Galactic neighbour

Ken Kennedy, of Dundee Astronomical Society, tells us what to expect in November’s night sky. “Wonderful Pegasus is flying past the meridian in October,” he says, “and by 10pm Andromeda is high to the south.

“I briefly mentioned our largest galactic neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy, last month and this is the best time of year to have a look at it. From the top left hand star of the Square of Pegasus, move two stars to the left then upwards past two fainter stars and, using binoculars, you’ll not miss the hazy elliptical patch of light which is the galaxy.

“If there is no moon and you are shielded from street lighting it may be seen with the unaided eye. I have called the Andromeda Galaxy a neighbouring galaxy and this may seem inappropriate when its distance is given as 2.5 million light years, but in galactic terms, this is a next door neighbour!

“It is the largest galaxy of our local group and it is estimated that it contains up to one trillion stars. It certainly has a larger diameter than our own Milky Way galaxy and light would take 220,000 years to travel across it.

“Not far away in Triangulum is the other large local galaxy known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. It, too, can be seen with binoculars but is a bit further away at three million light years. In ideal conditions it may be possible to see this galaxy with the unaided eye – if you do you can say you have excellent eyesight!

“November is the month of the Leonid meteor shower. These meteors have Comet Tempel–Tuttle as their origin and the shower is best known for its displays which occur at 33-year intervals.

“The Leonid meteor shower has produced some of the most dramatic displays – the one in 1833 being outstanding with thousands of meteors being seen. There is no forecast this year of an outburst of meteors and we may expect to see around 20 per hour near to the maximum which is predicted to be 7pm on November 17. The best times to look will be on the evenings of 16th to 18th but more meteors are always seen after midnight.

“Mercury is not visible during November. Venus is very low in the south-east until around mid-month when it rises only an hour before the sun.

“Mars rises about three hours before the sun and can be seen in the southeast, higher in the sky than Venus, but it is not very bright or impressive as its disc is only four arc seconds in diameter.

“Jupiter is very low in the south-east before sunrise and will be very close to Venus at 6am on November 13. Saturn is lost in the twilight of the setting sun and is not visible during November.

“The moon is full on the 4th, at last quarter on the 10th, new on the 18th and at first quarter on November 26.”