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Throughout November, the two brightest dots of light in the sky, Jupiter and Venus, face off at dusk. For the first weeks of the month, fainter Mercury hangs just below Venus.
At the start of the month, look for Venus low in the west at 6:30 p.m., shining above the sunset glow. When Venus emerges from the twilight, it will be about 8 degrees above the west horizon, or roughly the width of four fingers held at arm’s length. Early in the month, Venus sets at 7 p.m. As November goes on, Venus will be a little higher at dusk each night, and will set a little later.
The planet Mercury hangs just below Venus at dusk for much of the month. At any time from today through Nov. 15, look west at 6:30 p.m. Find brilliant Venus first. Then, look for Mercury about 2 degrees below Venus, and slightly to the left. Two degrees is the width of one finger at arm’s length.
Mercury will stay in this same position, 2 degrees below Venus and to the left of the brighter planet, for the first two weeks of the month. Just make sure you have a clear, cloudless view of the west, and then hunt for the two planets at about 6:30 p.m. between tonight and Nov. 15. Your window of time is narrow, because Mercury sets around 7 p.m. for these weeks.
After this sustained gathering with Venus, Mercury starts to pull away. Each night from Nov. 16 to 25 Mercury appears lower in the western sky at dusk, and fades in brightness.
After catching the sunset gathering of Venus and Mercury in the west, turn around. The planet Jupiter blazes in the eastern sky. Jupiter is just rising at first darkness and will be with us all night long. Jupiter shines at minus 2.9 magnitude, one full magnitude dimmer than Venus. This means that Jupiter is 2.5 times dimmer than Venus. That said, Jupiter far outshines every other star and planet in the sky, and you should be able to spot Jupiter easily. In November, we’ll have Jupiter in the sky nearly all night long. In early November, Jupiter is close to the eastern horizon at dusk, is overhead at midnight, and sets in the west as day breaks at 6 a.m. In the middle of the month, look for Jupiter about a third of the way up in the east around 6:30 p.m.; overhead at 11 p.m.; and sets at 5 a.m., when it is still dark.
Look for the full moon next to Jupiter on Nov. 9 and 10; this will be a repeat of that lovely pairing of the moon and Jupiter Oct. 12-13.
Mars is a late riser in November. The red planet rises in the east around 1:15 a.m. at the start of the month and around 12:30 a.m. at the end of November. Mars shines at first magnitude, a little brighter than an average bright star. Look for Mars halfway up the eastern sky around 5 a.m. at the start of November, and two-thirds of the way up in the east at 5 a.m. in late November.
We lost Saturn in the sun’s glow back in October, but it’s already back, appearing just before dawn. Saturn rises in the east around 5:30 a.m. at the start of November, giving you only a half-hour to catch it before daybreak.
Meteor showers
The Leonid meteor shower peaks the night of Nov. 17-18. As with all shooting showers, the viewing is better after midnight. The Leonids were responsible for the greatest meteor shower over Hawaii in recent times, the now-legendary 2001 shower. But 2011 will not be a spectacular show, with a maximum of 10 meteors an hour.
November stars
Two bright stars do pop out from the background of faint stars in the south this time of year: Fomalhaut, due south, and Achernar, just rising in the southeast.
Low in the west you can still see the summer triangle, even though it’s November. This triangle is made up of three bright stars from three constellations. This includes Vega, the brightest star in the triangle, in Lyra the Harp; Altair, in Aquila the Eagle; and Deneb, the dimmest of the three bright stars, in Cygnus the Swan. We’ve shown both the individual constellations and the triangle on our map.
Looking north, the North Star is a little harder to find than normal. Usually the Big Dipper is a guide to the North Star, but the Big Dipper is not visible in Hawaii in November’s evening sky. So instead, use Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is made up of five stars that form a squished "W" shape. The three middle stars of Cassiopeia’s W form an arrowhead that points roughly to Polaris.
Low in the east on our star map you can see the first appearances of the stars of winter. The winter stars contain the most brilliant stars in the sky. The little star cluster called the Pleiades leads the way; it’s huddled at the foot of Perseus. Also visible on our map, just rising in the east, is the constellation Taurus, with bright star Aldebaran; and Auriga the Charioteer, with bright star Capella.
Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html.
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