Greetings Star Gazers!
Orbax here.
I’m a Science Communicator from the Department of Physics at the University of Guelph and I’m here to fill you in on what our November night skies hold for the Astro-curious out there, young and old.
November may seem a little slow in the night sky to most people after last month’s partial solar eclipse but here’s the thing, by month’s end (and after daylight saving) we’ll be looking at nearly 15 hours a day of darkness. Even though cloud cover can often be a menace to late autumn/early winter star gazing, surely there’s room to spot something incredible!
This month offers many chances for some memorable moments and we cover a lot of it in this month’s video Star Gazing Guide. Autumn constellations are huge in the sky and easy to spot, as are the planets! Jupiter and Saturn are high and visible almost immediately after sunset and lasting well into the evening, with notable viewings on Nov 3rd for the brightest Jupiter you’ll see all year and on Nov 24th when the nearly Full Moon and Jupiter will be side-by-side throughout the evening.
I know I’m always telling you about meteor showers, and I also know that they’re often hard to see. Late night viewing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and, more often than not, the Moon and city lights will block most of your view. On the evening of Nov 17th, however, you may be in for a treat. The Leonids meteor shower promises 15 meteors an hour, radiating from the constellation Leo in the East. Now while your best viewing is after midnight, the moon will have set by 8pm meaning that the sky will be nice and dark and you may have a chance to see some shooting stars well before midnight!
I hope you enjoy this month’s Star Gazing Guide. If you want to learn more, check out the November Star Gazing Guide video on the Guelph Physics YouTube channel. Not only is Star Gazing a great way to learn about space, planets and the stars but it’s also a great way to spend time with other curious minds.
Until next month I hope you take some time… to look up.
