macpuzlBy Chuck McPartlin
The constellations of Autumn, along with Saturn and Jupiter, are setting earlier, but it’s getting dark earlier, too. Venus continues to dazzle low in the SW as it races towards us in its orbit. The Andromeda Galaxy is well-placed nearly overhead, and the bright Winter constellations are rising to prominence.
On Wednesday evening, November 10, the nearly FQ Moon will lie between Saturn and Jupiter in the S. On Thursday, look for the Lunar X formed by newly illuminated crater rims along the terminator between about 2:15 PM PST and 4:50 PM PST.
The Moon will undergo a deep penumbral eclipse starting nearly overhead in Taurus, near the Pleiades, at 11:18 PM PST on November 18. Deepest eclipse, with 97% of the Moon in the Earth’s umbra, will be at 01:03 AM PST November 19. A tiny sliver at the lunar southern pole will remain in the brighter penumbra. The umbra will exit the Moon at 02:47 AM PST.
The International Space Station will be making some nice visible evening passes between November 15 and November 24. Its orbit may change from time to time, so to get the latest and most complete predictions, visit Heavens Above.
On Monday, November 15, the station will make a low pass starting in the S at 6:22 PM PST, and enter the Earth’s shadow after passing below lonely Fomalhaut in the SSE at 6:23 PM.
Tuesday’s first pass will skim very low over our ocean horizon, starting at 5:34 PM in the SSE, and entering our shadow at 5:37 PM in the ESE, below the waxing gibbous Moon. It will pop up again briefly in the WSW at 7:09 PM, vanishing at 7:10 PM in Scutum.
The brightest pass of this sequence will commence on Wednesday at 6:20 PM in the SW, going by brilliant Venus, between the Summer Triangle and Pegasus, and fading away high overhead near the Andromeda Galaxy in the ENE at 6:24 PM.
On Thursday, the ISS will rise at 5:31 PM in the SSW, cruising below Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter, then above the Moon, and fade out in the ENE at 5:37 near the sparkling Pleiades. It will return for a short jaunt in the WNW at 7:09 PM, climbing into the Keystone of Hercules before disappearing.
Friday’s pass will be a higher and longer repeat, starting at 6:19 PM in the W and continuing through the Keystone, across Draco and the bowl of the Little Dipper, and ending in the N below Polaris at 6:23 PM.
On Saturday, November 20, we’ll get a bright pass rising at 5:30 PM in the WSW in Ophiuchus, going by bright Vega, between Cepheus and Draco, and setting near bright Capella low in the NE at 5:36 PM.
For Sunday, the space station will make a low pass along our mountains, starting at 6:19 PM in the WNW, and ending in the N at 6:22 PM.
Monday’s pass will be higher and longer, appearing at 5:29 PM in the W, and disappearing at 5:34 PM in the NNE.
The last pop-up will be on Wednesday, very low in the NNW at 5:30 PM, lasting a minute.
The ISS will be back in our evening skies in early December.
Ah sweet eclipse coming! I always love those article headlines that pop up as they approach like “how to watch this weekends eclipse” when all you need to do is go outside, look at the part of the sky with the moon hahaha. They get paid by the word so they need plenty of filler.