November 2021 – What’s Up!

Week of 29th November

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:04 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:02 GMT by the end of the week
  • Venus (mag -4.7), in waning crescent phase, is low in our southwestern evening sky around sunset, setting itself at around 18:40
  • On Saturday, there is a total solar eclipse, but unfortunately for us, it is only visible from Antarctica. A partial solar eclipse will be visible across parts of the southern hemisphere
  • The Moon is New on Saturday
  • The Sun currently has 3 active regions: AR2898, AR2899 and AR2900. The sunspot number is 53
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week as follows:
    Monday: 17:40, W to E, max 84° and 19:16, W, max 17°
    Tuesday: 16:52, W to E, max 88° and 18:29, W, max 57°
    Wednesday: 17:42, W to ESE, max 87° and 19:19, W, max 16°
    Thursday: 16:55, W to E, max 86° and 18:32, W to SW, max 44°
    Friday: 17:44, W to SE max 61° and 19:22, W to WSW, max 13°
    Saturday: 16:57, W to ESE, max 75° and 18:34, W to SSW, max 25°
    Sunday: 17:47, W to SE, max 34°

Week of 22nd November

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:08 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:04 GMT by the end of the week
  • Five planets stretch across the ecliptic, starting in the West with Venus (mag -4.6), then Saturn (+0.7), Jupiter (-2.3), Neptune (+7.9) and in the East, Uranus (+5.7)
  • Two dwarf planets are also in our sky: Pluto (+14.4) in the West and Ceres (+7.2) in the East in Taurus. Ceres reaches opposition on Saturday and is also at perigee, its closest point to Earth, making it appear at its brightest
  • Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) is in our early morning sky, moving East between Ursa Major and Leo. It is currently at mag +8.5, but estimated to reach +7.4 by Sunday and brighter through early December. Could Leonard impress the early risers? It is highest in the sky before dawn at around 05:00 to 06:00 GMT. It is not in our sky for long as it moves south, below our horizon by mid December
  • The Moon is Last Quarter on Saturday
  • The Sun currently has 2 active regions: AR2896 and AR2897. The sunspot number is 22
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week as follows:
    Monday: 16:46, SE, max 10° and 18:19, SW to S, max 39°
    Tuesday: 17:33, SSW to ESE, max 30° and 19:06, WSW, max 21°
    Wednesday: 16:46, SSW to E, max 22° and 18:22, WSW to SSW, max 66°
    Thursday: 17:35, WSW to E, max 55° and 19:11, W, max 20°
    Friday: 16:48, SW to E max 41° and 18:24, W, max 71°
    Saturday: 17:37, WSW to E, max 83° and 19:14, W, max 18°
    Sunday: 16:50, WSW to E, max 71° and 18:27, W to WNW, max 62°

Week of 15th November

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:14 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:09 GMT by the end of the week
  • On Tuesday there is a shadow transit of Ganymede across the disk of Jupiter (mag -2.4). The transit starts at 19:08 GMT and finishes at 22:36 GMT. Find Jupiter in the southwest at about 15° altitude
  • Wednesday sees the peak of the Leonid meteor shower. The ZHR is around 15 meteors, but this will be impeded by the bright 98% full Moon. The shower is caused by debris deposited by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
  • On Friday morning there is a partial lunar eclipse; the Moon will enter the Earth’s penumbra at 06:03 GMT. Unfortunately, the majority of the eclipse will not be visible from Marlborough as the Moon sets at 07:31 GMT
  • The Moon is Full on Friday
  • The Sun currently has 3 active regions: AR2893, AR2894 and AR2895. The sunspot number is 24
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week as follows:
    Friday: 19:08, SW to SSW, max 11°
    Saturday: 18:23, SSW to S, max 21°
    Sunday: 17:39, S to ESE, max 17° and 19:14, WSW to WSW, max 17°

Week of 8th November

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:23 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:16 GMT by the end of the week
  • The waxing Moon passes the planets through this week, making its close approach to Venus (mag -4.5) on Monday at sunset as a thin crescent, Saturn (+0.6) on Wednesday when 41% illuminated and Jupiter (-2.4) on Thursday when it will be First Quarter. On Saturday it will be near to Neptune (+7.9), but this pairing will be hard to spot, even in binoculars as the Moon will be 73% illuminated at mag -10.7
  • Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, famous for the Rosetta mission and successful Philae lander in 2014, is at its brightest this week, though still only at mag +10. On Tuesday it is located about 2° below Pollux, heading southeast
  • The Moon is First Quarter on Thursday
  • The Sun currently has 3 active regions: AR2891, AR2893 and AR2894. The sunspot number is 41
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week

Week of 1st November

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:33 GMT at the start of the week and at 18:24 GMT by the end of the week
  • Venus (mag -4.4) is visible close to the southwestern horizon around sunset, setting itself at about 18:30 GMT
  • Saturn (+0.6) and Jupiter (-2.5) are in our southwestern evening sky. On Monday, Saturn sets at 22:21 GMT and Jupiter sets at 23:48 GMT
  • Uranus (+5.7) is at opposition on Thursday. Find the planet in the southeast at an altitude of about 40°. You will need binoculars or a small telescope to see Uranus
  • The Taurid meteor shower peaks on Thursday. It is a minor shower with a ZHR of only 5 to 10 meteors, but it can produce spectacular fireballs. Unusually, the shower is caused by two debris streams, the first from Asteroid 2004-TG10 and the second from Comet 2P/Enke
  • The Moon is New on Thursday
  • The Sun currently has 4 active regions: AR2887, AR2889, AR2891 and AR2892. There is a further active region emerging around the oncoming limb, as yet un-numbered. The sunspot number is 76
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week
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