Podcaster: Ralph & Paul
Title : Awesome Astronomy’s November Sky Guide
Organization: Awesome Astronomy
Link : www.awesomeastronomy.com
Description: What to look out, and up, for in November.
This month we tour a few simple objects that you can show to a child and spark their interest in the night skies.
In our beginners’ guide, Ursa Major shows us now to find true north and points out a few galaxies to observe in a small telescope. Then we take a look at the moon, showing us some lovely phases in the middle of the month and finish with two dates on which the moon will help you find the outer most planets, Uranus & Neptune.
Next we round up all the planets visible in November, with a stunning conjunction of Venus, Mars & Jupiter in the early hours. The Northern Taurids and the Leonids provide us with two meteor showers in November while we hold our breath for a naked-eye visible comet at month’s end.
We round off the show with our deep sky challenge and encourage you to take a look at the clusters in the constellation of Auriga.
For those in the Southern Hemisphere, 365 Days of Astronomy also play Alice Enevoldsen’s What’s Up Tonight, Southern Skies Edition each month.
Bio: Awesome Astronomy is the show for anyone and everyone who has even the slightest interest in astronomy and science.
Join Ralph & Paul twice each month, for informative and fun astronomy programs telling you what to look out (and up) for every month. You can be guaranteed a passion for astronomy, simple explanations of complex and fundamental topics, space and science news, absorbing interviews with astronomers who make the news and listeners’ astronomy questions answered
Today’s sponsor: This episode of “365 Days of Astronomy” is sponsored by — no one. We still need sponsors for many days in 2015, so please consider sponsoring a day or two. Just click on the “Donate” button on the lower left side of this webpage, or contact us at signup@365daysofastronomy.org.
Transcript:
Paul: November and the skies are dark, the nights are long and all those winter favourites are climbing high once more. We have two meteor showers to take in, the end of a very special planetary conjunction and a possible naked eye comet. But before all that it’s time to look at the beginners guide with Ralph.
Ralph: As it’s dark by 5 o’clock most of November, this is a great time of year for observing at at sociable times of the evening and especially good for taking a little earthling outside to introduce them to the wonders of the night sky. I’ve not yet met a child that hasn’t been been shown around the night sky and been inspired by learning a few constellations, seeing bright stars that they now know are planets and knowing a few places in the winter skies where star forming regions of gas & dust or entire galaxies can be found.
Ursa Major, or the Great Bear, is where we start. A useful constellation for pointing out the Pole Star for those of us who want to use a telescope on an equatorial mount, the Great Bear always appears near true north (in fact it circles true north throughout the year – a term known as circumpolar). You’ll easily spot the 7 bright stars that make up the handle and bowl of the Plough just above the horizon, from left to right, Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phad, Merak & Dubhe. When you can find this constellation you can always know which direction you’re headed – assuming it’s dark and cloud free!
In the handle of the Plough, siting around 4 degrees either side of the mag 1.8 star Alkaid are two fantastic galaxies to observe through a telescope: M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy sits above Alkaid and M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy is just below.
Moving across to the other end of the constellation, a line drawn from Phad in the bowl of the Plough to Dubhe (and then extended for the same distance) will reveal two entire galaxies in the field of view of the same eyepiece. M81 Bode’s Nebula is a spiral galaxy with two clear spiral arms in a telescope and its neighbour, M82 the Cigar Galaxy, is known as a starburst galaxy because as it’s so close to M81, violent interactions between the two galaxies causes rapid star formation giving off more light than usual.
From the 17th November to the end of the month, the moon will be visible in the early evening, The moon is not only the most detailed object in the entire sky through a telescope but it’s also the best object to learn to use a telescope with (try telling that to my supervisor – brilliant man, professor of astronomy, excelled beyond excellence in his field of research (galaxies) … cannot use a telescope for toffee. His eyepiece were minging. I had to clean them for him. And he’s dented the tube. Schmuk) . It’s so bright that it’s easy to locate, learn to focus and try out different magnifications – all the while getting breathtaking views of crater walls, shadowed valleys and rippled lava seas. Try looking at the moon on the 17, 18th and 19th November for the most spectacular views.
