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November 2: The Moon passes Jupiter and Mars
The Moon now passes 0.8° south of the bright star Regulus in Leo at 4 A.M. EST. Some regions of the world will see our satellite pass in front of Regulus in an occultation, but again, the event is not visible from North America.
The pair rises together shortly after midnight on the 2nd, following Jupiter and Mars by roughly an hour. By 5 A.M. local time on the 3rd, the Moon-star pair is nearly 50° high in the southeast. Despite its brightness (it is ranked as the 21st brightest star in the sky), magnitude 1.4 Regulus will be the faintest object in this region, as magnitude 0.8 Mars and magnitude –2.0 Jupiter to its west (upper right) far outshine it.
The waning Moon has shrunk from roughly 43% lit yesterday morning to 33% lit today. It is just under a week from New phase, which occurs on the 9th. Between now and then, the phase will continue to diminish and the Moon will rise later in the morning each day, until it travels across the sky in tandem with the Sun when it is New.
Venus passes 2° south of Spica at 8 A.M. EST this morning — they’ll be in the same configuration tomorrow morning, so keep reading below for details on how to observe them.
Sunrise: 6:31 A.M.
Sunset: 4:55 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:34 A.M.
Moonset: 2:07 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (26%)
*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.
Venus sits 2° south of Virgo’s brightest star, Spica, in the early-morning sky. The pair is joined by a lovely crescent Moon high above them in Leo, creating a gorgeous sight that early risers won’t want to miss.
By 6 A.M. local time (roughly half an hour before sunrise), the sky is growing bright and Venus and Spica are about 8° high in the east. Venus, at magnitude –4.4, far outshines the magnitude 1.0 star, which sits just to the planet’s upper left. A waning crescent Moon, just over 20% lit, hangs high above the pair, to their upper right. Through a telescope, Venus’ large, 58”-wide disk is also a crescent, now 5% lit. In the coming days, Venus’ phase will start to grow as its diameter slowly shrinks.
Also glance to Venus and Spica’s upper left, where you’ll spot magnitude –0.1 Arcturus, the brightest star in Boötes the Herdsman, which borders Virgo to the north.
Alison Klesman is senior editor of Astronomy magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.
