{"id":25940,"date":"2021-10-31T08:06:03","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T08:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=101195"},"modified":"2021-10-31T08:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T08:33:10","slug":"star-diary-podcast-whats-in-the-night-sky-novmember-2021","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-podcast-whats-in-the-night-sky-novmember-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary Podcast: What\u2019s in the night sky, Novmember 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Ezzy Pearson\n                \t\t<\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Sunday, 31 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>In November 2021 it\u2019s time to look out for the planets: Venus is still moving through the morning sky, Jupiter and Saturn march on in the evenings, and Uranus might just be visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately it looks like the Leonid meteor shower will be a wash out, but there\u2019s plenty of occultations and conjunctions to look out for over the month of November 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"&quot;embed&quot;\"> <div class=\"&quot;embed__intrinsic&quot;\"> <iframe src=\"&quot;\/\/embed.acast.com\/radio-astronomy\/stardiary-what-sinthenightsky-november2021&quot;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"\" mozallowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"&quot;0&quot;\"\/> <\/div>\n<\/div> <h1>\u00a0Transcript<\/h1>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Greetings listeners and welcome to Radio Astronomy\u2019s Guide to the best thing to see in the night sky in November 2021. I\u2019m as a person and I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by reviews editor Paul Money.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Hi Ezzy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Hello. And today you\u2019re going to be telling us all the best sights that we can catch in the northern hemisphere over the month of November. So, Paul, what are your recommendations for this month?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Well, would you believe it? We\u2019re going to start with an ending.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>With an ending?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Sounds a bit of an oddity, doesn\u2019t it? Sort of thinking as the thinking, what on earth is he on about? But last month, towards the end of October, we actually had Mercury move up into the morning sky, into the morning twilight. Now this is one of the best apparitions of Mercury in the morning sky because they do vary throughout the years. It does appear in the morning sky, usually two to three times, but usually only one of them is really good. And this is the one that\u2019s really good. So he started in October, but now it finishes and it finishes on a bit of a high note because Mercury\u2019s always brightest in the morning sky at the end of its actual apparition. So this is the time now during November, the first couple of weeks of November to actually grab the elusive Inner planet. They say elusive, though, you know a but in actual fact, it is a naked eye planet. He\u2019s just a case of looking out at the right time, and you can spot it low down in the twilight as long as you look at the right sort of time. So it look around about half an hour to three quarters an hour after sunset. So sunrise, I should say. But if you do this at sunset, you\u2019ve done it wrong. This time again, it is. So when it\u2019s a morning one make you look in the morning sky. But yeah, this one, I say it\u2019s I always I don\u2019t get many of them because I have a very poor east southeast horizon. And so things, I\u2019ve got a lot of stuff that gets in the way, which is a shame. So you do need an uncluttered east southeast horizon, really to get the best out of this. But Mercury\u2019s greatest elongation on October 25th, so greatest elongation is the furthest it gets from the Sun before it starts to drift back towards the solar glare. So when we\u2019re in November, you know, we actually have it on that sort of downward slide, but it\u2019s still well placed to observe nearly for two weeks. And we have a really good guide because anybody who likes following the Moon will actually have the a very slim crescent moon on November the 3rd actually guide you to Mercury. Mercury will be below like the lower left of the crescent moon. And, of course, the crescent moon itself. You know, it\u2019s gorgeous to see the Earth shine on it as well. So we got mercury there and you\u2019ve got the crescent moon with Earthshine to glow above it on November 3rd and at the same time, nearly parallel and slightly to the right actually of making will have the stars Spica. So I say, as some say, Spicer. I\u2019m always Spicer myself sort of thing don\u2019t mean I\u2019m into the spice of life or anything like that, but it it\u2019s how people people pronounce it isn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>I\u2019m Spik-a myself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Yeah, it is. It\u2019s a bit of a nightmare getting it right because, you know, we haven\u2019t got the language left from those days of how it is actually pronounced. We didn\u2019t have recordings in them days.