Saturday: The Leonid meteor shower peaks Wednesday morning. But there will be increased activity for the next few days. These meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation Leo the lion. This point is about one fist above the east-northeast horizon at midnight tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night and into the morning, as it will remain about one fist above the bright star Regulus. The Moon is tending towards full for the next few evenings so its light will interfere with viewing. The Leonid meteors are particles from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, a comet discovered by Ernst Tempel and Horace Parnell Tuttle in 1866. These are exceptionally fast moving meteors – over 150,000 miles per hour! Go to https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-leonid-meteor-shower/ to read everything you need to know about the Leonid meteor shower. As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment.
Sunday: Would you like to visit Mars? How about America’s desert Southwest? Not enough time? Then just look at some photos from… from…. Hmmm. The photos at https://goo.gl/Elx7O8 look like they could be from either place. The Murray Buttes region of Mars, where the Curiosity rover has been exploring, looks a lot like the landscape of Utah. So much so that the Mars-based movie John Carter was filmed in the desert of southern Utah. Look for John Carter at your local video store. Listen to the soundtrack on your cassette player. Then take a Polaroid selfie of you enjoying each experience. Mars is a half a fist above the east-southeastern horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Monday: Venus is one fist above the southeastern horizon at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: Lieutenant Worf, the Klingon Starfleet officer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, might say “Today is a good day to die.” But Deneb, the bright supergiant star in Cygnus the Swan would say “two million years from now is a good day to die.” This may seem like a long time. But, compared to the lifespan of most stars, two million years from now is as close as tomorrow. For example, the Sun will last about five billion years. Small stars known as red dwarfs may last trillions of years. Prepare your astronomically short goodbyes to Deneb tonight at 7:00 o’clock when it is seven fists above the western horizon.
Wednesday: Jupiter is three fists above due south at 6:00 p.m. Saturn is a fist and a half to the lower right of Jupiter.
Thursday: Tonight’s full moon will be mostly eclipsed by the Earth. That makes it a mostly lunar eclipse. Wait. That’s not an official term. It is a partial lunar eclipse. Nearly the entire moon will pass through the Earth’s shadow. The partial eclipse begins at about 11:20 p.m. The peak eclipse occurs at 1:02 a.m., when 97% of the moon is eclipsed. The partial eclipse ends at 2:47 a.m. Learn more about the eclipse, and look up the eclipse times for anywhere in the world, at https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2021-november-19.
Friday: What do Justin Bieber and Betelgeuse have in common? Both are superstars. One will shine brightly for about a few hundred thousand more years. The other will only seem to be around for that long. “Sorry” Beliebers. “If you Love Yourself”, you and your “Boyfriend” need to learn more about Betelgeuse, the real supergiant star that is big enough to hold about one million Suns. “What Do You Mean” you don’t know where to look? For more information about Betelgeuse, go to http://goo.gl/0MyfHT. You’ll find it one fist above due east at 11 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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