callington community astronomy group

Feature of the Month

November 2009

	The nights are getting shorter as we move close to the winter solstice. At the start of the month sunrise is at 7am and at the end of the month sunrise is 8am. Sunset is 4:40pm at the start of the month and 3:55pm at the end of the month. Make the most of the longer nights
Sun	During the last week of October a sunspot group 1029 transited the suns disk and faded, this was from the new cycle (cycle 24).
Lunar Phases	Moon Corona, With frost and ice in the atmosphere and a bright moon there have been several sightings of night ‘rainbows’ caused by the moons reflected light being refracted by the ice crystals. There are also Moon rings, moon dogs caused by the ice in the air. First Quarter moon 24th November Full moon 2nd November Last quarter moon 9th November New moon 16th November
	Sky Watching
Mercury	Mercury is in superior conjunction with the sun on November 5th. After this the planet is too close to the sun for observing.
Venus	Venus can be found in the morning skies this month, but as the month progresses it moves closer to the sun. The planet also shrinks from 10 to 9 arc seconds during the month.
Mars	In the early morning Mars can be found high overhead. The planet is easy to locate as its now brighter than a first magnitude star. Mars will reach its closest to us in January 2010. Mars is reaching the end of its winter period and the Northern polar cap is covered by a bluish layer of ice. The ice cap is evident in larger telescopes and is providing some of the best views of the ice cap for many years. Mars starts the month in the Beehive star cluster. During the month Mars grows in size from 8 to 9 arc seconds and brightens from magnitude +0.4 to -0.1,
Jupiter	In November Jupiter can be seen in the early evening to the south. The planet is bright and one of the first objects seen as the skies darken. During the month the planet dims slightly from magnitude -2.3 to -2.1. Binoculars will show the four main moons moving around the planet. A telescope will reveal details on the cloud tops, the equatorial bands are the most evident feature.
Saturn	Saturn is in the morning sky getting further away from the rising sun as the month progresses. Saturn is at magnitude +0.7. At the being of the Saturn rises at 03:30 GMT. During the month the rings will continue to open from 3 to 4%. Saturn is best observed at the end of the month.
Outer Planet	Uranus Uranus is well placed this month being in the south west in the early evening, with a magnitude of +5.8 it will require dark skies to see this planet. Neptune Neptune and Jupiter are found in the same part of the sky this month. With a magnitude of +7.9. the planet can only be seen with binoculars and telescopes. If you can find the bluish disc its apparent diameter will be about 20 times smaller than Jupiter.
Meteors	Leonids November sees the most well known of the years meteor showers, the Leonids. This shower is active between the 15th and the 20th peaking on the night of the 17th. The moon will a couple days past new and will not interfere with the meteors. The ZHR is expected to be in the region of 20 per hours and this might increase to about 100 per hour from 23:00 on the 17th to the early hours of the 18th. Taurids Novembers other meteor shower the Taurids is active during the month to the 20th. During the early part of the month the bright moon will was out many of the meteors. The Taurids can produce occasional bursts of bright meteors. The Taurids have been known to produce slow moving fireball meteors
Deep Sky	Andromeda is high overhead this month, the Andromeda galaxy is a great target for binoculars and telescopes alike. The size of this object will require a wide field of view and benefits from low magnifications Taurus is in the east and provides two open star clusters that provide good views in binoculars and small telescopes. M45 the Pleiades is bright and can be used as an indicator of the sky quality. The more stars of the cluster seen with the naked eye, the clearer the sky is. The second star cluster is the Hyades, this is not as compact as the Pleiades but is still worth a look. Towards the end of month Orion can be seen on the eastern horizon before midnight. The Milky way and Cassiopeia are high in the evening sky. The two star clusters of the double cluster is a lovely target for binoculars.