On the night of the 22nd November, try locating the star just a finger’s width above the moon. It may be tricky in the full glare of the moon but this is an easy way to locate the planet Uranus. Then on the night of 19th November, the moon is 3 fingers’ width to the right (or east) of Neptune, and being fainter than Uranus (and a billion miles further away from us) this could be the easiest way to Neptune if you’re having difficulty spotting the most distant planet in our solar system.
Paul: Thank you Ralph. Now let’s take a look at the solar system this month. We start with that spectacular morning conjunction that we were enjoying through most of October. The action continues for the early risers with Venus and Mars less than a degree apart on the 3rd while four days later on the 7th we have what hopefully will be a jaw achingly pretty sight as the three planets, Jupiter, Venus and Mars are joined by a late crescent moon and hanging above them all the star denebola in Leo. (Do you mean November, otherwise this already happened? Unless, of course, months are different in Cydonia 😉 )
Jupiter itself is now moving into position for longer observation and by the end of the month is rising about half hour after midnight and with the longer nights we are starting to get a good couple of hours observation of the King of Planets.
November presents us with two good meteor showers, the Northern Taurids and the Leonids. The first peaks on the 12th with a radiant near the pleiades. The Northern Taurids have a ZHR of around 10 and presents long slow trails. The Leonids peak on the night of the 17th18th and has a radiant in Leo and has a ZHR of 15 to 20. Leonids are very fast meteors and on a good year can be a spectacular shower. The moon is well paced for both showers as New moon occurs on the 11th and reaches first quarter after the peak of the Leonids on the 19th. The moon begins the month at first quarter on the 3rd and ends the month at full on the 25th.
There is the possibility of a naked eye comet as we leave November and enter december. 2013 US10 Catalina will be an early morning possibility low in the southeast before dawn. Predictions are magnitude 5.
For our deep sky challenge this month we take a look at Auriga, distinctively shaped constellation, a sort of lopsided pentagon. The shape itself is supposed to represent the charioteer who has been curiously given a goat and two of its kids to hold, an important piece of kit when you’re off to ride your chariot i’m sure.The brightest star capella represents the goat while the two adjacent stars Eta and Zeta are the kids, known as the Haedi. Zeta is an eclipsing binary star with a period of 2.7 years and as the dimmer companion star passes in front there is a drop in magnitude for 40 days. Closer to Capella is Epsilon Aurigae, another eclipsing binary this time with a period of 27 years and a noticeable dimming that lasts for over a year. The object that causes this would be massive, wider than saturn’s orbit and current hypotheses suggest that a companion binary of two small b class stars surrounded by a massive clouds of dust is in orbit around the star.
Auriga is most famous though for open clusters, of which there are many. The most famous are the three that in a good sky show up as naked eye fuzzy patches, M36, 37 and 38, or if you are looking at the constellation then they are numbered 37, 36, 38 as you go east to west. Messier was obviously having one of those days. all are around 4000 light years away and make for great binocular and small scope targets. The famous observer Admiral Smyth used to wax lyrical about M37 and rightly so, his description of a ‘whole field strewed as it were with sparkling gold dust is a good one and look out for that orange hued star at it’s centre. M36 has brighter stars but not as rich while 38 is the largest but again not a densely packed as 37. While you are at 38 don’t forget to take in nearby cluster NGC1907 which is a fainter but still rewarding cluster.
For the larger drinkers Auriga is where you will find NGC 1664. a quite large cluster near eta aurigae and worth a look.
looking back towards M38 there are three objects that make a great image together and an interesting observing challenge, AE Aurigae and the flaming star nebula with nebula IC 410 and open cluster NGC1893 right next door. The flame nebula is being illuminated by the star AE Auriga which itself is an interesting star as it is one of those runways from the Orion Nebula. The flaming nebula is difficult to see visually and a hydrogen beta filter may help, as will a good dark sky. NGC 1893 is perfectly visible in a scope but the accompanying nebula IC410 will need an OIII filter. An interesting target for all.
So happy hunting and I wish you clear skies.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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