Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).

Calendar of Events - November 2005

Date Event
1 Tue
2 Wed New Moon
3 Thu Saturn at west quadrature
Mercury at greatest elongation east
Venus at greatest elongation east
4 Fri The Moon occults the first-magnitude star Antares during daylight hours.
5 Sat
6 Sun
7 Mon Neptune at east quadrature
Mars at opposition
8 Tue
9 Wed First Quarter Moon
10 Thu Moon at perigee
11 Fri
12 Sat
13 Sun
14 Mon
15 Tue
16 Wed Full Moon
17 Thu This year's Leonids meteor shower is spoiled by the light of the nearly Full Moon.
18 Fri
19 Sat
20 Sun
21 Mon The waning gibbous Moon severely hampers viewing of the Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower.
22 Tue
23 Wed Moon at apogee
Last Quarter Moon
24 Thu Mercury at inferior conjunction
25 Fri
26 Sat
27 Sun
28 Mon The Moon occults the first-magnitude star Spica during daylight hours.
29 Tue Uranus at east quadrature
30 Wed

The Solar System

The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.

Sun
Location: Libra -> Scorpius
Mercury
Location: Scorpius -> Ophiuchus -> Scorpius -> Libra
Rising high in the western sky for observers in the southern hemisphere, Mercury reaches greatest elongation east on 3 November and then descends towards the horizon, vanishing in the Sun's glare by mid-month and undergoing inferior conjuntion on 24 November.
Venus
Location: Scorpius -> Ophiuchus -> Sagittarius
Like its neighbour Mercury, the "evening star" is best seen from the southern hemisphere. Reaching greatest elongation east on the same day as Mercury, Venus begins to dip towards the western horizon for southern hemisphere observers. However, it appears to get a little higher in the sunset sky for viewers in the northern hemisphere.
Mars
Location: Aries
Because it is at opposition on 7 November, the red planet is up all night. This is an excellent time to observe this bright object.
Jupiter
Location: Virgo
After reaching conjunction last month, Jupiter reappears in the morning sky, rising during morning twilight.
Saturn
Location: Cancer
West quadrature (on 3 November) is an excellent time to observe interesting shadow effects on the disc, rings and satellites of the planet. Saturn rises before midnight, making it an easy target in the early morning hours.
Uranus
Location: Aquarius
At east quadrature on 29 November, this distant gas giant sets around midnight.
Neptune
Location: Capricornus
Like its outer solar system neighbour, Neptune also reaches east quadrature this month (7 November). It preceeds Uranus in the sky, setting about an hour earlier.
Pluto
Location: Serpens (Cauda)
With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. It sets early in the evening, making it very difficult to observe this month.

The Celestial Sphere

Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.

Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.

Local Time Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S
0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) 45° N 30° S

For More Information...

Credits

Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.

The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

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