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International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area, the ISS is visible only for a few seconds in the early evening Sunday through Wednesday.

On Thurs. Dec. 4 the ISS appears in the NNW at 5:43 pm and disappears in the NNE at 5:46 pm (magnitude -0.7)

On Fri Dec. 5 the ISS appears in the NW at 6:09 pm and disappears in the North at 6:12 pm (magnitude -1.6)

On Sat. Dec 6 the ISS apears in the NNW at 5:01 pm and disappears in the East at 5:06 pm (mangitude -0.8)

and again in the WNW at 6:36 pm and disappears in the West at 6:38 pm (magnitude -0.5)
On Sun. Dec 7 the ISS appears in the NW at 5:27 pm and disappears in the ESE at 5:33 pm (magnitude -2.3)

Sun

On Sunday Nov. 30 sunrise is at 7:05 am and sunset is at 4:39 pm MST

On Saturday Dec. 5 sunrise is at 7:11 am and sunset is at 4:38 pm MST

There are no active regions visible on the solar disk as of Sunday morning. For more information about the sun and space weather see www.swpc.noaa.gov

Moon

At moonset on Sunday, the lunation is 3.4

The moon will be at first quarter phase on Fri. Dec. 5 at 2:26 pm MST

On Saturday the moon is at lunation 9.4

Planets

On Monday, the Earth's moon and the planets Jupiter and Venus form a triangle just 4 by 3 by 2 degrees apart in southwest after sunset. Although they appear close together in the sky, they are all very different distances from Earth:

The moon is 250 thousand miles away

Venus is 93.1 million miles away

Jupiter is 540.3 million miles away

Saturn rises at 12:32 to 12:10 am this week in the constellation Leo.
Saturn's rings are nearly edge on now so difficult to see. However, you can observe its moons through a telescope. Saturn's largest moon Titan will be east of the planet early Saturday morning on west of the planet early Sunday morning.

Dark Sky

The moon interferes with evening views of dark sky objects by this week end.

The International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area, the International Space Station is visible in the early evening this week. The best passes are on Monday and Tuesday. It is visible in the north from Wednesday through Saturday but for only 10 or 20 seconds.

On Monday, Nov. 24, the ISS appears at 5:57 pm in the west northwest and disappears at 6 pm in the north (magnitude -0.1).

On Tuesday, Nov. 25, the ISS appears at 4:48 pm in the west and disappears at 4:53 pm in the northeast (magnitude -1.2)

See www.heavens-above.com for times that the ISS is visible over your location.

The Sun

On Sun. Nov. 23 sunrise is at 6:58 am and sunset is at 4:41 pm MST.

On Sat. Nov. 29 sunrise is at 7:04 am MST and sunset is at 4:39 pm.

There are no active regions visible on the solar disk as of Monday morning. For information about the sun and space weather see www.swpc.noaa.gov

The Moon

At moonrise on Sunday at 3:04 am, the moon is at lunation 25.5.

New moon is at 9:55 am on Thurs. Nov. 27.

At moonset on Saturday evening at 5:59 pm, the moon is at lunation 2.3.

The Planets

Venus is prominent in the southwestern sky after sunset in the constellation Sagittarius. It is magnitude -4 in brightness and its disk is 16 arc sec across. Venus sets 7:20 to 7:31 pm this week.

Jupiter is in constellation Sagittarius as well. It is -2 magnitude in brightness and its disk is 34 arc sec across. Jupiter sets 8:04 to 7:47 pm this week.

Saturn rises 12:58 to 12:36 am this week in constellation Leo. It is magnitude 1.1 in brightness and its disk is 17 arc sec across. Its rings appear very nearly edge from now through mid December. They'll open some and then be edge on and be nearly invisible in August and September.

Dark Sky

Those of us near 40 degrees north latitude can spend 11 hours and 16 minutes in astronomical darkness Saturday evening.

NGC 7662, the Blue Snowball, is located in constellation Andromeda. Locate the star Scheat in the northwest corner of the great square of Pegasus. Then locate Caph, the western most star in the 'W' of Cassiopae. About midway between them is Lambda Andromeda. NGC 7662 is along that line, a full telrad field (4 degrees) south. The planetary nebula appears slightly bluish-green even in smaller scopes. It is bright at magnitude 9 and fairly large at 30 arc sec across. The central star is variable from mag 16 to mag 12 so may not be visible at times. NGC 7662 is about 5000 light years distant.

