Feature Article October 30, 2003
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A total Lunar Eclipse highlights November Skies
In early November, sunset in this area occurs a few minutes before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with evening twilight lasting until about 6:30 p.m. Morning twilight begins about 5:00 a.m. with sunrise at about 6:45 a.m. By November 30, sunset is about 4:30 p.m. and the end of twilight about 6:15 p.m. The beginning of morning twilight does not come until 5:30 a.m. with sunrise at about 7:20 a.m.
Among the planets, Mars still dominates the southern sky in the early evening and the south western sky later in the night. Though still very bright, it has lost a little of the brightness it had in August and September, and over the course of the month, it will very gradually lose more as the planets Earth and Mars slowly pull away from each other. Very careful observers will also note that Mars is now slowly moving from west to east among the background stars in the constellation Aquarius, or, in other words, from right to left across the sky (in contrast to the westward or retrograde motion that it had during the months of August and September). Two other planets now exceed Mars in brightness. With a good, unobstructed view of the horizon, Venus, the brightest planet of all, may be seen for a short while very low in the south western sky, beginning about 30 minutes after sunset. The other planet is Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Along with the bright stars of the constellation Leo, Jupiter may be seen rising in the east after 2:00 a.m. and it dominates the whole eastern sky until well into morning twilight, a guiding light for those travelling eastward while going to work in these early November mornings.
Saturn rises much earlier than Jupiter; in fact, it is seen among the stars of the constellation Gemini and it rises in the late evening, easily seen after 9:00 p.m. This month Mercury has a limited engagement, putting in an appearance during the last week of the month, when it may be seen for a short while a bit to the right and down from brilliant Venus low in the south western sky, beginning about a half-hour after sunset. Binoculars will help to identify Mercury.
We are again into the eclipse season, with two eclipses occurring this month: a total lunar eclipse and a total solar eclipse. However, only the lunar eclipse is visible from eastern Canada. On the evening of Saturday, November 8, the full moon will enter the earths shadow or umbra, causing the usual dramatic and somewhat unpredictable change in appearance and the colour of the face of the moon. In this area, on November 8th, moonrise is at about 4:41 p.m., 6 minutes before sunset. Observers may notice a slight darkening of the upper left side of the lunar disk beginning a few minutes before 6:00 p.m., as the moon moves through the earths penumbra (the partial outer shadow). The moon enters the solid umbral darkness at 6:32 p.m. and the increasing eclipse is easily seen from then until 8:06 p.m. when the moon is completely within the earths shadow. Totality lasts from then until 8:31 p.m., and the closing partial phase lasts from then until the last contact with the umbra at 10:04 p.m. The last hint of the eclipse will probably be visible at about 10:45 p.m. when the moon is moving out of the penumbra.
During the 25 minutes of totality, the colours may range from yellowish to reddish to many shades of grey. Since the moon will be passing through the southern part of the earths umbra, we should expect the upper part of the moon to appear considerably darker than the south pole region, but how much darker is impossible to predict. Watch the event and record your observations. You may even try to draw the moon as it appears to your unaided eyes, or as it appears in binoculars. I look forward to hearing reports of the event, including descriptions of the various colours that were seen on the lunar surface.
The total solar eclipse of November 23 will be seen by very few people. It appears as total only from Antarctica and a small area of the ocean near Antarctica, though a bit of the partial phase will be seen from parts of Australia and New Zealand. The next total solar eclipse to be seen from Canada will be on August 1, 2008, when one may be seen from parts of Nunavut.
Watch the moon glide by several planets this month. On the evenings of November 12 and 13, it appears near Saturn. The Last Quarter Moon is near brilliant Jupiter on the mornings of November 18 and 19. In the early evening sky on November 25, a thin crescent moon may be seen just to the left of brilliant Venus; try not to miss this sight low in the south western sky shortly after sunset that evening.
November is the month for the famous Leonid Meteor Shower, and though there are no predictions for the sort of meteor storm that was seen two years ago, it will be worthwhile to watch in the early morning hours of November 18 and 19. There is also another, less famous shower that peaks on November 21 and 22, and is probably best seen near midnight. Again, I would be interested in hearing reports of numbers of shooting stars seen per hour.
For anyone interested in having star maps and more information on the autumn sky, The Beginners Observing Guide is available at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy.
