| Nov 05, 2014


Mother Nature had her way with us and the Star Party at the Maberly Fair Grounds was weathered out. That didn’t stop a few people from Kingston and two from Ottawa from showing up just in case it cleared. No such luck. The rain date on the following weekend suffered the same fate. I ended up eating the unsold snack bar sandwiches all week! I’ll never be able to look a chopped egg sandwich in the eye again. We’ll try for another astronomy night at the fairgrounds in the spring after the snow melts and, of course, I’ll keep you informed.

I find the night sky especially beautiful at this time of the year. The nights are crisp and when the clouds stay away, the air is clear and the stars are so sharp. By 7 p.m. the Pleiades star cluster has risen above the eastern horizon with the Hyades cluster not far below it. The Hyades are near the centre of the constellation Taurus, the Bull and the giant orange star Aldebaran, one of the brightest stars in the sky, shines out from within the cluster. It is commonly called the eye of the Bull. Not far behind and an hour or so later in the evening, the magnificent constellation Orion rises up in all its glory in the east. It will be with us for a few months but I find this large constellation breathtaking in early November as it climbs slowly above the horizon. The belt of Orion across its middle, with the sword hanging down from its left side, is spectacular. Within the sword is the beautiful Orion nebula which can be made out by eye and is a wonderful sight through binoculars.

We have three meteor showers this month! The first shower is called the Southern Taurids and can be viewed roughly from early September through to late November. They peak on the night of November 5 and 6. The hourly rate, the ZHR (Zenith Hourly Rate), is a modest 10.

The next shower is the Northern Taurids which are active from mid October through to mid December. Their peak occurs on the night of November 12 - 13. Its ZHR is 15. The radiant for these showers is the constellation Taurus but as I’ve written in previous columns, meteors can be seen in all parts of the sky but they radiate from Taurus and thus the name Taurids. Although the Taurids are modest in number, the meteors are unusually large in size – pebble size versus the dust size that is typical in an average shower. They are slow moving as well (27 Km per second or 65,000 miles per hour) and linger in the sky. This means long lasting fireballs! They are often called Halloween Fireballs! The debris is left behind by the comet Encke and possibly also by a much larger comet that broke up relatively recently – a hundred thousand years ago or so. The reason that the two showers last such a long time is because the debris has been gravitationally stretched out by the planets, especially giant Jupiter.

The next shower is the Leonid meteor shower. Its radiant is in Leo and has a ZHR of 20. It’s a pretty good shower and I never miss it. You shouldn’t either! It peaks on the evening of November 17 – 18.

I sure hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back one hour on the 2nd! Daylight savings time is over. Winter approaches.

On the 6th Mercury is 5 degrees left of Spica in the morning twilight. Mars can be found 1 degree south of the globular cluster M22 in the evening. Messier 22 is in the constellation Sagittarius – the teapot asterism is within that constellation.

On the 6th we have The Full Beaver Moon. This is the time to set beaver traps before the lakes and ponds freeze. Also the beavers are active preparing for winter, putting their long johns on and setting aside grub for the snowy months ahead. This Full Moon is also known as the Frosty Moon.

For the 14th I offer you a challenge. Jupiter can be made out in the daylight just after sunrise. It is 6 degrees north of the Moon – a fist width and a bit more is about 6 degrees.

On the 21st you can view the old crescent Moon in the east. The new Moon appears at sunrise the next day in the west. Try to find Mercury at this time too. It is 2 degrees below the new Moon. Use binoculars.

On the 25th, the new crescent Moon is about 8 degrees right of Mars.

Sunrise on the 8th occurs at 6:49 a.m. EST and sunset is at 4:37 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). On the 29th, the Sun rises at 7:17 a.m. EST and sets at 4:19 p.m. EST. The days are shortening fast.


You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

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