Sunday, November 15
New Moon occurs this morning at 12:07 A.M. EST, while Venus passes 4° north of Virgo’s brightest star, magnitude 1 Spica, at 8 A.M. EST. You can catch the bright pair this morning in east, starting about 2.5 hours before sunrise.
Mars stands stationary in Pisces at 2 P.M. EST. The Red Planet will now begin moving northeast against the background stars, headed past Epsilon (ε) Piscium early next month and streaking toward Aries the Ram.
Additionally, today marks the closest pass of Comet C/2020 M3 (ATLAS) to Earth, when the comet will come within 0.4 astronomical units. (One astronomical unit is the average Earth-Sun distance.) Rising in the east a few hours after the Sun sets is Orion the Hunter. ATLAS is currently located just 0.5° northeast of Bellatrix (Gamma [γ] Orionis), Orion’s magnitude 1.6 left shoulder. The
Comet Observation database reports ATLAS holding steady around magnitude 8, with the best visibility early in the morning — so you may want to start late and follow the comet into tomorrow. Its coma is currently just under 8' across.
With a period of nearly 140 years, ATLAS won’t be back until 2159, so now is the time to catch it.
Sunrise: 6:46 A.M.
Sunset: 4:43 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:09 A.M.
Moonset: 5:19 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (0.5%)
Monday, November 16
Although now well past its October opposition, Mars remains an excellent evening target. High in the sky after dark, the Red Planet is currently magnitude –1.6 and spans 17". It will shrink by 2" during the last two weeks of the month, so get in your observations now. Close study will also show the planet is not quite full — it’s currently 95 percent lit, and will wane slightly to close out November at 92 percent lit.
Amid the faint stars of Pisces, Mars should be the brightest (and reddest) object in that region of sky. Skip northeast to Aries and you’ll find blue-gray Uranus, currently magnitude 5.7 and an easy binocular object. Its 4"-wide disk sits a little less than 3° southeast of 19 Arietis, which matches the planet in brightness. Return to the region night after night and you might see the planet slowly inch toward the star, closing out the month just 2.5° from the luminary.
Sunrise: 6:47 A.M.
Sunset: 4:42 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:26 A.M.
Moonset: 6:06 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (3%)