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>people probably pronounce it differently back then as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>I wouldn\u2019t be surprised at all. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we\u2019ve all got it completely wrong. And if somebody from, you know, ancient Greece could actually listen to us now, they\u2019d probably well, it probably wouldn\u2019t last sort of thing that just go. Modern civilisation, hey, you know? But yeah, so Spicer is actually Alpha Virginia. So when he emerges back into the sky, it does mean that sort of like Virgo is creeping back into the morning sky as well. So look at that from the November 3rd. Spica or be just the lower right of the Moon, whereas mercury to the lower left. So, you know, so mercury continues down, though. I mean, it is bright. It\u2019s around about minus nought point eight. So when is it decent brightness to catch it. And so it gradually drops down towards the horizon and you might get a chance, Now this is a harder job, but you might get a chance to spot Mars emerging into the actual morning twilight as well, because Mars will have gone through solar conjunction during October. So this is the time to catch Mercury and Mars together, and you want to be looking around the 10th and 11th. So if you can still see Mercury on the 10th and 11th, Look out for another star quite close to it, and that will be actually Mars as well. And you need to be doing all this sort of thing to say around about half an hour, three quarters an hour before sunrise. Get it right this time and you know and look roughly towards the south. A sort of thing for it in the in the bright twilight, but that\u2019s a good way of a month with an ending, as murky comes the end of its last good morning operation for 2021, so it\u2019s always like to catch Mercury and I mean, I\u2019ve struggled this year. The weather has been so rubbish, you know, I am. We aren\u2019t really out as many good nights as we normally have all good mornings, so it\u2019s been a real shame.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>It\u2019s what makes astronomy so challenging. You have to keep an eye out and grab those clear nights when you can.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Exactly. I mean, you know, it is something that you can\u2019t ignore. If he\u2019s going to be clear, although I have to say the weather man\u2019s version of clear in our version and clearer are obviously two different definitions because too often I\u2019ve seen l\u201dYes, and tonight there will be clear periods or it\u2019ll be cleared completely\u201d when I go out and there\u2019s haze. Nice Halo Nice halo around the Moon, Mind you, that\u2019s always nice to say, I think, but it\u2019s a bad sign if you see a halo around the Moon because it usually means it\u2019s pretty grotty for anything else. Usually deep sky is wiped out. So actually interesting through haze planets aren\u2019t too bad. Obviously, they\u2019re brighter, so that\u2019s actually something to bear in mind. You know, if it is hazy, don\u2019t give up. If there\u2019s a planet about if there\u2019s a planet, about plan to observe it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Yeah, there\u2019s there\u2019s usually there\u2019s usually something that you can get out and observe. You just might have to adapt your observing schedule based on what nature\u2019s deciding to do that month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Exactly. It\u2019s, you know, so we make the best of the of the weather, you know, so if it is hazy, don\u2019t worry. So there\u2019s something you might be able to do. I like seeing the lunar halo is quite pretty, and sometimes you get what we call moon dogs. The same as sun dogs. So but they happen for either side of the Moon, about 22 degrees away, so they\u2019re worth looking out for. I haven\u2019t seen many and I\u2019m photographed many, but I have actually seen them. They\u2019re quite interesting, but they they have to be quite intense to actually spot them. Now Venus is still there. I mean, we\u2019ve said this, I think for the last, heaven knows how many months, but in the evening twilight, Venus still lingers. And it\u2019s one of those aperations where it was mentioned about Mercury having a really good operation in the morning sky. And Mercury does the same thing in the evening as well. It has one particularly good aperation that\u2019s good, and that\u2019s usually in the\u00a0 March, April, May period. If you get Mercury in the evening sky, then it\u2019s really good. But if you get them in this period times of October, November and early December, then you have a bit of a problem because the ecliptic is very shallow to the horizon. So in actual fact, anything that\u2019s lying along the ecliptic actually set quite quickly, but it lingers