Saturday: 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 held upright and at arm’s length above the western horizon.
Sunday: Jupiter, Mars, and the bright star Regulus and
neighbors in the sky tonight. In fact, they will be neighbors in the sky for
the next few months. At 6:00 a.m., Jupiter is five and a half fists above the
south-southeastern horizon. It’s the brightest point of light in this region of
the sky. Mars is to the upper right of Jupiter and Regulus is to its lower
left. Over the next week, Mars will move rapidly towards Jupiter in the sky,
and both planets will move towards Regulus in the sky. With the naked eye, you
can see the gap getting smaller day by day.
Monday: Jupiter is bright, but Venus is brighter. And this
morning Venus is as close to a bright star in the sky as it has been since last
summer. At 6:00 a.m., Venus one fist above the east-southeastern horizon. The
bright star Spica is just to the left of Venus. They’ll move farther apart in
the sky as the days go by.
Tuesday: While Stonehenge is an ancient burial ground
visited by religious people for thousands of years, MIThenge is an 825-foot-long
hallway on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology visited by
the Sun’s rays twice a year. Every year in November and January, the setting
Sun lines up with a narrow window at the end of the long hall and the light
shines down to the opposite end. This season’s alignment is from November 10-12
at about 4:20 p.m. For more information, visit https://youtu.be/LKjBBBZMKb4 or visit
MIT. While you are at it, challenge yourself to find a similar alignment in
your neighborhood.
Wednesday: Are you planning to open your Martinmas gifts
today? Martinmas is a holiday in many parts of the world commemorating Saint
Martin of Tours. He was buried on November 11, 397. What does this have to do
with astronomy? Not much except that the celebration on November 11 often
doubles as a cross-quarter day celebration, a day that is halfway between an
equinox and a solstice. Also, according to an agricultural calendar, November
11 marks the practical beginning of winter.
Thursday: The Northern Taurid meteor shower peaks very early
this morning and tomorrow morning. These are slow moving meteors that result in
the occasional fireball. The Taurid meteor showers produce a few bright meteors
every hour. Since the moon just passed the new phase, it will have set before
prime viewing time, meaning a dark sky. These meteors appear to come from a
point in Taurus the bull, near the open star cluster called the Hyades. This
point is about six and a half fists above the southern horizon at midnight. You
can follow this point throughout the night and pre-dawn sky, as it will remain
one and a half fists to the right of the V-shaped Hyades Cluster with its
bright star Aldebaran (pronounced Al-deb’-a-ran). By 6:00 a.m., it is two and a
half fists above the western horizon. In case you miss them tonight, there will
be increased meteors until December 2. Meteors are tiny rocks that burn up in
the atmosphere when the Earth runs into them. The source of this shower is the
asteroid 2004 TG10. Go to https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/taurid-meteors-all-you-need-to-know/
for more information.
Friday: Saturn is four and a half fists above due south at
9:00 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.
All times are Pacific Time unless noted.
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