Provided by the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, used by permission, with some additional information posted as a public service by Company Seven. Information updates were discontinued in November 2004 when the staff at McDonald Observatory began to ask for payment from Company Seven. There is nothing really copyrightable about putting out a list of known events, and this removes the recognition they were receiving - so much for public service we suppose.

Lunar Phases

• Last Quarter 05:53 Universal Time* 5 November
• New Moon 14:27 U.T. 12 November
• First Quarter 05:50 U.T. 19 November
• Full Moon 20:07 U.T. 26 November

* for an explanation of Universal Time see below

Where To See What

The Summer Triangle can still be seen in the west during evening. It is now getting increasingly down towards the horizon, and out of its observing season. The Summer Triangle consists of the three bright stars: Vega, Deneb (higher in the sky above Vega), and Altair (far off to Vega's left). Late evening brings the bright Orion family of winter constellations rising up into the east. But the big drama in the first half of November comes at dawn with Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, shining close together in the east.

1 Tau Ceti the nearest Sun-like star to Earth, is visible in the constellation Cetus, known as the sea monster. The constellation is low in the southeast in early evening. Tau Ceti is 12 light-years away. Although visible to the unaided eye, Cetus is not very bright, so a star map will help you find it.

2 The Moon is at apogee (404,998 km from Earth) at 18:00 U.T. The gibbous Moon rises in mid-evening and stands high overhead at first light. It is in the middle of Gemini, near the bright stars that represent the "heads" of the constellation's twins. After Moon rise look below it and to the East for the bright planet Saturn. In handheld binoculars Saturn will appear yellowish, as an elliptical disk.

3 Venus and Jupiter, the brightest celestial objects in the night sky, display in a spectacular conjunction. They rise in the early hours of the morning and are in good view in the eastern sky at first light. Venus is a bit higher than Jupiter tomorrow, but Venus will drop past Jupiter by Friday.

4 Venus and Jupiter continue a beautiful conjunction before and during dawn this morning and next. They are now a little less than one degree apart - Venus is the brighter one forming a striking "double star" in the east.

5 November evenings are good times to watch the Milky Way -- the combined glow of millions of stars in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy. It arches from east to west, with a dip toward the northern horizon. You need to be far from city lights at a dark sky site to see the Milky Way.

There is a double shadow transit on Jupiter at 11:28 U.T.

Last Quarter Moon at 05:53 Universal Time*

6 The constellation Perseus is in the northeast in mid evening, and high overhead at midnight. A cloud of gas known as the California Nebula stands near its southern tip. The nebula, which is just visible through small telescopes resembles the outline of California.

7 Perseus, the hero, is well up in the east-northeast as darkness falls, and stands directly overhead around midnight. To find it, look for nearby Cassiopeia, which looks like a letter M or W. In mid-evening, Cassiopeia is high in the north, with Perseus to its east.

8 The crescent Moon and the planets Venus and Jupiter huddle quite close together before dawn tomorrow. Jupiter stands below the Moon, with Venus to their lower left. No more than a couple of degrees will separate Jupiter from the Moon -- the width of a finger held at arm's length.

9 The waning crescent Moon shines very close to Jupiter before and during dawn, with brighter Venus just to their lower left.

The Moon actually occults (covers up) Jupiter for a time as seen from the northeastern U.S. and central and eastern Canada.

The crescent Moon lines up with a string of planets before sunrise tomorrow. Brilliant Venus stands just above the Moon, with Jupiter a little above Venus. Mars stands to the lower left of the Moon. It is so low in the sky that you may need binoculars to pick it out.

10 Look low in the east-southeast as dawn begins to brighten. There you'll find Jupiter, bright Venus, the crescent Moon, and faint Mars in a diagonal line, in that order from upper right to lower left.

Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system, is inching higher into the evening sky this month. Right now, it's in good view in the east by around 18:00 U.T. It looks like a bright golden star.

11 One of the signature star patterns of summer, the Summer Triangle, remains in fine view. It's high in the west at nightfall. The brightest star in the triangle is Vega, in the constellation Lyra.

12 The Moon is "new" today at 14:27 U.T. It lines up between Earth and the Sun, starting a new cycle of phases. It's lost from view in the Sun's intense glare. It will return to view in a couple of days as a thin crescent in the southwest shortly after sunset.

13 The Pleiades star cluster stands high in the east around 9 or 10 p.m. It looks like a tiny dipper of six moderately bright stars; in fact, it's often mistaken for the Little Dipper. To the people of Mesoamerica, the Pleiades represented the rattles of a rattlesnake.

14 The Moon is at perigee. Whenever perigee comes at or shortly after new or full Moon, coastal areas get unusually high and low tides.

Orion, the hunter, is in full view by about 9 p.m. Look for a short line of three bright stars standing straight up in the east -- Orion's Belt. Orion's two brightest stars line up to the left and right of the belt, roughly parallel to the horizon as they rise.

15 Look for the crescent Moon shining low in the southwest at dusk. The bright star Altair is high above it, more than halfway to overhead. You can tell Altair by its little companion star Tarazed, which is currently to Altair's right or upper right by about a finger's width at arm's length.