there very low down all the time in evening twilight. And so Venus is still there and it will still be there over November and into December as well. So he\u2019s lingering, but there\u2019s a strange effect takes place now because as we go through the month of November, the ecliptic begins to slowly steepen a little. And what that does, it means Venus actually improves. You think after all this time, as it\u2019s beginning to recede back to the Sun because it\u2019s past greatest elongation as well. Then it should ask you to think it gets worse. But it\u2019s a quirk of nature that because the ecliptic slowly gets steeper because of the tilt of the Earth and of course, then how we\u2019re moving around the Sun. But it actually improves the visibility of Venus. But it also means Jupiter and Saturn stay visible as well. Venus is catching up. Hasn\u2019t quite reached them yet, but it is catching them up. So when we start on November. The first thing Venus is quite a long distance away from Jupiter and Saturn and low down. By the time we get to the end of the month, Then Venus is closer. In fact, Saturn is almost piggy in the middle between it and Jupiter. So it shows you the motion of the Solar System sort of thing, how things are slowly moving and the inner planets are gradually catching up with the outer giants as well. So it\u2019s always an interesting thing about this ecliptic. The fact that, you know, this is what\u2019s causing Venus to stay visible, you know, and not go. You\u2019d think if it\u2019s that low, it must be close to setting and\u00a0 getting out of the way. But now it\u2019s going to stay around for a few months yet. So thing is determined to stay with us, I\u2019ll tell you Ezzy. So here we have an actual event so that Venus is visible for the time being. Now they all stay visible all month. There\u2019s one or two events we\u2019ll come to in a moment, but as we move through the month itself, we get to November 5th. Yes, I know November 5th, very auspicious night. There\u2019ll be lots of fireworks going on, which actually coincides nicely with the, I believe our November issue has an interesting article about how to observe during fireworks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Well, it does, absolutely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>This is the key because November 5th the planet Uranus comes to opposition and opposition is when the planet is opposite the Sun. In the sky, which means as the sun sets, the planet rises, and it means also that the planet is visible all night long. It\u2019s technically naked Eye. It\u2019s usually about magnitude five point six to five point eight, so that\u2019s bordering naked eye. But you do need dark skies, no light pollution, no city lights or anything like that. And a good star chart, which of course, we have in our monthly charts anyway. So you know, we can find it if you\u2019re clear. I have seen it naked eye, but now I wear glasses. I have to say that\u2019s gone out the window , which is a great shame, but it doesn\u2019t take much optical magnification to make it visible. So even small binoculars, you\u2019ll be able to find the planet Uranus. So it\u2019s the opposition. Then on 5th November, not a really good night to actually have an opposition itself.\u00a0 A few years ago, my sister asked me to take her. Well, we went with her children to watch a big fireworks display, but it was a really clear night. And what was I doing? I was watching Jupiter rise over in the East because it was so bright and it was just a gorgeous sight. So there we are at the fireworks going off all around us. Nice, bright, big display music going on in the background. And they were wondering what I was doing. I was pointing out, Look, there is Jupiter and said, we\u2019re here for the fireworks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>So I think that is a good for that. But because I know a lot of astronomers, they get a bit annoyed by the fireworks because it puts out all of this kind of haze and sort of gunpowder residue in the air means it\u2019s quite difficult to observe. But there is still stuff you can see. You can still see the Moon. Well, if it ends up, then and you can still see Jupiter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Exactly. They\u2019re not really brightest stuff you can do. But yes, we do get a bit annoyed, almost put up into the atmosphere sort of thing because you can guarantee that there\u2019s something you want to watch, particularly and the haze drifts over it and spoils the view. Or there\u2019s a bright flash. Just imagine looking through it. I mean, it\u2019s not happened to me, but looking through a telescope and a firework goes up through the field of view and explodes. And that wouldn\u2019t be very nice, would it? You\u2019d think you\u2019d found a supernova going off. But so that was November 5th then for Uranus at opposition, I say it is actually quite easy to spot if you know where, and even small binoculars will actually show it extremely well. It\u2019s actually in\u00a0 Aries at the moment. And it\u2019s not to fight between 