In the Northern Hemisphere, darkness comes quickly and a beautiful meeting of two planets in the west shines after sunset.
The Northern Hemisphere is currently in the midst of fall while the Southern Hemisphere is enjoying spring. The Earth's North Pole continues to tilt farther away from the sun, equalling more hours of sunshine for those in the south and less for those in the north.
Daylight Saving Time Ends and Darkness Increases
For those of us in North America, night has already been falling more quickly, but starting November 2 in Canada and the US, daylight saving time ends and the darkness leaps one hour ahead in the evening. The extra light in the morning is short-lived. By the end of the month the sun will be back to rising almost when it did before you changed the clocks. The sun continues to move south toward December's solstice, when it will seem to rest on the horizon and cease its southward motion. Those in the Northern Hemisphere are seeing the sun take a short track across the sky, and those in the Southern Hemisphere are seeing the sun make cut a longer path across the sky.
The Best and Brightest Conjunction of the Year
A conjunction is when two objects in the sky appear to meet. There are usually only a handful of very close conjunctions a year that also occur at times that make them easy to see. The best conjunction of the year occurs on November 30, when the two brightest planets in the sky come to within two degrees of each other just after sunset.
For the entire month of November, Venus and Jupiter move closer and closer together. On the first day of the month, Venus and Jupiter are still about 30 degrees apart and a thin crescent moon lies not far from Venus. On November 2 the moon will be halfway between the two, and by the next night the moon will sit just below Jupiter in the constellation of Sagittarius. Over the rest of the month, Venus will cross Sagittarius, heading toward Jupiter, although from our view it will appear that Jupiter and all the stars are heading southwest as the winter constellations rise in the east.
On November 30, Venus will be brighter and closer to the horizon with Jupiter just above and to the right. Venus is shining at about magnitude -4 and Jupiter at magnitude -2, which is close to as bright as they get.
Following the conjunction, Jupiter will continue to sink toward the horizon and dim slightly while Venus rises and grows brighter through winter. Venus will dominate the evening sky after sunset for the rest of the winter as it cruises through Capricornus, Aquarius, and finally Pisces.
November's Moon and Meteors
November's full moon, sometimes called the Frost Moon or Beaver Moon, occurs at 1:17 a.m. EST on November 13. It will appear more than 99 percent full on both the 12th and 13th as it rises. On November 13 the moon will be near fall's favorite star cluster, the Pleiades.
Two meteor showers occur in November the week before and after full moon. On Tuesday, November 4, the Southern Taurid meteor shower peaks. This shower, along with the Leonid meteor shower on November 16 and 17, are weaker showers. The last strong meteor shower of the year occurs next month. Unfortunately, this year the Geminids will coincide with the full moon on December 12.
Watch for next month when Venus passes Neptune and Orion returns to dominate the winter sky.
The copyright of the article The Night Sky for November 2008 in Stargazing is owned by Kelly Whitt. Permission to republish The Night Sky for November 2008 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Venus and Jupiter were so close and so bright in the sky this evening, they could easily be mistaken for approaching planes stacked up over
Logan airport!
Nov 20, 2008 7:53 PM
Guest :
Beautiful nature.
Nov 23, 2008 4:26 PM
Guest :
I've just been in the Algarve, so I was lucky to have had the benefit of
clear skies with which to view the two other worlds...its mind boggling!
Nov 24, 2008 11:54 AM
Guest :
From central ND Venus and Jupiter were shining brightly last night. Orion
was almost parallel to the horizon at 9:50pm in the eastern sky. This
morning at 7am, we were able to see a star or planet off to the upper left
of the crescent moon, quite a ways away but very bright....what was it?
Nov 24, 2008 12:47 PM
Kelly Whitt :
On the morning of November 24, there were two stars to the upper left of
the moon. The closest one was Spica in Virgo. But the one I believe you are
referring to because you say it is "quite a ways away" is the
star Arcturus in the constellation Bootes. Arcturus is magnitude -0.05 and
considered the third brightest star in the sky, and second brightest if you
consider only those that can be seen from North Dakota. (Canopus is second
but is a Southern Hemisphere star.) If you follow the curve of the handle
of the Big Dipper, it should also lead you to Arcturus.
