Focus on the planets

Mercury is low on the east-southeast horizon about a half-hour before sunrise as November opens. Look for the innermost planet to drop from view shortly after the fifth of the month.

Venus is located in the same area as Mercury and will remain visible until midmonth. On Nov. 3, Mercury and Venus will appear close together low on the pre-dawn east-southeastern horizon with Spica to their immediate lower right.

Mars is high in the south at dusk, where it is the brightest object in the constellation Capricornus. Mars will remain visible throughout the month.

Jupiter may be found on the east-northeast horizon at about 10 p.m. nestled between the two limbs of Gemini. On Nov. 5, the moon lies directly above Jupiter with the “twins,” Castor and Pollux, to the gas giant’s left.

Saturn appears in the east-northeast shortly after sunset. On Nov. 3, the moon is to Saturn’s lower left with red Aldebaran to the right of the ringed plant.

Uranus is in Capricornus, where, on Nov. 25, Mars passes less than a degree to the south of the distant greenish-blue planet. This close pairing affords an opportunity for viewers with a small telescope to both spot Uranus and to compare its color to the reddish hue of Mars.

Neptune is also in Capricornus and affording Mars an opportunity to pay a call on Nov. 4. The Red Planet passes about two degrees to the south of Neptune and will provide a reference point for those hoping to spot its bluish disk through their telescopes.

Pluto is not visible in November as it approaches conjunction with the sun in early December.

Our celestial neighborhood

Uranus, the seventh planet out from the sun, is a desolate world over 19 times farther from the sun than Earth and with an average temperature of minus 330 degrees Fahrenheit. It has a bluish-green color due to large amounts of methane in its atmosphere. Uranus has a year equal to 84 Earth years, which plays a role in an odd fact about the planet.

Uranus is lying on its side as it orbits the sun. This means its rotational axis lies in its orbital plane rather than perpendicular to it as do most planets such as Earth. Uranus probably got knocked on its side by an impact with some giant object, perhaps even another planet, but the end result is that each hemisphere has 42 years each of winter and summer in its orbit about the sun.

Voyager 2 paid a visit to Uranus in 1986 to study its 15 small satellites and a series of mysterious black rings whose composition is unknown. Its strangest satellite is Miranda, which looks like a China porcelain ball that was dropped and glued back together again.

November events

1 Sunrise, 6:13 a.m.; sunset, 4:24 p.m. Full moon, 12:42 a.m. The full moon of November is called the Frost Moon or Beaver Moon. This is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon of Oct. 2, making it the Hunter’s Moon. Note that, occurring as it does only 42 minutes after midnight, some references assign this full moon to Oct. 31.

3 Mercury and Venus are very close together on the east-southeast horizon a half-hour before dawn. Note the nearly full moon to the lower left of Saturn tonight.

5 The “star” hanging below the moon tonight is the planet Jupiter.

8 Moon in last quarter, 7:22 a.m.

11 The moon is at perigee, or closest approach to the Earth today. This is Martinmas, once considered the cross-quarter day marking the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.

15 New moon, 1:40 a.m.

18 The Leonid meteor shower should peak tonight with little glare from the recent new moon. The Leonids are derived from comet Temple-Tuttle, and the Earth is passing through the thickest part of its trailing debris, raising hopes for a spectacular display. One writer is predicting a torrential display of 4,000 meteors per hour.

21 Look for Mars to the immediate upper right of the moon at dusk.

22 The sun enters the astrological sign Sagittarius but astronomically is about to enter Scorpius.

23 The moon is at apogee, or farthest distance from the Earth.

27 Look for Mars in the south-southwest at dusk. The solitary star to its lower left is the “autumn star” Fomalhaut.

30 Full moon, 3:50 p.m. If you put the full moon of Nov. 1 in October, this becomes the Frost Moon. Otherwise this is the second full moon in November and becomes a “Blue Moon.” Sunrise, 6:51 a.m.; sunset, 3:57 p.m.