29 area 2s and Omicron area as well, so that\u2019s a nice way to find out if you\u2019ve got your star charts out. She should find it, but I say it is a reasonably bright planet. It\u2019s just not naked eye for most people. But if you\u2019ve got keen eyesight, you might just spot it if you got really dark skies, but just watch out for the fireworks going off at the same time. Now, moving into the month we just get back to Venus because on November the 7th, just a couple of days later in the evening, we have the crescent moon. And of course, the Crescent Moon isn\u2019t just seen in the morning, its seen in the evening skies as well, because obviously the moon orbits around the Earth. So it\u2019s do we get to see it to all times of night, depending on its phase. So he\u2019s back into the evening sky by November the 7th, and he\u2019s quite a decent crescent and it\u2019ll be to the right of Venus. Now you shouldn\u2019t really need the crescent moon to find Venus. Yes, probably the brightest planet out of the whole lot, but it does help when he adds to the spectacle. And then the next night, the Moon on November 8th, is the other side of Venus. So swapped sides with Planet. The Planet effectively plays piggy in the middle again because of the Moon one side, and then the next night, the Moon is the other side. So I say you shouldn\u2019t really need the Moon as a guide to get Venus, but it will be a pretty sight. And I\u2019m nowadays asked as smartphones are so amazing and what they can capture sort of thing. So, you know, you can use your smartphone to capture the Moon. In theory, if you manage to capture the actual picture of the Moon on the 7th with the Venus and on 8th,\u00a0 you could merge them together to show the Moon on either side. That would be an interesting project, something different to do. Now mention that Venus is gradually catching up with Jupiter and Saturn, and that means we have three major planets in the evening sky. Four if you count Uranus and of course, Neptune is off as well, but it\u2019s a lot fainter, so won\u2019t really cover Neptune this month. But on November the 10th \u2013 11th, we have the Moon again getting closest directly below Saturn on November 10th. This is in the evening sky and you don\u2019t have to look in the Twilight. You can leave it until a bit later so the sky is darker. But on 11th, the Moon is a first quarter, so it looks like a half moon and that night its directly below Jupiter sort of thing. So again, you shouldn\u2019t need the Moon to find these planets, but if you\u2019re not very familiar with the night sky near you, still, if you perhaps just into astronomy, just gettin into it. I mean, you\u2019re not you\u2019re not going to know these objects very well. So if you know the on the 10th, the moon is directly below Saturn you can look at and Saturn and Jupiter outshine any of the stars in the constellation they\u2019re in at the moment, which is Capricornus. So, you know, it outshines them. So, you know, with the Moon below it, you can easily spot which is Saturn and which you Jupiter. Jupiter will be the bright planet to the left of Saturn, but I say on the 11th the first quarter moon will be directly belowJupiter. So you can\u2019t mistake them. So that\u2019s another nice one to actually watch. And again, we with binoculars, if you can\u2019t, if you got nice low power binoculars, are particularly good you should just get them both in the same field of view for both Jupiter and Saturn, ah sorry, the Moon and Saturn and the Moon and Jupiter as well. So nice to spot them. And at the moment, Jupiter and Saturn are still reasonably close. But over the coming years, the gap will get significantly bigger as Jupiter moves away from Saturn. I always say Jupiter moves about one constellation per year, so you know, it\u2019s in Capricornus at the moment. It\u2019ll be an Aquarius next year, so it steadily moves further away, sort of thing. Saturn is much slower because it\u2019s further away from us as well. Now when we get to the 19th, we have a few gaps and I\u2019ll mention the Leonids a little bit later on because the meteor shower. But November the 19th again, unlike when planets are right next to stars because the planet, if it\u2019s a bright planet, will guide you to a star you probably won\u2019t look at or haven\u2019t played a lot of attention to. On November the 19th, we actually get that because Venus, we\u2019re back to Venus in the evening. I\u2019m trying to keep them nice and convenient, sort of thing because they\u2019re in the evening sky for us. But the thing is, Venus is right next to the star Nunci sort of thing, Sigma Sagittarii. And so it\u2019s I mean, literally it\u2019s in a telescopic field of view. So I think it\u2019s that close. So, you know, binoculars might just separate them, but a small telescope will be really good to actually spot them. So I say it\u2019s a real nice photo opportunity, and I like it when you know planets are right next to a bright star because they guide you to the star. And these conjunctions, you know, look really, really good sort of thing. So. And