Skywatch Line for Friday, November 10, through Sunday, November 12, 2023

This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Friday, November 10, through Sunday, November 12, written by Sam Salem.

On Friday, Sun rises at 6:41am and sets at 4:37pm; Moon rises at 3:41am and sets at 3:20pm.

Venus, brilliant at magnitude –4.4 under the hind feet of Leo, shines high in the east before and during dawn. It rises nearly 2½ hours before dawn’s first light.

On Friday, the Great Red Spot should cross Jupiter’s central meridian around 7:58pm. Then Io crosses onto Jupiter’s face from the east edge at 10:28pm, followed by its little black shadow at 10:51pm. Satellite and shadow exit from Jupiter’s western limb a little more than two hours later. Jupiter, at magnitude –2.9 in the constellation of Aries, is barely past its November 2nd opposition. It rises around sunset, dominates the east during evening, stands highest in the south around midnight, and sets around sunrise.

Saturn, at magnitude +0.7 in dim constellation of Aquarius, glows steady yellowish high in the south. Fomalhaut twinkles nearly two fists at arm’s length to Saturn’s lower left.

Uranus, at magnitude 5.6 in the constellation of Aries, is 11° east of Jupiter. It comes to opposition on Monday, when Earth will sweep between the Sun and Uranus, placing the distant planet opposite the sun in our sky. Uranus is theoretically visible to the unaided eye, assuming you have good eyesight, and you are under a dark sky. The planet is easily visible in good binoculars or a telescope. By the time of its opposition, Uranus is rising in the east at sunset and is visible all night. It’ll remain in the evening sky through April of 2024. In a telescope at high power Uranus is a tiny non-stellar ball, 3.8 arc-seconds in diameter.

Neptune, at magnitude 7.8 at the Aquarius-Pisces border, is high in early evening 25° east of Saturn. Neptune is only 2.3 arcseconds wide, harder to resolve as a ball than Uranus is, it looks like a non-stellar ball at high power.

Orion is clearing the eastern horizon around 8pm. High above Orion shines orange star Aldebaran. Above Aldebaran. is the little Pleiades cluster, the size of your fingertip at arm’s length. Far left of Aldebaran and the Pleiades is bright Capella. Down below Orion, Sirius rises around 10pm. Sirius always follows two hours behind Orion.

Vega remains the brightest star in the west in early evening. Its little constellation Lyra extends to its left. Farther left, about a fist and a half at arm’s length from Vega, is 3rd-magnitude star Albireo, the beak of Cygnus. This is one of the finest and most colorful double stars for small telescopes. Farther on, in roughly the same direction, you come to 3rd-magnitude star Tarazed, or Gamma Aquilae. Locate 1st-magnitude Altair, a finger-width past Tarazed.