Astroblog: Thursday November 30 to Thursday December 7

Monday, November 27, 2023

Thursday November 30 to Thursday December 7

The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, December 5. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 7:30 p.m. local time. Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. Venus is visible in the morning twilight and starts the week close to the bright star Spica. Mercury is visible low in the twilight.

The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, December 5. Apogee, when the Moon is furthest from the Earth, is on December 5 as well.

Evening sky on Saturday, December 2 as seen from Adelaide at 21:20 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset), Mercury is low to the horizon, in the tail of Scorpius.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Saturday, December 2 as seen from Adelaide at 21:59 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northwestern horizon. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Saturday, December 2 as seen from Adelaide at 21:59 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is past opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, but is still bright. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Morning sky on Saturday, December 2 as seen from Adelaide at 04:50 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is beginning to lower in the morning twilight and is close to the bright star Spica. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, December 2 as seen from Adelaide at 21:59 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the north-west, and Jupiter is rising in the north-east.

Scorpius is almost set and Sagittarius is still visible below the zenith heading towards the western horizon. Orion is rising in the east.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury climbs higher in the twilight.

Venus is high in the morning twilight, it will now sink towards the horizon but will remain easily visible for all of November. Venus is close to the bright star Spica.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter rises around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky