Photo of the Week. An evening wind clears the sky.
Astronomy news for the week starting Friday, November 16, 2007.
Comet
Holmes continues to drift
against the background stars of Perseus, passing opposition to the Sun (such as it is, since Holmes is
rather far north of the ecliptic
plane) on Thursday, November 29, when it will be 2.58
Astronomical Units from the Sun and 1.68 AU from Earth. It's
developed a nice
tail, which appears stubby from foreshortening, since it is
pointed nearly away from the Sun and Earth. Look high in the
northeast in mid-evening.
The Moon, however, will get more and more in the way of comet-
viewing, as it passes first quarter on
Saturday the 17th, then waxes in its gibbous
phase to full on Saturday the 24th,
about the time of moonset (and sunrise) in North America. Less
than half a day before formal full phase, the Moon passes perigee,
where it is closest to Earth. If you are on the coast, watch for
particularly high and low
tides. As it goes, the Moon passes south of Neptune on
Saturday the 17th, then north of Uranus on Monday
the 19th. After waning in the gibbous, last quarter is finally achieved just after our
fortnight ends, on Saturday, December 1. Then be sure to look the
night of Monday the 26th, when the Moon will make a beautiful
pairing with (just above) rising Mars near the
western edge of classical Gemini. The morning of Friday the 30th sees the Moon
just to the west of Regulus in Leo.
Jupiter,
which has been with us for much of the year, is now effectively
lost to twilight. Taking its place is Mars, which at the beginning
of our period rises above the eastern horizon around 7:30 PM, then
dominates the planetary evening until brilliant Venus rises around
3 AM. Look for Venus near Spica
(in Virgo) during the second half
of our period, the planet passing north of the star on Wednesday
the 28th. On the morning of Sunday the 18th, Mars and Venus, which
bracket the Earth, have a crossing of sorts when Mars transits the
meridian just as Venus rises. You can
easily watch Venus climb the southeastern sky as twilight brightens
toward sunrise. In between, Saturn passes
its own divide, as on Thursday the 22nd it crosses over into
evening, rising at local midnight. Finally, Uranus decides to quit
retrograde on Saturday the 24th, when it resumes its easterly
motion against the stars of eastern Aquarius to the south of the Circlet of Pisces.
The famed Leonid
meteor shower peaks the morning of Monday the 19th, but don't
expect much, as the orbiting blob of meteoroids that produced the
immense showers of a few years ago has long since passed.
'Tis the season to admire Pegasus, the Flying Horse, and his attendants. Look
for the Great Square high to
the south around 8 PM. To the north of the horse are Cassiopeia and Cepheus, while to the northeast
are Andromeda and the horse's
master, Perseus. To the southeast,
across Pisces, swims the Cetus,
the Whale or Sea Monster.