Comets

C/2008 A1 McNaught is in constellation Ophiuchus and is magnitude 7.5 (view as soon as its dark around 6 pm).

85P Boethin magnitude is in constellation Capricornus at magnitude 8.4 (view as soon as its dark around 6 pm)

6P d'Arrest is in constellation Sculptor and is magnitude 10.3 (best time around 8 pm)

C/2007 W1 Boattini is in Pisces and is magnitude 12.5 (good position around 11:23 pm)

C/2006 W3 Christensen is in constellation Cepheus and is magnitude 10.4 (observe anytime its dark as its circumpolar)

C/2006 OF2 Broughton is in constellation Lynx magnitude 10.7 (view anytime during the night as it is circumpolar) . Recent images show has a tail.

17P Holmes is in constellation Cancer at magnitude 7.5 with a large dim nucleus about 1 degrees across (observe in early morning with binoculars or wide field scope before 5:30 am).

Meteors

This week there is activity from 3 minor radiants, the Northern and Southern Taurids and the Leonids. Activity from sporadic meteors, that is those not associated with a particular radiant, is strong as well. Expect to see around 20 meteors per hour in the early morning hours before dawn. See www.amsmeteors.org for more information about meteors.

The International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area, the International Space Station is visible in the early evening for the next couple weeks.

Tues. Nov. 18 at 6:27 pm the ISS appears in the SSW and disappears in the earth shadow South at 6:29 pm MST (magnitude -0.4)

Wed. Nov 19 at 5:19 pm the ISS appears in the SSE and disappears in the ESE at 5:22 pm (magnitude 0)

Thur. Nov 20 at 5:44 pm the ISS appears in the SSW and disappears in the earth shadow at 5:48 pm MST (magnitude -1.8)

Fri. Nov. 21 at 6:10 pm the ISS appears in the WSW and disappears in the earth shadow in the North at 6:13 pm MST (magnitude -1.7)

Sat. Nov 22 at 5 pm the ISS apears in the SW and disappears in the ENE at 5:06 pm MST (magnitude -1.9)
and again at 6:36 pm in the WNW and disappears in the NW at 6:38 pm MST (magnitude +0.1)

See www.heavens-above.com for times that the ISS is visible over your location.

The Sun

On Sun. Nov. 16 sunrise is at 6:50 am and sunset is at 4:46 pm MST.

On Sat. Nov. 22 sunrise is at 6:57am MST and sunset is at 4:42 pm.

There is currently one small region 11008 which is currently visible near Sun's northwest limb as of Sunday evening. It will rotate from our view Monday evening. See www.raben.com/maps for location. For information about the sun and space weather see www.swpc.noaa.gov

The Moon

At moonrise on Sunday, the moon is at lunation 19.2.

Third quarter is at 2:31 pm on Wed. Nov. 19.
It is at lunation 24.4 early Saturday morning at moonrise.

The Planets

Venus is prominent in the southwestern sky after sunset in the constellation Sagittarius. It is magnitude -4.2 in brightness and its disk is 15.6 arc sec across. Venus sets 7:09 to 7:18 pm this week.

Jupiter is in constellation Sagittarius. It is -2 magnitude in brightness and its disk is 35 arc sec across. Jupiter sets 8:26 to 8:08 pm this week.

Neptune is in constellation Capricornus; it is magnitude +7.9 in brightness; its disk is 2.3 arc sec across.

Uranus is in constellation Aquarius. It is magnitude +5.8 in brightness and the disk is 3.6 arc sec across

Saturn rises 1:23 to 1:01 am this week in constellation Leo. It is magnitude 1.2 in brightness and its disk is 17 arc sec across. Its rings appear very nearly edge from now through mid December. They'll open some and then be edge on and be nearly invisible in August.

Dark Sky

Moonrise is at 3:04 am Sunday morning which gives 8 hrs and 48 minutes of astronomical darkness on Saturday evening.

Around 6 pm look low in the sky almost straight south and locate the 1st magnitude star Formalhault. A planet orbitting Formalhaut was imaged by Paul Kalas (University of California, Berkeley) and his colleagues using the Hubble Space Telescope. Above Formahault in the constellation Pegasus is the 6th magnitude star HR 8799. HR 8799 is just east of a line between Markhab and Scheat (west stars of the great square). A team led by Christian Marois (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada imaged 3 planets orbiting star HR 8799 with 10-meter Keck II telescope in Hawaii and the 8-meter Gemini telescope in Hawaii.

