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November 10: The Moon and Jupiter
Jupiter now stands still; like Mercury, it is also halting its prograde motion in favor of turning westward. The gas giant reaches its stationary point in Gemini at 3 P.M. EST.
Rising around 9 P.M. local time, Jupiter sits to the lower right of Castor and Pollux in Gemini the Twins. By midnight, it has risen to an altitude of 30° in the east and is a prime telescope target, though note the Moon nearby may affect viewing slightly.
Io and its shadow are crossing in front of the disk this evening, with Europa following later. Io’s shadow appears at the eastern limb just after midnight in the Eastern time zone — around 12:10 A.M. EST on the 12th; note this is still late on the 11th farther west. Io itself is visible just off the eastern limb and begins its own transit a little over an hour later, around 1:20 A.M. EST (now the 12th for the eastern half of the U.S.). The shadow is gone an hour later, as Io reaches about halfway across the disk.
Europa is approaching from the east as well. Its shadow appears around 2:45 A.M. EST (now early on the 12th for all except the Pacific time zone), as Io is closing in on the western limb. Io leaves around 3:35 A.M. EST and Europa’s transit finally begins shortly after 5 A.M. EST, as its own shadow is preparing to slip off the western limb.
Throughout the night, Ganymede and Callisto remain far to Jupiter’s west.
Sunrise: 6:41 A.M.
Sunset: 4:47 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:07 P.M.
Moonset: 12:52 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (51%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
