Daylight Savings time officially ends at 2 am on Sunday November 2nd. Most of us set our clocks back one hour when we retire for the night on November 1st so we are on time the next morning. Darkness descends an hour earlier on November 2nd, so sky-watchers can start looking at the night sky at an earlier “clock” time.
Darkness will continue to increase compared to daylight all month and on until December 22nd, the date of Winter Solstice, when the Sun at noon will be at its lowest in the sky for the entire year. Thereafter daylight time will gradually increase. The tilt of the Earth is the cause of seasonal changes as we orbit the Sun.
Mercury moves from the evening sky to the morning sky in November. On November 9th Mercury lies just to the right of Antares (brightest star in Scorpius) low in the southwestern sky around 5:30 pm. Binoculars will help to spot it.
By November, Mercury’s orbit will have taken it around to the eastern morning sky where it may be spotted just above much brighter Venus, 30 minutes before sun-up. Venus will point the way to Mercury just above and a bit left of it. Binoculars will help to see them since they are so close to the horizon.
Saturn spends the month high in the southeastern sky among the stars of Aquarius. On November 2nd, the nearly Full Moon will pass just below Saturn. Full Moon is actually on November 5th. Though Saturn will dim a bit this month it will be visible all night, and the Moon will be near it again on November 25th.
Jupiter is rising in the eastern sky around 11 pm when November begins and its brightness will be increasing all month. It lies below the two brightest stars in Gemini, Castor and Pollux. A waning gibbous moon will be below the giant planet November 9/10.
This year’s annual Leonid meteor shower peaks November 17/18. Meteors appear to come from the area of sky where we find Leo the lion constellation which rises around midnight in the eastern sky. As usual with meteor watching the best time is 1 to 2 hours before sunrise as Earth’s rotation turns us toward the meteor stream. Look toward the front of Leo at its “sickle-shaped” grouping of stars (which also looks like a backwards question mark).
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dennis Herrmann developed a life-long interest in astronomy at an early age and got his first telescope at the age of 12. Through his 43 years of teaching at Kent County High School he taught Astronomy and Earth/Space Science and coached track and field and cross country. He led and participated in numerous workshops on astronomy at the Air and Space Museum (DC), the Maryland Science Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Planetarium Society. He loves sharing and explaining the night sky to increase understanding and enjoyment of it to folks of all ages.
