The Night Sky in November
Aglance through binoculars at the bright, almost full Moon on the evening of Nov 5, shows that it is close to the V-shaped Hyades open cluster in Taurus. Over the course of the night, and into the morning of Nov 6, the Moon’s disc slowly creeps in front of the stars forming the lower branch of the V.
The bright star Aldebaran, the alpha star of Taurus, is hidden, or occulted, at 2.30am, reappearing again at 3.21am. These times are for the centre of the UK and will vary slightly. Viewing 10 minutes before the stated times will ensure you don’t miss things. Lunar occultations of stars are interesting because the point source stars disappear and reappear instantly against the airless edge of the Moon.
The morning sky offers some interesting sights mid-month. On Nov 13, Venus and Jupiter appear separated by half of the apparent diameter of the Moon, low in the east-southeast an hour before sunrise. A couple of days later, on Nov 15, Mars and a thin waning crescent Moon also appear close, low in the east around 4:30am.
Later on Nov 17, the Leonid meteor shower reaches its peak, with the best activity expected before dawn on Nov 18. For a meteor to qualify as a Leonid, its trail needs to trace back to the head of Leo. This is marked by a distinctive star pattern known as the Sickle. Visual rates are expected to be low this year but with the Moon out of the way, it’s certainly worth a look.
One of the largest constellations visible in the south in the hours running up to midnight is Cetus the Whale. It is tricky to describe, as it is large and sprawling. The whale’s head is marked by a pattern that looks like a misshapen pentagon, towards the east. The brightest star here is orange coloured Menkar, meaning “nostril”. In the whale’s neck is a star called Mira, meaning “wonderful”. This red giant star pulsates, leading to dramatic changes in brightness. At its most brilliant it is a prominent addition to Cetus, easily visible to the naked eye and rivalling the constellation’s brighter stars. When dim, you’ll need a telescope to see it.
Cetus also contains a sci-fi favourite, the star Tau Ceti. It is not especially bright but is easy enough to find within the whale’s body. It captures the imagination because it’s a single, stable G-class star not unlike our Sun. It is about 80 per cent as massive, has 80 per cent the radius and has half the luminosity. It is also thought to have its own solar system with at least five planets.
Cetus shares Taurus’s border, a constellation in which two open clusters define a bull charging east. The face is marked by the Hyades open cluster. As well as being the closest open cluster to Earth, at 625million years, it is also very old.
The second prominent cluster is approximately twice the distance of the Hyades. The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is a delight to see with the naked eye and provides a breathtaking spectacle through a low power instrument like binoculars. The Pleiades is a young cluster, estimated to be 115million years old, formed when dinosaurs roamed the land. The hot, whiteblue stars of the Pleiades vie for your attention on a dark November night.
Photos show the Pleiades stars embedded in blue clouds. This is a reflection nebula, starlight reflecting off sub-micron sized particles in a cosmic dust cloud. Once thought to be a remnant of the cluster’s formation, it is now believed that the Pleiades stars are simply passing through the cloud in their travels around our galaxy.
PETE LAWRENCE