by Alan M. MacRobert, Sky and Telescope MagazineSome daily events in the changing sky for November 20 – 28.
Watch the waxing Moon creep up on Jupiter from night to night. (This scene is drawn for the middle of North America. European observers: move each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for the previous date. The blue 10° scale is about the size of your fist held at arm's length.)
Friday, November 20
Asteroid occultation. Tonight the faint asteroid 234 Barbara occults a 7.5-magnitude star west of Procyon as seen from parts of central Florida, the southern UK, northern Germany, and Russia. Finder charts, times, and other information. Scotty Degenhardt is coordinating the timing campaign in Florida; see his web page for this event.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross Jupiter's central meridian around 6:14 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The "red" spot is pale orange-tan, so a light blue or green filter helps improve its contrast. The Red Spot transits about every 9 hours 56 minutes; for all of the Red Spot's central-meridian crossing times, good worldwide, use our Red Spot calculator or our list for the rest of 2009.
Starting a little later, Jupiter's biggest moon, Ganymede, casts its tiny black shadow onto Jupiter's face: from 7:03 to 10:37 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Saturday, November 21
In the western twilight, the crescent Moon shines about two fist-widths to the lower right of Jupiter, as shown above.
Sunday, November 22
Jupiter shines left of the Moon this evening, as shown above. Look right of the Moon for Alpha and Beta Capricorni. Alpha is a naked-eye double star for the sharp-eyed. Beta is also a wide double, but here the secondary star is dim enough (magnitude 6.2) that you'll need binoculars.
Jupiter's Red Spot transits around 7:53 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Monday, November 23
Jupiter shines just below the Moon this evening.
Watch in a telescope as Jupiter's moon Ganymede occults Europa from 7:31 to 7:40 p.m. EST. They'll appear to merge and then separate as the minutes before and after tick by. For a complete list of such mutual events among Jupiter's satellites visible from North America through the end of the year, see the October Sky & Telescope, page 56.
An hour later, watch Jupiter's moon Europa reappear from eclipse out of Jupiter's shadow, just east of the planet, at 8:41 p.m. EST.
Tuesday, November 24
First-quarter Moon (exact at 4:39 p.m. EST).
Jupiter's moon Io occults Europa from 8:19 to 8:24 p.m. EST.
Wednesday, November 25
Jupiter's Red Spot transits around 8:23 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Thursday, November 26
The Moon shines high in the south after dinnertime. Look above it for the Great Square of Pegasus. Your fist at arm's length will fit inside the Square.
Friday, November 27
Jupiter's moon Io casts its shadow onto Jupiter's face from 7:36 to 9:52 p.m. EST.
Jupiter's Red Spot transits around 7:03 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Saturday, November 28
Look left of the waxing gibbous Moon this evening for the stars of the little constellation Aries. |
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