Two of the five naked-eye planets, Venus and Saturn, are missing in action this November, but the other three, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, are prominent.

Also in November, the Leonid meteor shower returns and we have one last chance to catch the summer triangle in the evening, while the great parade of winter stars and constellations comes into view.

November planets

Mercury makes its best morning appearance of the year in November. Look for Mercury rising in the east at 5:15 a.m. on Nov. 1 and at 5:30 a.m. by Nov. 10. Mercury never appears far from the sun but will be a good 10 degrees above the eastern horizon at 6 a.m., before day breaks and washes out all the stars and planets. After mid-month it will be hard to catch the planet in the wash of the rising sun.

Mars remains prominent in the early-evening skies for all of November. Look for Mars about a third of the way up in the southwest at dusk. It has that distinctive pale orange glow. Mars will set just before 9:30 p.m. all month.

Mars seems to behave in this fashion all month because it moves in an eastern direction at about the same speed as the sun is moving, so the relation between Mars and the sun does not seem to change; thus, Mars comes out at dusk and sets at 9:30 p.m. all month. However, if you compare Mars to the stars behind the red planet, Mars is really motoring. It starts the month amid the bright eight stars that make up the "teapot" of Sagittarius and winds up by the end of November approaching the much fainter stars of Capricornus.

Look for the waxing crescent moon just to the right of Mars on the evening of Nov. 25.

Brilliant in the morning sky all month, Jupiter rises in the east around 1 a.m. in early November and is two-thirds of the way up in the east by daybreak. By the end of the month, it’s become an evening object (just barely), rising at 11:15 p.m. and standing almost exactly overhead at dawn. It is the brightest dot you can see until December, when Venus returns. Look for the last-quarter moon next to Jupiter on Nov. 13-14.

Other sky events

There is a spectacular pass of the International Space Station on Thursday evening. At maximum brightness the station will shine at minus 3.3, far brighter than any star. If the weather cooperates, the station will appear in the northwest at 6:14 p.m. and pass high overhead, almost in the top of the sky, at 6:18 p.m.

It will then pass to the southeast and fade from view around 6:20 p.m. The station will appear as a bright dot that moves slowly and steadily against the starry background.

As always with satellites, it’s a great idea to check out the website www.heavens-above.com on the day it is scheduled to appear.

On Nov. 24, Makahiki season begins, marking the start of the Hawaiian year.

One way to mark the start of the Makahiki season: first, wait for the star cluster of the Pleiades to rise at sunset, which occurs every year on Nov. 17; second, wait for the new moon that follows this sunset rising of the Pleiades, which occurs in 2014 on Nov. 22; third, wait for the first visible crescent moon that follows this new moon. This year, a slender crescent moon should be visible in the west at dusk on Nov. 24, thus marking the start of the Makahiki season.

The Leonid meteor shower also appears in November. Its peak is on the nights of Nov. 16, 17 and 18. Its active period is Nov. 13-20. The Leonids have an intense peak every 33 years and were responsible for the greatest meteor shower over Hawaii in recent times, in 2001. Before that, the 1966 shower was one of the greatest on record.

Don’t expect anything like those shows until 2033 or 2034. At least this year, the moon is a waning crescent and not in the way. Expect perhaps 10 meteors an hour.

November Sky Map

This map is good for 11 p.m. in early November, 10 p.m. in mid-month, and 9 p.m. at the end of the month. On the November map you can find the Summer Triangle, still visible in the western sky even though it’s November.

All of the constellations that tell the story of Perseus are visible. These include Perseus the hero in the northeast; Pegasus (the flying horse created when Perseus slew Medusa) in the middle of the sky; Andromeda, attached to Pegasus; Cetus, sometimes identified with the sea monster who almost ate Andromeda before Perseus rescued her; and Andromeda’s parents, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, in the north.

Cassiopeia is made of five fairly bright stars. The middle three stars make a triangle that points, approximately, to the North Star. While the Big Dipper is a more precise way of finding the North Star, the Big Dipper is never visible in the November evening sky in the islands, so Cassiopeia is a workable substitute.

In the east, the brilliant winter constellations rise. These include the Pleiades, Taurus, Auriga, Orion and the Gemini.

Missing from this sky is the Big Dipper, which is down below the horizon in the Hawaiian Islands during these November evenings. The Big Dipper rises by 3:45 a.m. in early November and by 1:45 a.m. at the end.

At Bishop Museum

The planetarium program "The Sky This Month" continues on the first and third Saturdays at 8 p.m. For November, the show dates are Nov. 1 and 15; both programs will feature live, classical guitar. Reservation to 847-8251 or at www.bishopmuseum.org.

Mike Shanahan is director of visitor experience and planetarium. For more information, go to
www.bishop­museum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html

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