Sky this Week
Highlights Nov 11 to Nov 17
Comet Holmes!
International Space Station
No bright passes this week.
Sun
The Sun rises at 6:43 to 6:50 am MST and sets 4:50 to 4:45 pm MST this week. No sunspots are currently visible. Solar activity is predicted to remain at very low levels according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
Moon
The Moon transitions to first quarter phase on Saturday at 3:32 pm MST.
Planets
Mercury is visible about an hour before sunrise low in the east-south-east just below and left of Spica in constellation Virgo most of the week. It moves to constellation Libra on Saturday. It increases in brightness to magnitude -0.7.
Venus also in constellation Virgo and is a glaring bright magnitude -4.16.
Mars increases in brightness to magnitude -0.97 in constellation Gemini. It starts its retrograde motion on Thursday so it would be a good time to sketch its location if you happen to be working on the Planetary Observer Club.
Jupiter is in constellation Ophiuchus and is very low in the west and sets about 1.5 hours after sunset (magnitude -1.7).
Saturn rises just after midnight in constellation Leo. It is magnitude +1.1 in brightness and 17.6 arc min across (main body).
Uranus is in constellation Aquarius and +5.8 magnitude
Neptune is in constellation Capricornus and +7.9 magnitude
Pluto is not visible.
Dark Sky
The Moon sets before midnight all week, in fact early in the evening til midweek. You can still get nearly 6 hrs in the darkness this weekend if you are willing to stay out in the cold from 11:30 til dawn.
Comets
Comet 17P Holmes is especially amazing to view in binoculars and small scopes with wide field. It is currently in constellation Perseus and easy to spot in binoculars. Its larger and dimmer and more difficult to spot naked eye in light polluted skies than a couple weeks ago. It fills the field of view in lower power eyepieces on larger scopes, say 11 inches up. (See SkyHound.com or Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet pages for charts and additional information).
Comet 8P Tutle in Ursa Minor brightens to magnitude 12.3 this week. It is not that far from Polaris so it’ll be a challenge for those us with equatorial mounts to manuver to. It should reach magnitude 6 by January.
Meteor Showers
The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks early in the morning of Nov 18 though only about 1 per hour can be expected. The norther Taurid meteor shower peaks on Nov 12, about 2 per hour is estimated. Sporadic meteor rates are still high, about 16 per hour, before dawn. For more information visit the American Meteor Society webpages.