NGC 7662, the Blue Snowball, is located in constellation Andromeda. Locate the star Scheat in the northwest corner of the great square of Pegasus. Then locate Caph, the western most star in the 'W' of Cassiopae. About midway between them is Lambda Andromeda. NGC 7662 is along that line, a full telrad field (4 degrees) south. The planetary nebula appears slightly bluish-green even in smaller scopes. It is bright at magnitude 9 and fairly large at 30 arc sec across. The central star is variable from mag 16 to mag 12 so may not be visible at times. NGC 7662 is about 5000 light years distant.

M1, the crab nebula, in the constellation Taurus is in good position for early evening viewing this month. First locate the bright star Aldeberan and then Zeta Tauri marking the end of the Bull's lower horn. M1 is located one degree to the northwest, roughly in the direction of Alnath, the star at the tip of Taurus' other horn. Messier 1 is a supernova remnant from the fourth of July, 1054 AD. The super nova was observed by ancient astronomers in China and also by the Anasazi astronomers in southwestern United States.

Comets

C/2008 A1 McNaught is in constellation Ophiuchus is magnitude 7.5 (view as soon as its dark around 6 pm).

85P Boethin magnitude is in constellation Aquarius magnitude 8.4 (view as soon as its dark around 6 pm)

6P d'Arrest is in constellation Sculptor and is magnitude 10.3 (best time around 8 pm)

C/2007 W1 Boattini is in Pisces and is magnitude 12.5 (good position around 11:23 pm)

C/2006 W3 Christensen is in constellation Cepheus and is magnitude 10.4 (observe anytime its dark as its circumpolar)

C/2006 OF2 Broughton is in constellation Lynx magnitude 10.7 (view anytime during the night as it is circumpolar) . Recent images show has a tail.

17P Holmes is in constellation Cancer at magnitude 7.5 with a large dim nucleus about 1 degrees across (observe in early morning with binoculars or wide field scope before 5:30 am).

Meteors

This week there is activity from 3 minor radiants, the Northern and Southern Taurids and the Leonids. Activity from sporadic meteors, that is those not associated with a particular radiant, is fairly high as well. Expect to see around 13 meteors per hour in the early morning hours before dawn. The Leonids minor meteor shower peaks on Wednesday morning but the moon will interfere. Leonid meteors are distinctive in that they are bright, move quite fast, and leave long trains.

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The International Space Station

For those of us in the Denver area, the International Space Station appears in the morning at the following times this week:

Sun. Nov. 9 at 6:02 am the ISS appears in the WNW and disappears in the SSE at 6:07 am MST (reaches magnitude -1.2)

Mon. Nov 10 at 4:56 am the ISS appears in the ESE and disappears in the SE at 4:58 am MST (magnitude -1.9)

Tues. Nov 11 at 5:21 am the ISS appears in the SW and disappears in the SSE at 5:24 am MST (magnitude -1)

See www.heavens-above.com for times that the ISS is visible over your location.

The Sun

Sun. Nov. 9 sunrise at 6:42 am MST and sunset at 4:52 pm MST

Sat. Nov. 15 sunrise at 6:49 am MST and sunset at 4:47 pm MST

There are no active regions currently visible on the solar disk as of Sunday evening.
For information about the sun and space weather see www.swpc.noaa.gov

The Moon

On Sunday, the moon is at lunation 12.2

It is full on Wed. Nov. 12 at 11:17 pm MST
On Saturday it is at lunation 18.2

The Planets

Venus is prominent in the southwestern sky after sunset in the constellation Sagittarius. It is magnitude -4.1 in brightness and its disk is 15.1 arc sec across. Venus sets just after 7 pm this week.

Jupiter is in constellation Sagittarius. It is -2.1 magnitude in brightness and its disk is 35 arc sec across. Jupiter sets 8:47 to 8:29 pm this week.

Neptune is in constellation Capricornus; it is magnitude +7.9 in brightness; its disk is 2.3 arc sec across.

Uranus is in constellation Aquarius. It is magnitude +5.8 in brightness and the disk is 3.6 arc sec across

Saturn rises 1:48 to 1:26 am this week in constellation Leo. It is magnitude 1.2 in brightness and its disk is 17 arc sec across.