so one thing I like to point out conjunctions in the night sky we can actually spot now later that night. And this is one of the things sometimes you get a run of events on on the on the same evening later that evening, The Moon is actually full, so you know, it\u2019ll be very bright. It\u2019ll overwhelm the vast majority of stars. But on the evening, things so give it another few hours, something around about eight to 10 o\u2019clock. So we find the Moon lies directly between the Pleiades, M45, the Seven Sisters star cluster and the Hyades, which is the V shape of the head of the Bull, Taurus the Bull. And of course, we\u2019ve got Aldebaran, which is the orange, bright orange star. The eye, I always say the red eye, the bull, but it\u2019s more orange to my eyes. So the Moon lies exactly between them. So, you know, if you look at the moon and then you see a little hazy patch above. Use binoculars to make it clear, but you\u2019ll see a hazy patch above, which is the Pleiades star cluster. And then\u2026 Naked eye, the Hyades are quite bright. So well worth having a look at, and you can see the two. So I always think Taurus is a funny constellation because essentially it\u2019s mainly made up of clusters, you know, two big clusters of the main features within that constellation. So there we are now. We\u2019ll come back to Taurus in a short while, but let\u2019s swap to the morning sky again. We have to do a few of the mornings because what people do, we do get up that way and people do get up to walk the dog.\u00a0 But on the morning of November the 22nd, we have another circumstance where there\u2019s a planet next to an an interesting star. In this particular case, I\u2019ll think, because it\u2019ll be a double star. This is Mars. So we\u2019re in the morning twilight zone. Look around about 6:30 in the morning, low down towards the east southeast. Grab Mars. Mars will be the brighter of the group, but, Alpha Libra, Zubin al-Janabi, that\u2019s a mouthful, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Yeah, it\u2019s definitely a name.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>But the thing about it is it\u2019s actually a nice wide double in telescopes, you know? It\u2019s one of those showpiece is sort of thing with a slightly fainter companion and Mars will be right next to it. In fact, Mars will make it look like a triple star. So this is an unusual circumstance in a telescope. Binoculars will show them only just but really a telescope is best for this, and you can actually see Mars next. It\u2019ll be joining Alpha Libra. And it will look like as if it\u2019s a triple star instead of a double star and \u201ccatch it for one morning only folks\u201d cuase after that mars is gone, you know, because Mars moves on a past the actual star itself and Mars\u2019s moving. Of course, the stars aren\u2019t, except for their usual rotation around the Earth because of the turning of the Earth itself. But Mars itself has its own motion in the Solar System. So one night, only one morning only grabbed Mars next to Alpha Libra. So about 6:30 the time I would actually look for that. That\u2019s November, the 22nd the morning object. Now we just flip back to Jupiter because I like these conjunctions, tsay mentioning planets next to stars. And as it happens, sometimes because of the motion of the planets you have to remember, we have the retrograde loop effect whereby an outer planets appears to do this sort of slight loop in the sky. And if that occurs close to a reasonably bright star, then effectively you get often three conjunctions, a maximum of three conjunctions with that star. And as it happened, the final one for Jupiter with Delta Capricorni takes place on November the 23rd. So the next evening, in actual fact, this is the third and final conjunction of it for what we call this Jovian year. So you\u2019ll have to wait another 12 odd years for it to actually go around the sun again, sort of thing and then come back to the same spot in the sky. So this is the third and final conjunction between Delta Capricorn and Jupiter itself. I mean, Jupiter has been lingering near the star for a while, and in fact, it was closest around about four days earlier, so around about the 18th-19th. But it\u2019s just a quirk of nature that we call a proper conjunction is when it\u2019s lined up with the right ascension. The coordinates of the right ascension actually match for the star and the planet itself. But we do tend to use conjunction quite loosely. I have to admit a lot of amateur astronomers if their object is next to a star that\u2019s generally considered, it\u2019s in conjunction. But if we were really, really strict, November 23rd is when Jupiter is in conjunction with Delta Capricorn II. Now we have a chance to see a Dwarf Planet, and we turn back now to Taurus the Bull and the Hyades and Aldebaran because Ceres, this dwarf planet. it got changed. I mean, it felt really good for Pluto, got demoted. Ceres got promoted. Ceres series went from a minor planet to a dwarf planet sort of thing. You know, I mean, dwarf a minor. The narrative almost the same thing, really. It sounds very similar anyway.