November 2022 – What’s Up!

Week of 28th November

• Astronomical twilight ends at 18:04 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 18:02 GMT by the end of the week.
• Mars reaches perigee on Thursday when it will be at its closest point to Earth at just 0.54 AU away compared to its average distance of 1.52 AU. It will appear in the sky at an apparent size of 17.2 arcseconds and magnitude -1.8, much larger and brighter than its more normal apparent size of just 6 arcseconds and mag +0.7. Turn your binoculars or telescope to the planet for the best opportunity to spot the polar ice caps and surface features.
• Both Saturn (+0.8) and Jupiter (-2.6) continue to dominate our southern evening sky.
• The Moon is First Quarter on Wednesday.
• The Sun currently has four active regions: AR 3147, 3149, 3151 & 3152. The sunspot number is 60.
• There are visible evening ISS passes this week as follows:
  Monday 28th: 17:37 (-3.9) W to E, max 84° & 19:14 (-0.8) W, max 17°
  Tuesday 29th: 16:49 (-3.8) W to E, max 87° & 18:25 (-3.4) W to WSW, max 61°
  Wednesday 30th: 17:37 (-3.8) W to ESE, max 87° & 19:13 (-0.8) W, max 17°
  Thursday 1st: 16:48 (-3.8) W to E, max 86° & 18:25 (-3.0) W to SSW, max 46°
  Friday 2nd: 17:36 (-3.4) W to ESE, max 62° & 19:13 (-0.7) W to WSW, max 15°
  Saturday 3rd: 16:47 (-3.6) W to ESE, max 77° & 18:24 (-1.9) W to S, max 25°
  Sunday 4th: 17:35 (-2.3) W to SE, max 36°

Week of 21st November

• Astronomical twilight ends at 18:09 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 18:05 GMT by the end of the week.
• Three bright planets are currently the highlight of our evening sky: Saturn (mag +0.7), Jupiter (-2.7) and Mars (-1.6), which is increasingly well placed for observation as it moves towards opposition in December.
• No Moon provides good dark skies to hunt out deep sky objects; great targets for telescope or binoculars include, from west to east: M15, a globular cluster in Pegasus, M31 (The Andromeda Galaxy) and double star Almach in Andromeda, open clusters NGC 457 (The Owl Cluster) in Cassiopeia, M34 in Perseus, M45 (The Pleiades) in Taurus and M36 in Auriga and finally, M1 (The Crab Nebula), a supernova remnant in Taurus.
• The Moon is New on Wednesday.
• The Sun currently has four active regions: AR 3147, 3148, 3149 & 3150. The sunspot number is 59.
• There are visible evening ISS passes this week as follows:
  Monday 21st: 16:53 (-1.4) SSE to ESE, 12° & 18:27 (-2.8) SW to SSW, 40°
  Tuesday 22nd: 17:39 (-2.8) SW to ESE, 34° & 19:15 (-0.9) W, 18°
  Wednesday 23rd: 16:51 (-2.2) SSW to E, 25° & 18:27 (-3.4) WSW to SW, 61°
  Thursday 24th: 17:38 (-3.6) WSW to E, 60° & 19:15 (-0.9) W, 18°
  Friday 25th: 16:50 (-3.1) SW to E, 45° & 18:26 (-3.4) W, 64°
  Saturday 26th: 17:38 (-3.8) WSW to E, 86° & 19:14 (-0.8) W, 17°
  Sunday 27th: 16:49 (-3.6) WSW to E, 73° & 18:26 (-3.4) W to WNW, 62°

Week of 14th November

• Astronomical twilight ends at 18:16 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 18:10 GMT by the end of the week.
• The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Thursday night. It is not a particularly productive shower with a ZHR of only 13, but it can produce spectacularly energetic meteors as the shower producing debris from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle is orbiting in the opposite direction to the Earth. The Leonids can appear as an intense meteor storm, though this occurs roughly every 33 years and is not expected this year.
• The planets continue to adorn our evening sky with, from east to west: Saturn (mag +0.7), Neptune (+7.9), Jupiter (-2.7), Uranus (+5.6) and the brightening Mars (-1.6) as it moves towards opposition in December.
• The Moon is Last Quarter on Wednesday.
• The Sun currently has three active regions: AR 3140, 3141 & 3145. The sunspot number is 65.
• There are visible evening ISS passes this week as follows:
  Saturday: 18:28, SSW to S, max 21°
  Sunday: 17:40, S to SE, max 18° and 19:15, WSW, max 15°

Week of 7th November

• Astronomical twilight ends at 18:24 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 18:17 GMT by the end of the week.
• Following the recent solar eclipse, there is a lunar eclipse on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it will not be visible from the UK. You need to be in Oceania, the Americas, Asia or parts of Northern Europe to observe this eclipse. The next total lunar eclipse that we will see here in the UK is not until 31st December 2028.
• Uranus (mag +5.6) reaches opposition on Wednesday. Find the Ice Giant in binoculars about half way between Jupiter (-2.7) and Mars (-1.4).
• The Moon is Full on Tuesday.
• The Sun currently has seven active regions: AR 3131, 3135, 3136, 3137, 3139, 3140 & 3141. The sunspot number is 82.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.