THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded
January 1970
2021-2022: XLI
"What chagrins me a little in watching the majority of people is that they
behave as though it is normal to be alive. To me, life is a source of
constant amazement." -Paul Du Marchie, aged 95

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, November 15, 2021
November 2021 Night Sky Calendar Part III

*AN OFT-TOLD TALE:*
Next week, the Sun will slip silently into Scorpius after having loitered
briefly within Libra, the faint constellation at Virgo's feet. The Sun
shall only remain within Scorpius for eight days (November 21 - November
29), hence its nickname "The Thanksgiving constellation," as the Sun
occupies the Scorpius region on every Thanksgiving, no matter its date.
While the dreaded scorpion dissolves into dusk, the mighty hunter Orion
ascends in the early evening sky. This transition has occurred for
millennia: Scorpius exits stage west, Orion enters stage east. Conversely,
in mid-May, Orion will dive into the western sol fires while Scorpius
creeps slowly up into the southeastern evening sky. These two prominent
constellations will never appear in the sky simultaneously.*

                                         [image:
orion-constellation-john-sanford.jpg]
                                     *The "other" Orion*

The mythological explanation for their respective positions involves an
oft-told tale about Orion, one that, admittedly, shows a side of Orion that
we planetarium people tend to ignore. (Our Orion is thoroughly and
appallingly Disnefied.") Honestly, Orion was something of a lout: a
lustful, boastful, uncouth hunter who indiscriminately slew animals merely
for the fun of it. He also pursued women with the same reckless abandon as
he chased quarry. Orion was not inclined toward moderation any more than he
was guided by a sense of propriety. As unpopular as he became with his
neighbors -particularly the women- the gods largely ignored his base
behaviour, despite their distaste for hubristic mortals. After all, Orion
was truly a great hunter whose strengths and skills commanded the
admiration of the Olympians. However, one day Orion made what would turn
out to be a fatal faux pas. While he proudly sat atop a tower of fresh
animal cadavers, he claimed that he would soon slay every animal in the
world, from the meekest dogs to the more ferocious monsters. "It shall be
an easy task, for there isn't a beast in all of the world that would dare
to challenge me!" Had Orion been paying attention to the sky at the time,
he might have noticed the crescent moon hanging high above the trees.
Within that chariot rode Artemis, goddess of the moon and wild animals, who
overheard Orion's outrageous proclamation and resolved to prevent him from
following through with it. She deployed Scorpius the Scorpion onto the
world the very next with strict orders to find and kill Orion. It turned
out that Scorpius was as able a hunter as Orion and managed to find him
quite quickly. While Orion was sneaking up on an unsuspecting bear, the
scorpion crept up quietly toward Orion and stung him in the ankle, killing
him almost instantly.
Poseidon, the ocean god presumed to have been Orion's father, hoisted the
hunter into the stars. Artemis honored Scorpius with its own constellation,
and, fearing that Orion would avenge his death on Scorpius, placed it in
such a position so as to never appear in the sky with the man he killed.

                   [image:
360_F_311645081_adeTQrSB3HtAFIljEYYkLnKBUjn6rH1H.jpg]
                  Scorpius:  Humans can eat meat today because of him

Now that we're careening headlong into winter, we watch the seasonal switch
from Scorpius to Orion. Be comforted. In six months, we'll watch them trade
places, yet again.


*SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20: MOON AT APOGEE*
Remember the moon's orbit is not ecircular, but elliptical, so its distance
from Earth constantly changes. During each orbit, the moon reaches a point
of least distance, *perigee*, and a point of greatest distance, *apogee*.
Today, the moon reaches apogee and will be 406,279 km (251,864 miles) from
Earth. Consequently, yesterday's full moon is known as a *micro moon*.

*MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22: MOON AT GREATEST NORTHERN DECLINATION FOR 2021*
Declination, the celestial equivalent of latitude, measures an object's
angular distance from the celestial equator, the projection of Earth's
equator onto the sky. Today, the moon will ascend to 26.3 degrees north of
this equator. Tonight, the moon rises at 6:24 p.m. and will set at 10:40
a.m. the following day and thus will remain above the horizon for 16 hours.
16 minutes.


*SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27: LAST QUARTER MOON*

*MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29: MERCURY AT SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION*
*Superior conjunction* occurs when a planet moves to the far side of the
Sun relative to Earth. When a planet moves between the Sun and Earth, it is
said to be *inferior conjunction*. Mercury is in superior conjunction today
and won't be visible until early December, when it will move into the
western evening sky.

PLANET WATCH
*MERCURY*
Mercury, never an easy sight under the best conditions, lurks low in the
pre-dawn eastern sky around mid month and then rapidly descends into the
morning twilight. Of course, being the closest planet to the Sun, all its
motions are rapid. Mercury moves to the Sun's far side -from our
perspective- on November 29th and then emerges into the western evening sky
in December. VERDICT: Look for Mercury around mid month, but don't bother
after that, at least not until December.

*VENUS *The brilliant second world continues to make a spectacle of itself
in the western evening sky this month. As always, it outshines all the
night sky stars and planets. VERDICT: Provided you're outside in the early
evening, you should experience little difficulty finding Venus. Just look
for the blazing beacon in the western evening sky

*MARS*
After a bit of a hiatus, Mars returns to the early morning sky late this
month! Although the red world returns to our skies, it will be exceedingly
difficult to observe. VERDICT: Mars admirers should wait until December to
see the dragon eye planet. Note: Mars will gradually grow brighter
throughout the next year until it reaches opposition on December 8, 2022.

*JUPITER (PICK PLANET)*
Yes, well, Venus is almost always the pick planet, isn't it, by virtue of
its superior brightness? This month, we confer the coveted crown onto
Jupiter, the bright planet that begins the night high in the western sky.
Although only a third as bright as Venus, Jupiter at least loiters about
for a longer period presently. VERDICT: Easy to find throughout the
evening, Jupiter delights and dazzles, so give it at least a passing glance

*SATURN*
Though rarely the pick planet, Saturn is truly the most photogenic planet:
it is the one that most often adorns the covers of textbooks and telescope
catalogs. However, as its distance from the Sun is nearly twice that of
Jupiter, it hardly ever appears as a blinding beacon in our sky. This
month, the ringed world starts the night low in the western sky and will
set before 10 p.m. See Saturn to the west of Jupiter, which is almost
fifteen times brighter than it. VERDICT: If you're out admiring Jupiter,
might as well spare a moment to see the only other gas giant easily visible
to the unaided eye.


*Well, they won't appear simultaneously here. One can see Orion and
Scorpius together in the skies of the extreme southern hemisphere.


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