Mercury rises 5:22 to 6:19 am this week in constellation Cancer. It is magnitude -1.1 in brightness and its disk is 4.8 arc sec across.

Dark Sky

Not this week!

The following is a presentation of just a few objects that may be viewed in the sky this week Oct. 26th to Nov. 1st, 2008.

International Space Station

On Oct. 27 the ISS appears in the NNW at 6:06 am and sets in the NNEat 6:09 pm reaches magnitude -1.1

On Oct 28 the ISS appears in the NW at 6:31 am and sets in the NNE at 6:34 am mdt

Sun

On Oct. 26 sunrise is at 7:25 am and sunset is at 6:08 pm mdt

On Nov. 1 sunrise is at 7:32 am and sunset is at 6:00 pm mdt

There are no active regions visible on the solar disk. For more information about the sun and space weather see www.swpc.noaa.gov

Moon

At moonrise Sunday morning 5:07 am, the Moon is at lunation 27.1

It is new on Oct. 28 at 5:14 pm mdt

On Saturday, the Moon is at lunation 4.0. Look for earthshine.

Planets

Venus is prominent in the southwestern sky at magnitude -4. The disk is 14 arc sec across. It sets about 7:50 pm this week.

Jupiter is in constellation Sagitarrius. It is magnitude -2.1 and 36 arc sec across. It sets 10:32 to 10:13 pm

Neptune is in constellation Capricornus; it is magnitude +7.9 in brightness; its disk is 2.3 arc sec across.

Uranus is in constellation Aquarius. It is magnitude +5.8 in brightness and the disk is 3.8 arc sec across.

Saturn rises in constellation Leo at 3:36 to 3:13 pm. It is magnitude 1.2 in brightness and the disk is 16.7 arc sec across.

Mercury rises in constellation Virgo 5:56 to 6:17 am this week. It is magnitude -0.9 in brightness and the disk is 5.5 arc sec across.

Comets

Here is a list of comets for next weekend. Those dimmer than about magnitude 12 are very difficult visually even with a large telescope.

7P Pons Weinecke is in constellation Scorpius and is magnitude 12.5 (best time to observe around 7:15 pm)

C/2007 N3 Lulin is in constellation Scorpius and is magnitude 9.5 (best time to observe around 7:15 pm)

C/2008 A1 McNaught is in constellation Ophiuchus magnitude 7.5 (best time about 7:15 pm)
85P Boethin magnitude is in constellation Capricornus magnitude 10 (good position about 7:15 pm)

205P/2008R6 Giacobini is in constellation Aquarius, magnitude 14, (best around 8:51 pm)

6P d'Arrest is in constellation Pisces Australis and is magnitude 8.7 (best around 9:49 pm)

C/2007 W1 Boattini is in Pisces and is magnitude 12.5 (good position around 11:23 pm)

C/2006 W3 Christensen is in constellation Cepheus and is magnitude 11 (observe anytime its dark as its circumpolar)

C/2006 OF2 Broughton is in constellation Lynx magnitude 10.8 (anytime, circumpolar)

C/2008 J1 Boattini magnitude 12.7 is in Ursa Minor (anytime, circumpolar)

29P Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is in constellation Cancer is magnitude 13.7 (observe in early morning around 6 am)
19P Borrelly is in constellation Leo and is magnitude 12 (observe in early morning around 6 am)
17P Holmes is in constellation Cancer at magnitude 7 but very large dim nucleus 1 to 2 degrees across (observe in early morning around 6 am)

Dark Sky

On Saturday the moon sets by 8:12 pm so we can get 9 hours and 50 minutes of astronomical darkness.

Messier 45, the Pleiades. This marvelous star cluster is easily found naked eye between Perseus and Taurus. On a clear, dark night a hint of nebulosity maybe seen in binoculars or wide field scopes. The bluish nebulosity is reflection from an unrelated nearby dust cloud. The Pleiades are estimated to be 440 light years or 135 parsecs in distance from earth.

Look for the Zodiacal light in the east in the early morning before twilight begins about 6:15 am. Look for a faint tapering cone of light extending about half way to the zenith.

Summary

This week you can observe the International Space Station, view Venus dazzling in the west after sunset, see a thin crescent moon and earthsine, locate some faint comets, view the Pleiades, and maybe spot the zodical light.