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>I always have to look at which one means which.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>I know it\u2019s not like it\u2019s one. What I mean, I still prefer the term asteroid sort of thing, you know? But yeah, but it\u2019s just one of those things that you see. I\u2019m an oldie. But the thing about dwarf planet Ceres is it\u2019s actually opposition towards the end of the month on the 27th. But let\u2019s have a quick look at Ceres now because it is an easy object to get in binoculars. magnitude seven and ideal around opposition, both during November. And she passes through the Hyades and on the night of November, the 2nd 3rd. We\u2019ve actually got it right next to Aldebaran, so we have another Solar System body right next door, an incredibly bright star. Now, I can\u2019t remember a time when in all the years I\u2019ve been observing, I can\u2019t remember a time when a minor planet that I\u2019ve observed the minor planet, sorry dwarf planet. Oh gosh, I\u2019m getting it wrong myself, but right next to a really bright star such as Aldebaran. So that\u2019ll be quite something to watch out for. And again, it\u2019s nice if you can get because it\u2019s a reasonably bright object. This Ceres, you can take a series of photographs and you get a roll of clear nights. Oh, I\u2019ve got to make myself laugh now. Run of clear nights. What? What\u2019s that? Does that actually happen? It does sometimes it does sometimes. But if you got a run of nights from November the second through to November the 20th, you could take a sequence of photographs. They don\u2019t have to be detailed. Long exposures, a simple, short exposure 10- 20 seconds could actually do it. You could pick up Ceres night after night moving through the Hyades cluster and then again, you could layer them. We\u2019ve done these in our astro processing fate. His whereby we\u2019ve shown how to layer these and show something actually moving in the sky. So this should be a good chance to test that out. So Ceres moves through the Hyades and and leaves the Hyades around about November 20th \u2013 21st. Then it reaches opposition on the 27th. So therefore it just like Uranus it\u2019s visible all night long. So we\u2019ll be able to see it all the time. And I say it\u2019s a nice one for binoculars. It\u2019s not quite the brightest of the minor world. Vesta does that the best reason available at the moment, but certainly Ceres is so definitely go for Ceres this particular time. Now finally, we usually would mention the Leonid meteor shower, which occurred on the 17th and 18th. Unfortunately, this year, it\u2019s actually compromised by the Moon. So, you know, there\u2019s a lot of moonlight and unfortunately, the Moon\u2019s in the morning sky. And really for the Leonids, Leo, the constellation rises late in the night sort of thing and gets to its highest around about three,four o\u2019clock in the morning. Unfortunately, the Moon is still up at that time, so it will look flood the sky with light, so it\u2019ll spoil of you. It won\u2019t wipe them out completely. He\u2019s always worth looking out just in case we\u2019ve got a clear morning from the 17th into the 18th. It\u2019s worth looking out, but you need to keep your expectations realistic because the normal rate is anywhere from 80 to 100 something because Leonids can be good because every three years they have a spectacular outburst. Well, we\u2019re nowhere near that. But you know it\u2019s worth looking at. You never know. You might get the odd one particularly bright. So you know it\u2019s worth looking, but just keep your expectations realistic. You know, the moonlight is going to dim a lot of them, so you\u2019re only going to see the very brightest when they actually occur.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>It\u2019s not been a very good year for meteor showers. The moon\u2019s just being very uncooperative this year. It seems to always be full.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>it is frustrating. You know, there are amateur astronomers out there who specifically only watch meteor showers, you know, so it must have been very disappointing this year for them. As such, next year is a little bit better for some of the showers, so that\u2019s something to look forward to. But it is a shame becausethe Leonids is one of those that have the potential to have an occasional outburst as well because they know there are filaments that accompany the main stream. They get an incredibly good at modelling in these filaments as well. But as far as I\u2019m aware, there isn\u2019t a particularly bright filament this time for us to look out for and to say this is the compromise of the Moon. Now you do have a period of about an hour before sunrise, where the Moon is so low and setting, but it might give you a chance to see something. So, you know, I say it isn\u2019t. It isn\u2019t a complete washout, but you know, you have to keep your expectations realistic sort of thing. The moon light will generally wash out most of them, especially if you don\u2019t want to get up very, very early in the morning sky. So there we are, though that\u2019s all the main object. There is an interesting and I have to say it\u2019s very, very partial, but there\u2019s a partial eclipse all morning of the 19th, but he\u2019s out there just as the Moon set is typical.