Nov 25, 2008 2:45 PM
Guest :
Are you talking about the evening SE sky? If this was Venus and Jupiter
with the moon combined, it appeared as though it were a spacecraft hovering
over Portland, Oregon. I saw 5 bright lights with reflections on the body
of the UFO. As that wasn't strange enough, I saw the image duplicated. I
wasn't high or intoxicated, and the last two nights have been the same.
It's not an airplane, city lights or a space station because it was low in
the sky. If this is the planetary conjuction, it's an awewsome sight. If
not, what was it?
Nov 26, 2008 1:01 AM
Guest :
Venus and Jupiter are AMAZING down here, Souther Hemisphere. We actually
planned a late-spring, already-warm-nights BBQ on Saturday to watch the
Conjunction after sunset. Now, isn't that nice ;o) Cheers to all from
Auckland, New Zealand!
Nov 26, 2008 9:26 AM
Guest :
Thank you Kelly for your response. :-) Is there a site that we can print
off EASY to understand star maps from so we can pick out the
constellations? We usually view the stars and planets between 6pm and
10pm. I would like to find a map that shows what can be seen from our area
here in central ND.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Nov 26, 2008 10:10 AM
Kelly Whitt :
Although I have never printed from this site before, if you go to Weather
Underground http://www.wunderground.com/sky/index.asp and input your zip
code you will get a map of the sky from your location. You can also change
the date and time to suit you. I hope this helps. Happy Thanksgiving
to you too!
Nov 26, 2008 7:06 PM
Guest :
Thank you for this descriptive info regarding the "bright stars"
I admired tonight in the vast Alberta sky tonight. The sky is so fantastic,
touches the heart, brain and soul all at once.
Nov 27, 2008 3:35 AM
Guest :
i'm still a student but i love to look up at the stars every night and
noticed right away the two planets this november... they're just so
beautiful! thanks for the info, now i will be looking forward to november
30... i can't wait! :)
Nov 28, 2008 1:01 AM
Guest :
Saw them this evening in Japan - great.
Nov 28, 2008 3:28 PM
Guest :
My buddy saw these two in the sky and was getting a little worried about it
being aliens(joking of course). But yeah these things are crazy bright
tonight looking up from Niagara Falls, NY. Looks beautiful
Nov 29, 2008 9:58 AM
Guest :
Guest, I am based at a remote desert location 46 kms from anywhere in
Oman and over these last few days have watched the planets of Venus and
Jupiter getting closer and closer. The area is so dark and these
magnificent planets light up the sky for me, I will miss them once they
disappear, I have the meteor showers to look forward to I suppose and the
occasional curious camel calling bye. Have fun you all out
there....Oman Oily Man.
Nov 29, 2008 2:36 PM
Guest :
Venus and Jupiter line dance over Old Orchard Beach in a stunning display.
Southern Maine got lucky.
Nov 29, 2008 3:12 PM
Guest :
The Planets are so bright and appear so close tonight, over southern
ontario, canada (in the city even)
Nov 29, 2008 3:36 PM
Guest :
Just saw them this evening and wondered what they were. Came here to find
out. Suspected one was Venus. So the other is Jupiter. Beautiful. Southern
Ohio.
Nov 29, 2008 5:54 PM
Guest :
we noticed how the two planets rise above the horizon on the Northern
Hemisphere. Jupiter & Venus both appear to shin one as radiant as the
other, but as the night continues Venus while being many times smaller than
Jupiter eat the whole cake!!! by Bat & Bird......
Nov 30, 2008 1:00 PM
Guest :
Whas trying to find more information about two bright lights I saw in
Mansfield, OH on Nov 26, 2008. This was very informative but I would love
to see photos.
Nov 30, 2008 7:36 PM
Guest :
I saw them on the way home from Riverside, California with a awesome
crecent moon
Dec 1, 2008 6:28 PM
Guest :
In Pleasanton, Nebraska tonight 12/2/08 Venus & Jupiter looked great,
beside the "sliver" of a moon! Thank you God for your handiwork!
Dec 2, 2008 5:03 AM
Guest :
Greetings from Grand Cayman, British West Indies (Caribbean). It was
AEWSOME here on Thanksgiving night. I wandered outside for a moment's
reflection and Venus and Jupiter were so low in the sky. Being so far
South of the USA, we hope to see more this week, but a weather front is
upon us so until the clouds clear.........
Oct 24, 2008
