THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM

70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103

(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet

43.6667° N    70.2667° W 

Founded January 1970

2022-2023: XXXVI

Sunrise: 6:26 a.m.

Sunset: 4:23 p.m.

Civil twilight ends: 4;53 p.m.

Sun's host constellation: Libra the Scales

Moon phase: Waning Gibbous (99% illuminated)

Moonrise: 4:29 p.m.

Moonset: 7:42 a,m. (11/9/2022)

Julian date: 2459891.21

                    “Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon;
                     How much it can fill your room depends on its windows.”    -Rumi

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

November 2022 Night Sky Calendar Part III: Stars and Planets

PROMINENT EVENING STARS
Describing celestial body positions presents a particularly difficult challenge to those who write about it.  One must try to communicate locations using degrees, directions and other night sky "landmarks" (a funny term) in the hope that the reader will easily locate a given object or objects.    At times, as in mid autumn, the task is rendered easier because one should be able to readily find the sky's most prominent features.

First  of all, as soon as darkness descends, look straight up and just over to the west.   There, in the zenith region, one will find the Summer Triangle.

So named as it remains visible throughout most of the night in the summer, the Summer Triangle is actually easiest to find now. Again, simply look up in the early evening. The three stars comprising it, Deneb, Vega and Altair, seem as though they are adjacent to each other. This apparent proximity is illusory, a result of the way our sky conceals depth. In fact, immense tracts of interstellar space separate them. Altair is approximately 17 light years away. Vega's distance is 26 light years. Deneb, however, is 1000 times more distant: 2,612 light years away. Consequently, when one observes these stars, one is seeing them as they were in the past. Tonight, one sees Altair as it was in 2005. To look onto Vega is to see it as it was in 1996. Deneb appears to us tonight as it was in the 6th century BCE, around the time when Pythagoras of Samoa, the world-renowned mathematician best known for the theorem that still bears his name.*

Dark-sky observers might detect the faintly luminescent band that appears to flow through this triangle. That light is the "Milky Way," an edge on view of our home galaxy. The name is somewhat misleading because every single naked eye star is contained within our home galaxy. However, the "Milky Way" defines the region of highest stellar density: where one finds more stars per unit area than in any other sky region.

Remember as you admire the sky that we're all traveling through the galaxy at 143 miles per second.  Our solar system is located approximately 25,000 light years from the nucleus.   As is true with the majority of stars, the Sun is moving along the main disc, part of which we see when we look at the Milky Way band.     The stars located far from the band are either located "north," or "south" of the galactic plane.  

High in the eastern sky is the Summer Triangle one will find another simple shape, the Great Square of Pegasus.   The square represents the body of Pegasus, the elegant winged horse who was born out of Medusa's blood and eventually tamed by Bellerophon who rode on Pegasus' back when he slew the Chimera.   Pegasus is depicted as flying upside down, a reference to Bellerophon's audacious attempt to fly Pegasus up to Olympus.   The winged horse prudently refused to ascend to such an exalted height and turned herself over.  This sudden inversion caused Bellerophon to plummet to his death after a descent requiring seven days and seven nights.     

Just to the north of Pegasus one will find Cassiopeia, a circumpolar constellation resembling the letter "w."  A circumpolar constellation is one that doesn't set at our latitude.   Cassiopeia represents an ancient Ethiopian queen poised on her throne.    Notorious for her appallingly supercilious behaviour, Cassiopeia was hoisted up into the sky as a punishment for she must suffer the indignity of hanging upside down for at least half the night.     

The last simple shape, the Big Dipper, begins the night resting on the horizon. Even though it, too, is circumpolar,the Big Dipper might be hidden from view by houses ,trees or other obstructions. 

PLANET WATCH:

MERCURY

[Host constellation:  Month's beginning - Libra the Scales; Month's end - Ophiuchus the Serpent Charmer.]

Oh, November is not the best month for Mercury admirers.    The fleet-footed little world scoots behind the Sun on November 8th and will only slowly emerge into the evening sky.  VERDICT: Wait until December to seek out Mercury.   

VENUS

[Host constellation - Libra the Scales]

Well, heavens, this is certainly not the month for inferior worlds, is it?    Venus passed into superior solar conjunction on October 22nd and will remain lost to view until the end of this year.    This month, our gorgeous sister world is nowhere to be found.  VERDICT:  Wait until late December to find Venus.    Note: Venus will become a dazzlingly bright evening sky beacon throughout the late winter, spring and early summer.

MARS

[Host constellation:  Taurus the Bull]

We have been waiting all year for Mars to brighten our evening skies and now the fourth world glows brighter than Sirius and will brighten throughout November as it approaches its December 8th opposition.    Mars rises by 7:55 p.m. at month's beginning and at 4:26 p.m at the end of November.     VERDICT:   Venture outside in mid-evening to behold Mars!   Look for the bright orangish-red orb to the north of Orion

JUPITER (pick planet!)

[Host constellation:  Pisces the Fish]

Although not as bright as it appeared in late September, Jupiter is still brilliant (2.5 times brighter than Mars.)    This giant world begins the night high in the eastern sky.  At month's beginning, it will set at 3:50 a.m. By the end of November, Jupiter will set just before 1:00 a.m.  VERDICT:  Oh, it could hardly be easier.    Go outside after dark and seek out the brightest "star" in the eastern sky.    You just can't miss!    

SATURN

[Host constellation:  Capricornus the Seagoat]

Poor Saturn is the dimmest of the naked-eye planets and will be setting just after midnight at month's beginning and by 9:30 a.m. at end end of November.     VERDICT:   Although dim compared to its planetary cohorts, Saturn is still as bright as Aldebaran, the alpha star in Taurus the Bull.      Saturn will therefore appear to the the brightest "star" in Capricornus.       Seek it out in the western sky this month. 

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