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Do IT this week: Layering
November also brings two meteor showers, one worth staying up late to watch
By David L. Richards
Special to the Beacon Journal
Published on Sunday, Oct 25, 2009
Mercury is at superior conjunction (directly opposite Earth on the other side of the sun) on Nov. 5. Look for Mercury late in the month in the west-southwest in the evening twilight.
Venus rises brilliantly at 5:25 a.m. at magnitude -3.93. Mars is in the Beehive, or Praesepe, in November. Rising at 11:10 p.m. on Nov. 1, it is unremarkable at magnitude .44, but actually very conspicuous among the two dozen stars of the Beehive that shine at magnitudes 6 and 7. The remaining 150 stars in this lovely cluster are much dimmer.
Recently wounded Jupiter rises at 2 p.m. on Nov. 1, and by 7 p.m. stands brightly due south at magnitude -2.44. The gas giant was hit by a comet on July 19, leaving a scar.
Saturn, its ring system edge-on, rises at 3:40 a.m. at magnitude 1.07. Astronomers have found an enormous new ring around the gas giant. Most of its material starts about 3.7 million miles away from the planet and extends outward 7.4 million miles. One of Saturn's farthest moons, Phoebe, lies within the newly found ring. Don't bother looking for it — it is an extremely dim cloud of tiny dust and ice particles.
Uranus is somewhat easy to spot in the right fish of the constellation Pisces. In my 8-inch telescope, it's just a pale green dot, at magnitude 5.77. With good eyes and a dark clear night, you might spot it without any optical aid.
The full moon occurs Nov. 2 and rises at 4:25 p.m. About an hour and a half later, the Pleiades rise in the northeast. Astronomers have known for quite some time that these stars are actually physically near one another in space, rather than just appearing close due to a chance alignment from our viewpoint. These Seven Sisters appear most spectacular in binoculars, or with a very low-power telescope.
Two meteor showers occur in November. The South Taurids peak on Nov. 5 and the meteors are probably debris shed by Comet 2P/Encke. Expect 10 to 20 bright but slow meteors an hour. On Nov. 17, the Leonids peak. Caltech and NASA astronomers predict a significant shower this year, upwards of 500 an hour. While not a repeat of the 2002 storm of 3,000 an hour, it may be well worth staying up past midnight, especially as the waxing crescent moon sets at 6 p.m.
Daylight saving time ends on Nov. 1, so remember to set your clocks back an hour to coincide with the above times.
Q&A
Q: What's a good software program I can put on my computer so I can learn the constellations and stars in the night sky? — A.M., Akron
A: Funny you should ask: I just updated the program I have been using for the last nine years. Starry Night Pro 3.0 was an extremely well-thought-out and useful program, but it is no longer supported, so I can't get updates that show new comets, asteroid positions, etc.
The new $150 Starry Night Pro 6.3 has an amazing array of new features. Unfortunately, my recent experience suggests that the program is too ambitious, consumes too many resources, and has a lot of unnecessary features you would seldom, if ever, use. I had to turn off as many features as possible to just get the program to run properly. But I'm no computer geek, and many people might appreciate this very elaborate program.
I would recommend that you start with Stellarium. This is a free program, and can be downloaded from http://www.stellarium.org. Don't confuse free with cheap; Stellarium is an amazingly great piece of freeware with great support. Let me know what you think.
I still believe the best way to learn the sky is to go outside on a dark night with somebody who knows the stars and constellations. A computer monitor is a poor substitute for a friendly amateur astronomer.
Program
Beginning Nov. 1, the Hoover-Price Planetarium will present Celestial Light at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. The program will look at how cultures around the globe have envisioned the night sky. The planetarium is included with admission to the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. Call 330-455-7043.
David L. Richards is director of the Hoover-Price Planetarium at the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW, Canton, OH 44708, http://www.mckinleymuseum.org. He can be reached at 330-455-7043 or hooverpriceplanetarium@hotmail.com.
Mercury is at superior conjunction (directly opposite Earth on the other side of the sun) on Nov. 5. Look for Mercury late in the month in the west-southwest in the evening twilight.
Get the full article here.
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