The planets Jupiter, Mars and Venus are still visible in the morning. Get up before Sun rise and you will see them in the East, nicely lined up under the constellation Leo. Venus is the brightest, but you cannot miss Jupiter either. Mars is fainter and not far from Venus. Jupiter rises already early, nearly at 1 am, while Mars and Venus rises a little later at about 2 to 3 am. By next week, the Moon, nearly to Last Quarter, is getting closer to Jupiter. Mercury and Saturn are too close to the Sun and not visible. The planets Uranus and Neptune are nearly the whole evening visible with binoculars or a smaller telescope. Full Moon is quite bright and will disturb observing dimmer objects in the skies. The big square, or the constellation Pegasus dominates still the sky in the South.
Wednesday 25 November
Today it is the 100th Anniversary when the famous Albert Einstein publishes the General Theory of Relativity in 1915.
At 5.55 pm Mercury is in aphelion. The distance to the Sun is 0.4667 AU.
At 7.52 pm the International Space Station , called ISS, is having an orbit manoeuvre rocket burn. If visible, it would be that timings would be slightly different (minutes only). But … unfortunately … not visible this week!
It is Full Moon at 10.44 pm. The Moon is passing the Hyades in the constellation Taurus. After midnight at 4.20 am the Moon is close to the star Hyadum I. The limb separation is only 0.19° or 0.34 lunar diameters. The Moon altitude is 29° and the Moon phase is 99.8%. Due to the bright Moon, the star will be hard to locate. Be careful and do NOT star too long to this bright Moon. It can damage your eye sight!!! At 5.55 am the Moon is close to the star Hyadum II. Limb separation is 1°or 2 lunar diameters. And at 7 am the Moon is close to the star The2 Tau. Limb separation is only 0.38° or 0.71 lunar diameters. At 7.10 am the Moon is close to the star The1 Tau. Limb separation is 0.32° or 0.59 lunar diameters. And ... at 7.20 am the Moon is close to the bright star Aldebaran. This should be easier to see. Watch upfront so you can see the star getting closer to the Moon. The limb separation goes to 2° or 4 lunar diameters. At that time the Moon altitude is only 6°. The Moon occults Aldebaran for North America. Send in your picture!
If you have some time in between, look with the telescope or binocular at Jupiter. After midnight at 1.23 am the Jupiter Moon Europa is in inferior conjunction. And at 2.47 am the Jupiter Moon Europa ends it transit.
Thursday 26 November
Today in 1703 during the "Great Storm" more than 8000 people perished and the first Eddystone lighthouse was totally destroyed. Among the dead was its designer, Henry Winstanley. He was a London merchant, who had lost two of his ships on the Eddystone Reef, 14 miles south of Plymouth, site of many other shipwrecks. In 1696 work began on a rather strange wooden structure. Although unlike today's lighthouses, it was a major achievement for its day. It was first lit on 14 Nov 1698. After additional modification and strengthening, Winstanley was so confident that he said he wished to be present during "the greatest storm there ever was". His wish came true, for Winstanley was killed sleeping inside it, during the 1703 storm.
At 6.14 pm a very bright Iridium flare appears at altitude 37° in the constellation Pisces. An Iridium flare is a rather slow moving satellite which moves along the stars and sudden lit up very bright.
Get your telescope out or use a binocular and look at the giant planet Jupiter. At 2.40 am the Jupiter Moon Ganymede is reoccurring of it’s a occultation behind the planet. At 6.13 am the Jupiter Moon Io begins its eclipse.
Friday 27 November
Today in 1826 John Walker (1781-1859), an English pharmacist from Stockton-on-Tees, invented the first practical, strike-anywhere, friction match, which he first sold on 7 April 1827, though he refused to patent his creation. He used 3” splints of wood, tipped with potassium chlorate, antimony sulphide, and gum arabic. The match head was ignited by drawing it through a fold of fine glass paper. By 1829 similar matches called “Lucifers” were sold throughout London. Their difference was added sulphur to aid combustion, and white phosphorus. Matchmaking workers quickly developed a bone disease called “phossy jaw” from the phosphorus. Phosphorus sesquisulphide replaced the deadly white phosphorus in the strike-anywhere match during the early twentieth century.
At 4.26 pm the Moon is in maximum libration North. The North Pole and Mare Frigoris are tipped into Earth's view. And the Moon is in maximum declination North at 8.06 pm.
At 4.51 pm a bright Iridium flare appears at an altitude of 21° in the constellation of Sagittarius.
After midnight at 3.33 am the Jupiter Moon Io begins it shadow over the giant planet. At 4.46 am the Jupiter Moon Io begins its transit of the planet. At 5.50 am the Jupiter Moon Io ends its shadow and at 5.53 am the Jupiter Moon Io is in inferior conjunction. On top, the Great Red Spot is in transit at 6.06 am. Worth a watch!
Not that you will notice, but for the Solar observers at 4.04 am the Carrington Solar Rotation begins its rotation number 2171.
Saturday 28 November
At 7.19 pm the Moon is in maximum libration.
