A ‘Blood Moon,’ Two Meteor Showers And The Return Of Orion Spark A Naked Eye Sky Feast: Your Stargazing Guide To November 2021
Here comes another great month for stargazing. If you’ve been learning about the night sky during lockdown and paying attention to what goes on each evening in the skies above you may already have seen a bright naked-eye comet, a “Super Blood Moon” lunar eclipse and even a super-rare “great conjunction.”
Now get ready for some repeats—and some incredible new sights.
November will see a couple of meteor showers—the South and North Taurids—as well as the seventh planet, Uranus, at opposition. Those in North America may also get to see a big partial lunar eclipse on November 19, 2021 and, if we’re all really lucky, our planet may just get treated to another rare sight as Comet Leonard pays us a visit. That’s due to look its best in December, but for now there’s plenty to get excited about in the November night skies ... not least the return of the famous constellation of Orion “the hunter”.
Here’s everything you need to know and when and where to look to go stargazing in November 2021:
1. South Taurids meteor shower
When: Thursday/Friday, November 4/5, 2021
Where: all-sky
2. Uranus at opposition
When: Friday, November 5, 2021
Your best chance of the year to see Uranus is this week, with the seventh planet from the Sun at its annual “opposition.” Since Earth is between Uranus and the Sun tonight, the blue-green disk will shine at a magnitude of 5.7 and be “up” all night. It’s far away and faint so use a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to glimpse its disk.
3. A crescent Moon meets Venus
When: Sunday, November 7, 2021
Where: west-southwest
Here comes a lovely conjunction. Just after it gets dark, look to the west-southwest and you’ll be greeted, if skies are clear, by the lovely sight of the bright planet Venus not 3º from a beautiful 13%-lit crescent Moon.
4. North Taurids meteor shower
When: Thursday, November 11, 2021
Where: all-sky
The Taurids is an unusual display of “shooting stars” because there are two peaks. This second peak will take place is slightly more moonlit night skies than the first, but it could still be worth trying to spot the five to 10 “shooting stars” expected each hour. Again, it will be best viewed from midnight onwards. The source is dust and debris left in the inner Solar System by Comet 2P Encke.
5. The rise of Orion ‘the hunter’
When: 21:00
Where: eastern night sky
Everyone’s favorite winter constellation is back! Recently revealed to host a star system where a planet orbits not two stars, but three, the famous constellation of Orion this month returns to the early evening night sky. This week it rises about 21:00 so it’s convenient to go say hello to its most famous stars, ruddy Betelgeuse and blue-white Rigel and those in the “Belt of Orion.” That line of three bright stars—called Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka—will rise in a near-vertical line in the eastern sky this month. You can see them naked-eye, no problem, but if you have a small telescope put it on the Orion Nebula just beside it.
6. A 97% ‘Blood Moon’ partial lunar eclipse
When: early hours of Friday, November 19, 2021
Where: high in southern sky
2021’s second eclipse season begins with the full Moon of November 19, 2021 with a partial lunar eclipse that’s so nearly a total lunar eclipse. It will be visible in North America. During the event the Earth’s shadow will cover 97.4% of the Moon. Visible to all in the U.S. in the small hours before sunrise, you’ll need the exact timings for your location.
As a bonus, the event will take place while the Moon is between the Hyades and the Pleiades‚ the closest and most impressive open star clusters to our Solar System—which you should be able to see at the peak of the event.
It will be followed on the next New Moon—December 4, 2021—with that most dramatic kind of eclipse of all, a total solar eclipse.
7. A ‘Beaver Moon’ rising
When: Friday, November 19, 2021
Where: northeast horizon
After the excitement of the (almost) “Blood Moon” comes another big event—the best time to watch the full-ish Moon rise. To see this sight at dusk all you need is a clear northeastern horizon and the moonrise times for your exact location. Your reward will be a beautiful orangey full Moon appearing on the horizon.
8. Leonids meteor shower
When: Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Where: all-sky
Around midnight tonight—and for a few hours after—is the best time to be outside for the predicted peak of the annual Leonid meteor shower. Produced by dust grains left in the inner Solar System by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, the Leonids run annually from November 6 through 30, and should put up about 15 “shooting stars” per hour. Sure, there’s a nearly full Moon, but Leonids tend to be super-bright.
9. The ‘Great Comet’ of 2021?
When: pre-dawn, late November through mid-December, 2021
Where: low in the eastern sky
Discovered in early 2021 by Greg Leonard at Arizona’s Mount Lemmon Observatory, this comer is due to round the Sun on January 3, 2022 and get closest to Earth on December 12, 2021, but should be a pre-dawn object at least in binoculars by the end of November. For the latest information keep an eye on one of its many Twitter accounts.
Post a Comment