In November we have a brilliant dance of planets in the three hours before dawn, while we enter a “planet drought” in the evening sky. The Leonid meteor shower returns in the middle of the month, with little lunar interference this year, and most of North America says goodbye to daylight saving time on Nov. 1; we also have the final supermoon of the year on the evening of Oct. 26-27.
Planetary dance
Throughout midfall, Venus and Jupiter should be unmissable before dawn. On Monday, Jupiter and Venus will be in a tight gathering, rising together in the east about 3:20 a.m., and will be nearly halfway up in the east as day breaks at 6 a.m. Jupiter will only be about one degree (the width of two full moons) to the left of Venus. With clear skies, the two planets will be as bright as airplane landing lights.
Far dimmer is Mars, below both bright planets in late October; on Monday it will be about three degrees (about two fingers at arm’s length) below Venus and Jupiter. Every predawn morning this week, Jupiter will appear about one more degree above Venus, as Venus appears each morning to get closer to Mars below it.
On the morning of Nov. 1, look east in the predawn hours. Venus blazes away in the east with Mars only about one degree to its lower left, as Jupiter shines above both other planets. On Nov. 2 and 3, Venus and Mars appear side by side, Mars to the left of Venus. By Nov. 4, Mars will be about one degree to Venus’s upper left, and will continue to pull away from Venus for the rest of the month. Before dawn on Nov. 6, look for a very slender crescent moon next to Jupiter; the following morning, look for it next to Venus.
By Nov. 15, Venus and Jupiter will be much farther apart. Venus will be 20 degrees below Jupiter, the width of two palms at arm’s length. Mars will by then be in between the two brilliant planets, an amber dot that will appear nearer to Venus. By midmonth, Jupiter rises in the east by 2 a.m., while Venus follows it over the eastern horizon at 3:30 a.m. By dawn in mid-November, Jupiter will be well over halfway up in the east, and Venus will be a little more than a third of the way up in the east.
The parade goes on until the end of the month, with Venus and Jupiter appearing a little farther apart from each other each morning. By Nov. 30, they are separated by more than 30 degrees (three palms), with Mars still in between. At the end of the month Jupiter rises at 1:20 a.m. and Venus by 3:40 a.m., leaving nearly three hours to catch the view of the planets in the east before dawn. At daybreak in late November, 6:15 a.m. or so, Venus will be about one-third of the way up in the east and Jupiter about two-thirds of the way up in the east.
For the first week of November, you may still be able to catch Saturn low in the west at dusk. Look west around 6:45 p.m.; Saturn will be about 10 degrees (one palm’s width) above the western horizon, as bright as a bright star. Saturn will be side by side with the star Antares, about a palm’s diameter to its left; Antares is slightly orange, Saturn whitish-yellow.
Saturn will appear lower each night at dusk, and will be lost in the light of the sun after the first week of the month. Saturn will in fact pass behind the sun from Earth’s perspective on Nov. 29. The planet will be lost for about six weeks, reappearing in the eastern sky just before dawn in late December.
With the loss of Saturn, as our star map for November shows, we officially enter an evening planet drought. From Nov. 7 to Dec. 15, there will not be a single naked-eye planet visible in the evening.
Year’s last supermoon
The term “supermoon” just refers to a full moon that occurs when the moon is within one day of “perigee,” the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its monthly orbit. The moon, being a little closer than average, will be a little brighter and a little bigger.
The moon is full at 2:06 a.m. on Oct. 27; so, the night of the (super) full moon here in the islands is Oct. 26-27. (The moon is officially full at the moment when the sun, earth and moon are in a straight line, with the earth in the middle.) You may see comments in the media about the “Oct. 27-28 supermoon,” rather than Oct. 26-27. That refers to universal time, or Greenwich Mean Time. Since Hawaii is 10 hours behind universal time, the night of the supermoon here will be Oct. 26-27.
Leonid meteor shower
This will peak the nights of Nov. 16-17 and 17-18. The Leonids have an intense peak every 33 years and were responsible for the greatest meteor shower over Hawaii in recent times in 2001. Don’t expect anything like that until 2033 or so; the Leonids this year will be a moderate shower, with perhaps 10 meteors per hour.
As always for meteor showers, the viewing is better from midnight to dawn. Go looking in the early hours of the 17th or the early hours of the 18th. The constellation of Leo rises in the east around midnight, and many of the shooting stars seem to radiate from that part of the sky. However, scan the entire sky, since you might see shooting stars in any direction.
A telescope is neither needed nor useful for meteor showers; just make sure you have a dark location, get comfortable and look up. One advantage for viewing the Leonids this year: The moon will set before midnight and won’t interfere during the prime viewing hours.
Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to bishopmuseum.org/planetarium.html.
