Planets, Leonid Meteors, Water Constellations And More In November Skywatching

Space.com

Find Jupiter, Venus and Saturn this month in the night sky. The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Nov. 17. 'Water' constellations are great skywatching targets as well.   Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Transcript

00:00 What's Up for November?

00:04 Venus and Jupiter on opposite sides of the sky, the Leonid Meteors return, and the celestial

00:10 sea surrounding Saturn.

00:13 This November, Jupiter is up in the sky all night and sets just before sunrise while Venus

00:18 rises in the early morning hours.

00:21 This means you can see them on opposite sides of the sky if you happen to be up before dawn.

00:26 You may recall that these two planets appeared super close together just a few months ago

00:29 back in March.

00:31 On the morning of November 9th, find the crescent moon hanging just beneath Venus in the early

00:36 morning sky before sunrise.

00:38 Then on the 17th, look for a beautiful crescent moon sitting low in the southwest all by itself

00:43 in the twilight following sunset.

00:46 Thanks to the moon illusion, which causes the rising or setting moon to look larger,

00:51 a crescent moon low near the horizon often appears extra captivating.

00:56 Even after sunset on November 20th, look toward the south to see the first quarter moon just

01:00 below ringed planet Saturn.

01:03 The pair are joined by bright stars Fomalhaut and Altair.

01:06 And then on the 24th, look for the nearly full moon close to giant Jupiter in the east

01:11 after sunset.

01:13 Some binoculars will be able to capture both of them in the same field of view.

01:18 Finally in the last few days of November, you'll notice Venus is rising in the morning

01:21 with a bright star very close by.

01:24 That star is Spica, which is actually two massive stars that orbit around each other

01:29 every four days.

01:32 The annual Leonid meteor shower returns this month.

01:35 The shower peaks overnight on November 17th, with the most meteors visible between midnight

01:40 and dawn on the 18th.

01:42 The Leonid meteors are dust particles that originate from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which

01:46 was discovered in 1865 and orbits the sun every 33 years.

01:51 Leonids tend to be bright, with many producing long trains that persist for a few seconds

01:55 after the initial flash of light.

01:58 To view the Leonids, find a safe, dark spot away from bright lights, lie down, and look

02:02 straight up.

02:04 The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.

02:07 This year, the moon is near its first quarter phase on the peak night.

02:10 It sets just a couple of hours after nightfall, so it won't interfere with viewing the Leonids.

02:15 So bring a warm drink, bundle up, and enjoy your time searching for meteors in the November

02:19 sky.

02:22 Looking toward the south a couple of hours after dark in November, you'll find the planet

02:26 Saturn about halfway up the sky.

02:28 This region of the sky is full of water-related constellations.

02:33 For that reason, it's sometimes referred to as the sea or the water.

02:37 Saturn currently sits within Aquarius, the water-bearer, imagined as a human figure pouring

02:43 water from a jug.

02:45 Nearby are Pisces, the fishes, and Capricornus, the strange, mythical sea goat.

02:51 Just beneath Aquarius is the southern fish, and just above him is the dolphin.

02:56 To the east of Aquarius, you'll find the constellation Cetus, a sea monster or whale.

03:01 And next to Cetus is the constellation Eridanus, which represents a long, winding cosmic river.

03:08 These star patterns are not particularly bright or easy to pick out, but it is interesting

03:13 to note that this whole area of the night sky is populated by mythical figures related

03:18 to water.

03:19 And speaking of connections between water and wonder, NASA plans to launch its Europa

03:25 Clipper spacecraft next fall to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa, which is thought to contain

03:30 an ocean that might support life.

03:32 And you can send your name to Europa etched on the spacecraft.

03:36 Visit the link on screen to sign the message in a bottle that will be sent across the cosmic

03:41 sea from Earth to Europa, from one ocean world to another.

03:47 Here are the phases of the moon for November.

03:52 Stay up to date on NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

03:56 I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's What's Up for this

04:01 month.

04:02 [ MUSIC ]

04:04 (gentle music)

04:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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