November 2011 – Your Guide To The Stars
You can use the chart as a guide when looking at the night sky. The chart shows the sky as it will be at 9 p.m. on Nov. 1; 8 p.m. on Nov. 15; and 7 p.m. on Nov. 30.
Use This Chart In Viewing The November 2011 Night Sky
Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so the “N” representing north is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The center of the chart represents the portion of the sky you see if you look straight up.
To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.
Sun: Nov. 1 – Sunrise: 7:44 a.m.; Sunset: 6:39 p.m. (Daylight Time) / Nov. 15 – Sunrise: 6:56 a.m.; Sunset: 5:29 p.m. (Standard Time) / Nov. 30 – Sunrise: 7:09 a.m.; Sunset: 5:25 p.m. (Times exact for Waco, TX)
Moon: Nov. 2: 1st Quarter / Nov. 10: Full / Nov. 18: 3rd Quarter / Nov. 25: New
Night Sky Events
Held at arm’s length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º . The width of a full Moon is ½º .
November
Nov. 2 Wed. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
6 Sun., 2 a.m.: Set clocks back one hour to Standard Time.
9 Wed. evening: Venus, Mercury, Antares are setting in west southwest 30 minutes after sunset as Jupiter and the nearly full Moon are rising in the east.
11 Thu. morning: Mars is just to the left of the star Regulus high in the southeast and Saturn is to the upper left of the star Spica low in the east southeast.
10 Thu.: The full Moon is called the Frosty Moon, the Beaver Moon, and the Snow Moon.
14 Mon. evening: Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation 23º from the setting Sun.
17 Thu. morning: The Leonid meteor shower peaks but the Moon, which rises after midnight, will interfere with the best meteor-viewing hours of morning.
18 Fri. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
18 & 19 Fri. & Sat. morning: The Moon passes by Mars and Regulus.
22 Tue. morning: The crescent Moon is just to the right of Spica (nearest) and Saturn low in the east.
25 Fri.: The new Moon produces a partial solar eclipse that won’t be visible in our part of the world.
26 Sat. early evening: Brilliant Venus and a thin crescent Moon are low in the west southwest with Mercury to their lower right.
Naked-eye Planets
The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth’s west-to-east rotation on its axis.
Evenings: Venus and Mercury (setting in west southwest), Jupiter (east)
Mornings: Saturn (very low in east); Mars (east), Jupiter (low in west)
* Mercury is near the southwestern horizon at dusk, just below Venus, most of the month.
* Venus is climbing higher daily, becoming the prominent “evening star” in the west.
* Mars is up in the east well before sunrise.
* Jupiter is well up in the east in the early evening and high in the west by morning.
* Saturn is beginning to emerge from the glare of the rising Sun low in the east at dawn.
Time Change Sun. Nov. 6, 2 a.m.: Before retiring Saturday night, set your clocks back (“fall back”) one hour to Standard Time.
Constellation of the Month: Pegasus the Flying Horse
Diagram: Constellation Pegasus
The constellation Pegasus the Winged (Flying) Horse is now high in the east in the evening sky. While it’s difficult to visualize a horse, with or without wings, the well-known Square of Pegasus is distinctive and easily recognized. Four reasonably bright stars form an almost perfect square large enough that your fist, held at arm’s length, will easily fit inside. (Your fist spans some 10 degrees while the square’s sides extend nearly 15 degrees.)
Jupiter, the brightest object in the east, is now well placed to assist in identifying the great square. Around 8 p.m., Jupiter is 30 degrees (three fist-widths) above the eastern horizon, and Pegasus is another three fists above Jupiter.
Although called the Square of Pegasus, only three of the stars are in Pegasus. The square’s brightest star, Alpheratz (lower left), is the brightest star in the constellation Andromeda the Princess. The stars extending upward from the square (see diagram) represent Pegasus’ neck and head. Other than the great square, Pegasus has little to offer without the assistance of binoculars or a telescope.
Pegasus in Greek Mythology
Image: Bellerophon riding Pegasus the Winged Horse. Illustration by Mary Hamilton Frye in Hamilton Wright Mabie’s Myths That Every Child Should Know (1914)
With its ability to fly, Pegasus the Winged Horse had a prominent role in the rescue of Princess Andromeda by Perseus the Hero. Chained to a remote island, the beautiful princess was to be devoured by Cetus the Sea Monster as punishment for her mother’s vanity. To save her, Perseus needed quick transportation, faster than any boat could take him, as well as a means for subduing the sea monster.
To his good fortune, Athena, goddess of virginity, provided both. A beautiful woman named Medusa had been seduced by Poseidon, god of the seas, in Athena’s temple. For desecrating her temple, Athena turned Medusa into a Gorgon, a dreadful creature with venomous snakes in place of her hair, and banished her to a cave. She was so hideous that all who gazed upon her were petrified with fear and turned to stone. Athena told Perseus to find Medusa, cut off her head, and show it to the sea monster who would turn to stone and sink into the sea.
That solved the monster problem, but what about transportation? Well, Athena thought of everything. When Perseus severed Medusa’s head, she being pregnant from her affair with Poseidon, out of her blood arose the fully grown winged horse. Perseus then rode Pegasus over the sea where, using Medusa’s head, he dealt with the sea monster, and proceeded to the island where he rescued Andromeda, his wife-to-be.
Pegasus, although a horse, was the offspring of Medusa, a mortal woman, and Poseidon, a god, thus he was partly mortal and partly divine. Following his service to Perseus, he was captured by another mythical hero, the mortal Bellerophon, and went on to other adventures, including the slaying of the people-eating Chimera, a creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake. (My those Greeks had morbid imaginations!)
As seems so often with the powerful, Bellerophon’s successes went to his head, and he foolishly decided to have Pegasus fly him to Mount Olympus, home of the gods. But since he wasn’t a god, Zeus, the king of the gods, wouldn’t allow it. He had Pegasus throw Bellerophon off whereupon he fell back to Earth. Pegasus, being partly divine, was permitted to enter the godly mountain where he spent his remaining days carrying Zeus’ lightening bolts across the sky. For his faithful service, Zeus eventually placed Pegasus in the night sky where we see him to this day (night).
Astro Milestones
Nov. 9 is the birthday of Carl Sagan (1934-1996), American astronomer, author, and co-founder of The Planetary Society. Nov. 20 is the birthday of Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), American astronomer for whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named.
Star Parties
The Central Texas Astronomical Society’s simultaneous free monthly star parties are Sat., Nov. 19, at the Lake Waco Wetlands, Belton’s Overlook Park on Stillhouse Hollow, and Hubbard City Lakes Park beginning at dark. CTAS also owns and operates the Meyer Observatory at the Turner Research Station near Clifton, Texas; the next monthly observatory open house is Sat., Nov. 12, 6-8 p.m. See www.centexastronomy.org for more information.
Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. His website (www.stargazerpaul.com) contains an archive of past Stargazer columns, a schedule of his upcoming programs, star parties and classes, and other basic stargazing information. Contact him at: paulderrickwaco@aol.com, or 254-723-6346, or 918 N. 30th St., Waco, TX 76707.