17 Tonight is the best night to view the Leonid meteor shower, which began several nights ago and peaks around 1:30 a.m. on the 18th. Observers may see several dozen meteors per hour, although the light of the half Moon will compromise the view.

19 The Moon reached First Quarter at 05:50 U.T. It will shines in the south at nightfall. Look far below it for Fomalhaut, the autumn star.

20 Mercury is at greatest elongation, 22 degrees east of the Sun. Look for it just above the southwest horizon in early to mid-twilight. Binoculars will help you find it.

26 Full Moon at 20:07 U.T., called the "Frost Moon". Once it has risen well up in the east, look to its lower right for orange Aldebaran. Capella is more than twice as far to the Moon's left.

27 The Moon shines in the east this evening. Look to its upper left for Capella, and a bit less far to its right for Aldebaran.

29 Late this evening, when the Moon climbs well up in the east-northeast, look below it for Saturn. Castor and Pollux are closer to the Moon's left and lower left, respectively.

30 The Moon is at apogee (405,953 km from Earth) at 11:00 U.T. After it rises in mid- to late evening, you'll see Saturn shining just to its right. Above the Moon are fainter Pollux and, higher, Castor.

An Overview of the Planets for 2004

Mercury
Named for the Roman messenger god, who flew from Olympus on winged heels, this little planet flits back and forth from morning sky to evening sky several times a year. Unfortunately, it never strays far from the Sun in our sky, so it's tough to find in the glare. From the northern hemisphere, the best times to see it in the morning this year come in early September and late December, when it looks like a moderately bright star low in the southeast shortly before dawn. In the evening, Mercury is best seen around the end of March.

Venus
Venus, the dazzling morning or evening star, outshines all the other stars and planets in the night sky. It's the brilliant "evening star" from the beginning of the year until early November. It then disappears in the Sun's glare for a few days, but emerges by mid-month as the "morning star." It flirts with Mars in April and early November, and then stages a spectacular pairing with Jupiter in the morning sky in early November.

Mars
After 2003's spectacular appearance in the summer and autumn sky, Mars is a much less commanding presence in 2004. As 2004 begins, it appears high overhead at nightfall, and looks like a bright yellow-orange star. It drops lower in the sky during the winter and spring, losing a bit of brightness as it does so, then passes behind the Sun in September. It reemerges in the pre-dawn sky by around Halloween. It stages a beautiful encounter with Venus in the western evening sky in April and early November, and passes just a couple of degrees from Saturn in late November.

Jupiter
The largest planet in our solar system is a commanding presence in the night sky for much of the year. It looks like an intensely bright cream-colored star and is a commanding presence in the night sky for much of the year. It looks like an intensely bright cream-colored star, shining brighter than anything else in the night sky except the Moon and Venus. It began 2003 in Cancer, then finished in Leo. For 2004 Jupiter is at "opposition" in early March, when it appears brightest for the year, and remains visible all night. It will disappear "behind" the Sun in September, then return to view before dawn by the middle of October. Jupiter and Venus pair up in the early morning sky the first few days of November.

Saturn
Saturn looks like a golden star. It starts the year in Gemini, although it flirts with the border to Cancer in the fall before reversing direction and moving back toward the center of Gemini.

Saturn is at its brightest during opposition on 1 February 2004 when it is only 8.05 AU (67 light minutes) distant. It will appear at its maximum 20.6" in diameter, and the rings will appear about 46.6" across. After being viewed edge on from Earth in 1995 and 1996, the south side is now facing Earth. With a tilt of the rings open to about 25 degrees (and increasing to their maximum of 27.0 degrees by April 2004), Saturn will put on a good show from December 2003 well into 2004.

Uranus & Neptune
Although these are the third- and fourth-largest planets in the solar system, they're so far from the Sun that you need binoculars (for Uranus) or a telescope (for Neptune) to see them. Uranus spends the year in the constellation Aquarius. It will show its best appearance in November. Neptune appears in the constellation Capricornus all year. Neptune too will make its best appearance in summer.

Pluto
The solar system's smallest and most distant planet is never visible without the aid of a good-sized, well made telescope. It's in the constellation Ophiuchus.

An Explanation of Universal Time

Universal Time: Most internationally quoted times are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time (GMST). The central meridian for this time zone is at 0 degree Latitude, and so it is so named because it passes through the astronomical Old Royal Observatory in Greenwich, near London England. The local time is determined by considering the GMT and then adding or subtracting a number of hours determined by how far East or West one is from Greenwich. For example persons in Nova Scotia on Atlantic Time Zone are four (4) hours behind GMT, those in Washington, D.C. on Standard Eastern Time are five (5) hours behind GMT.

Universal Time is Greenwich Mean Time corrected for small shifts of the Earth's crust east or west at the meridian at latitudes north or south of the meridian caused by action of the subtle polar wobble motion during Earth's period of rotation. If this shifting back and forth were not accounted for then the errors in time could amount to as much as sixteen (16) minutes from Greenwich Mean Siderial Time. U.T. can be thought of quickly as being about the same as the time in Greenwich, England but with minor refinements provided by use of advanced astronomical measurements, GPS, and laser ranging to objects positioned in space or on the Moon.