Skywatch Line for Friday, November 28, through Sunday, November 30, written by Sam Salem
This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Friday, November 28, through Sunday, November 30, written by Sam Salem.
On Friday, Sun rises at 7:03am and sets at 4:23pm; Moon rises at 12:46pm.
First quarter Moon occurs on Friday. The first quarter Moon rises around noon and sets around midnight.
The Sun sets a trace earlier Thanksgiving week than on Christmas, even though Christmas is nearly at solstice time. We’re still three weeks from the winter solstice but the Sun sets its earliest around December 7th for our area. The offset of the earliest sunset from the solstice date is balanced out by the opposite happening at sunrise when the Sun doesn’t come up its latest until January 4th. These offsets arise from the tilt of Earth’s axis and the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit.
On Friday, Saturn, magnitude 1.1 in the constellation Aquarius, comes to a stationary point in our sky at 8pm when it’s some 40° high in the south. It’s the brightest point of light in this region of the sky. Saturn hangs below the Circlet asterism of Pisces the Fish and far to the upper left of magnitude 1.2 Fomalhaut, the brightest star in constellation Piscis Austrinus and the brightest star in this part of the sky. The waxing Moon sits to Saturn’s lower right, also in Aquarius. If you’re observing Saturn at 8pm with a telescope, the 10th-magnitude moons Rhea, Tethys, and Dione will be visible near the planet. Rhea is alone to the east, while Dione is slightly closer than Tethys to the west. Titan, the brightest moon, is mid-8th magnitude and now sits far west of the planet after transiting earlier this week. It is located some 2’ from the planet’s center.
Venus, magnitude –3.9, rises in the east-southeast about 50 to 40 minutes before sunrise. It rises a little later every day.
Jupiter, magnitude –2.5 in eastern Gemini, rises in the east-northeast around 8pm. It dominates the eastern sky, then the high southeast, as the night advances. Castor and Pollux shine upper left of it in the evening, then above it in the hours before dawn.
November and December are excellent months to try to spot the Chained Lady. Look east after it gets dark to find the constellation already high above the horizon.
The constellation Andromeda is named for the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus of Greek mythology. Andromeda is known as “the Chained Lady” translated from the Arabic phrase “al-Mar’at al Musalsalah” as her parents chained her up and offered her as a sacrifice to appease the sea monster Cetus. She was saved by Perseus and became his queen. In the sky, Andromeda, the Chained Lady, lies near her parents, Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus. Andromeda is easy to find. The W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia points toward Andromeda. Andromeda is also next to the Great Square of Pegasus. In fact, the brightest star of the Great Square of Pegasus, Alpheratz, belongs to Andromeda