We perceive these photons as the meteors.
Meteor showers are generally named for the constellation from which
the meteors appear to emanate, hence the name "Leonid."
Image:  EarthSky.org

The Leonid Meteor shower is notorious for producing meteor storms every 33
years approximately.    As its parent comet's swoops through the inner
solar system once every 33 years to replenish the meteoroid swarm along the
comet's path.

*WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23: NEW MOON*
Beginning of lunation cycle 1236

*TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29: MOON NEAR SATURN*
Deja vu!    At the beginning of November, the moon slid just south,  Now,
at the end of the month, it does it again.  Tonight one will see the waxing
crescent moon (40%) close to the sixth world within the constellation
Capricornus.     Saturn remains a moderately bright object at magnitude 0.7

*WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30:  FIRST QUARTER MOON*

Tomorrow....the planets and stars of November.

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