After midnight, at 1.58 am Jupiter's Great Red Spot transits. And at 4.09 am the Jupiter Moon Io reappears from its occultation.
At 4.59 am an Iridium flare appears at an altitude 65° in the constellation of Auriga.
At 5.20 am the Moon is close to the star Lam Gem. The limb separation is only 0.01° or 0.03 lunar diameters, so truly touching the Moons limb! The Moon altitude is 44° and the Moon phase is 87%.
Sunday 29 November
Today in 1962 the British Aircraft Corporation and the major French airline company Sud Aviation, agreed to jointly design and manufacture a 100-seat supersonic passenger airliner. Two months later, in January 1963, a BAC executive suggested the name "Concord" after using a thesaurus, which was adopted as Concorde, reflecting the French spelling. In May 1963, it was decided each Concorde component would be single sourced, but with two final assembly lines, one in England at Filton and one in France at Toulouse. The UK was to manufacture 60 per cent of the engine and 40 per cent of the airframe. Within the decade, the first Concorde had broken the sound barrier on 1 October 1969. Passenger flights began on 21 January 1976.
At 4.48 pm a rather bright Iridium flare appears in the South South West at 17° high in the constellation of Sagittarius.
Comet C/2013 X1 and called PanSTARRS may reach binocular visibility. Keep an eye on my blog!
At 8.55 am the planet Venus is in perihelion. The distance to the Sun is 0.7184 AU.
The Moon is in maximum libration East at 4.40 pm. Mare Crisium limb is tipped into Earth's view.
The planet with the rings Saturn is at its farest distance at 10 pm. The distance to the Earth is 10.992 AU. The planet Saturn is in conjunction and only 2° separated from the Sun at midnight. Distance to the Earth is 10.992 AU. The planet is not visible!
After midnight at 0.02 am the planet Venus is close to the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo. They are 4° separated. Look in the morning before Sun rise!
Jupiter time. Get your telescope out at watch at 1.30 am the Jupiter Moon Io when it ends its transit. At 3.23 am the Jupiter Moon Callisto ends its eclipse with the giant planet.
The red planet Mars is close to the star Porrima at 7.14 am. They are 1° separated. And at 7.22 am Mars is close to the star g29 Virginis, also 1° separated. Look in the morning.
Monday 30 November
Today in 1609 the modern face of the Moon first emerged when Galileo Galilei in Padua turned his telescope toward the Moon, noted the irregularities of the crescent face, and made a drawing to record his discoveries. He made at least five more drawings of the Moon over the next eighteen days, prepared careful watercolor sketches from these drawings, and then selected four of these to be engraved for his revolutionary Starry Messenger, which appeared the following March. Galileo's treatise announced to an astonished public that the Moon was a cratered chunk of elements - a world - and not some globe of quintessential perfection. It was a new land, to be explored, charted, and named.
Use a binocular or small telescope and watch Jupiter and its Moons after midnight. At 3.36 am the Great Red Spot is in transit on the giant planet. At 6.02 am the Jupiter Moon Europa begins its eclipse.
Tuesday 01 December
In 1997 eight planets from our Solar System lined up from West to East beginning with Pluto (that time still considered as a planet), followed by Mercury, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn, with a crescent Moon alongside, in a rare alignment visible from Earth that lasted until 8 December . Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn were visible to the naked eye, with Venus and Jupiter by far the brightest. A good pair of binoculars was needed to see the small blue dots that are Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is visible only by telescope. The planets also aligned in May 2000, but too close to the Sun to be visible from Earth. It will be at least another 100 years before so many planets will be so close and so visible.
At 5.35 pm a rather bright Iridium flare appears in the West North West at 15° high in the constellation of Corona Borealis.
The Moon is close to the star Subra at 10.50 pm. The limb separation is only 0.46° or less that a lunar diameter. The Moon altitude is only 6° and the Moon phase is 63%.
After midnight at 5.23 am the Jupiter Moon Io is in Western Elongation.
Wednesday 02 December
An Iridium flare appears at 4.49 pm in the South West at 12° in the constellation Sagittarius. An Iridium flare is a rather slow satellite in the night sky, brighten up quite intense at a certain position. Another but brighter flare at 5.20 pm in the West North West at 17° high in the constellation Corona Borealis.
With a small telescope of binocular you can watch the giant planet Jupiter and its Moons. After midnight at 2.38 am the Jupiter Moon Europa begins its transit over the giant planet. At 2.41 am the Jupiter Moon Io is in Eastern elongation and at 3 am the Jupiter Moon Europa ends its shadow. The Jupiter Moon Europa is in inferior conjunction at 4.02 am. At 5.15 am the Great Red Spot of Jupiter is in transit. And at last, at 5.25 am the Jupiter Moon Europa ends its transit.
Our Earth’s satellite the Moon is in Last Quarter at 7.40 am. This is the smallest Last Quarter Moon of the year. The former smaller Last Quarter Moon was on 14 December 2014. The next smaller Last Quarter Moon is on 2 January 2016.
Get in touch with me via www.patrickpoitevin.weebly.com if you need more information.