What's in the Sky: Jupiter enters evening skies this fall

Hopefully many of you saw October’s bright comet, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), which graced our western evening sky, and is still visible in November. I was able to view it, but did not get any nice pictures. You may have seen many on social media and other internet sites. Troy Carpenter, at the Goldendale Observatory, had a really nice shot that graced the front page of the Goldendale Sentinel. 

Saturn remains nicely visible in November, the brightest object in our southern sky. The famous rings are now not really visible, as we are viewing them pretty much edge-on. The planet is still a treasure to see in a telescope.

As I mentioned last month, Jupiter is also entering our evening skies this fall. Look for it above the eastern horizon by 8 p.m. in early November, by 5 p.m. at the end of the month. Jupiter is much easier to see than Saturn, being larger and about half as far away as the ringed planet. Jupiter will be at its closest in early December.

Venus shines bright just after sunset, low in the west. Our neighboring planet is growing closer to us in November, and appears like a half-moon in a telescope. Our other neighbor, Mars, is just peeking above the eastern evening horizon in late November.

November’s new Moon occurs right at the start of the month — Nov. 1. Full Moon follows on the 15th. This month we’ll have another “supermoon,” slightly closer and larger-appearing than average. While you will likely not notice that the Moon appears larger, you may notice that the landscape appears brighter. 

With a keen eye, binoculars, and a good view of the lower western sky, you may be able to detect the slim waxing crescent Moon just under Venus on Nov. 4, and just to the left of Venus on Nov. 5. Look right after sunset. The Moon will be just to the left of Saturn on Nov. 10, and will be just to the right of the bright star cluster Pleiades on Nov. 15. That one may be difficult to see, as the bright full Moon may “wash out” the view of the Pleiades.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of Nov. 17-18. Meteors may be difficult to detect this year at the peak, as it will be just a couple of days after full Moon.

One of my favorite constellations rises in the east on November evenings — Auriga. The “charioteer” may not look like a chariot, but to me is a noticeable semicircle of fairly bright stars. Brightest among those is Capella, the sixth brightest star in the night sky. Look for Auriga above and to the left of Jupiter in November. Auriga contains three open star clusters, that appear as hazy spots, visible with binoculars. Look for them about halfway way between bright Capella and Jupiter. See if you can locate them!

Enjoy November’s skies … when the clouds part!