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Yeah<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>So I didn\u2019t go into detail on it. But just say it on the 19th the morning, as the Moon set in, there is a partial lunar eclipse, but it is going to be so minor.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>We should mention that is, it\u2019s going to be setting in the UK, I think in the US\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>They they\u2019ll probably get a good view of it sorted because that goes to the round. Yes, definitely. But for the UK, definitely we haven\u2019t got a good view.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>So if we do have any listeners over in the US, you get to have a lovely lunar eclipse. We unfortunately here in the UK do not, but that is one to watch out for if you\u2019re in that part of the world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>But that\u2019s life, isn\u2019t it? Oh, we should say that\u2019s astronomy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Yes, I\u2019m sure in a couple of years we\u2019ll have a brilliant one that nobody else will be able to see very well. That\u2019s just how it works. Sometimes you get the moon blocking out all of your meteor showers and then another couple of years, it\u2019s set throughout most of them throughout the year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>Then we have to put up with cloud. Haha. That\u2019s always the thing. We get really good. Well, no moon and whatnot. So we\u2019re all looking at the weather forecast. But please stay clear. Stay clear, stay clear. You know, I think if we\u2019ll stand outside and just shout all sort of thing or call to whichever deity you happen to support asking for, I have a bit of a joke, but I watched the film. It was the Vikings with Tony Curtis. But it was a funny thing because of Tony Curtis, who was put in a pool of water to die because he was a very poor Viking. But the soothsayer called upon Odin to send the wind. Turn the tide sort of thing. Now you might think, well, where is this lady? Well, I\u2019m dusting off that one night it was ploughed and I really wanted to say something, so I said I would and I wouldn\u2019t send the wind to clear the skies, and it cleared! It cleared and I saw it. So occasionally I\u2019ll use that. It doesn\u2019t always work. So there we are sort of think, you know, you can always try it. You never know. I\u2019ve got I\u2019ve got ginger hair. So I mean, I\u2019m supposed to be part Viking. So that\u2019s my excuse, and I\u2019m going to stick with it. But Ezzy that\u2019s the main event for November. There is a lot to look out for, isn\u2019t the, you know, there\u2019s always something for us to keep an eye on for it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>Yes, there certainly is a lot to look out for this month. You\u2019ve got mercury in the morning skies still staying with us. Venus is also hanging around for quite a while, possibly a good opportunity to get to see Uranus with this month. But you will need your your telescope or binoculars for that, most likely. but also the dwarf planet Ceres will be reaching opposition on the twenty seventh, though there is a nice conjunction with a bright star on the second and third of this month as well. Unfortunately, it looks like the Leonids are going to be a bit of a washout, but you might still want to pay attention and see if you can catch a couple of those if you\u2019re out and happen to be observing on the 17th as well. So thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us today, Paul.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul <\/strong>It\u2019s a pleasure as they as always.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezzy <\/strong>And if our listeners, what to find out even more spectacular sights that will be gracing the night sky this month, be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. But we have a 16 page pullout sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking up for in the northern hemisphere in November 2021. Whether you like to look at the Moon, the planets or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes or neither, All Sky Guide has got you covered with detailed charts to help you track your way across the night sky. From all of us here at BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Goodbye.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ezzy Pearson Published: Sunday, 31 October 2021 at 12:00 am In November 2021 it\u2019s time to look out for the planets: Venus is still moving through the morning sky, Jupiter and Saturn march on in the evenings, and Uranus might just be visible to the naked eye. 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