Skywatch Line for Friday, November 3, through Sunday, November 5, 2023
This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Friday, November 3, through Sunday, November 5, written by Sam Salem.
On Friday, Sun rises at 7:32am and sets at 5:45pm; Moon sets at 1:38pm and rises at 10:20pm. Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday at 2:00am. Clocks fall back an hour.
Last-quarter Moon occurs at 4:37am on Sunday morning. The half-lit Moon rises in the constellation of Cancer. Watch for it to come up over the horizon, about two fists at arm’s length below or lower left of Castor and Pollux.
The earliest solar noon for the whole year, and for the entire globe, occurs on Friday. Solar noon, or midday, refers to that passing instant when the Sun reaches its highest point for the day, midway between sunrise and sunset. For people residing along the center line of your time zone, solar noon, or midday, comes at 11:44am every year in early November. If you’re not on your time zone’s center line, solar noon happens a bit earlier or later by your clock, depending on your offset from your time zone’s center line. In our area the earliest solar noon comes at 11:39am.
Venus, brilliant at magnitude –4.4 under the hind feet of the constellation of Leo, shines high in the east before and during dawn. It rises nearly 2½ hours before dawn’s first light.
Jupiter, at magnitude –2.9 in the constellation of Aries, was at opposition on Thursday. It rises around sunset, dominates the east during evening, stands highest in the south around 1:00am daylight-saving time, and sets around sunrise. In a telescope Jupiter now appears as big as it gets: 49 or 50 arcseconds wide all week.
Saturn, at magnitude +0.7 in dim constellation of Aquarius, glows steady yellowish in the south these evenings. Fomalhaut twinkles nearly two fists at arm’s length to its lower left.
Spot Altair high in the southwest soon after dark. Brighter Vega sits far to its right.
Delphinus the Dolphin are two distinctive little constellations lurking above Altair, hardly more than a fist at arm’s length to its upper left. The smaller, fainter constellation Sagitta the Arrow sits slightly less far to Altair’s upper right. Use binoculars to help you spot them.
Capella shines in the northeast after dark. The Pleiades are up in the east-northeast three fists to Capella’s right. As evening grows later, locate the orange star Aldebaran climbing below the Pleiades. Later at night, Orion clears the eastern horizon below Aldebaran.