What’s Up in the Night Sky? November 2017

Fred Barrett | Nov 08, 2017

I am endlessly fascinated by Black Holes! The idea that the supernova death of a massive star collapsing in on its self can have enough gravity to stop anything, including light, from leaving it is truly astounding. Actually a small amount of radiation, called Hawking radiation escapes. When the Universe reaches a point where no more matter is being sucked into Black Holes, this radiation will cause the dissipation and real disappearance of Black Holes. Of course, this will take an almost infinite length of time and is a subject on its own for a future column. Effectively we cannot see a Black Hole. Matter from the star is compressed into an incredibly tiny space by its own gravity. Einstein describes in his theories that the result is an infinitely small one dimensional point with infinite density. It is referred to by scientists as a singularity and nothing can leave this monstrous gravity well. Now if nothing escapes from a Black Hole (except for non detectable Hawking radiation) how can we prove the existence of Black Holes? There is a point of no return around a Black Hole called an event horizon. When matter crosses this point, it disappears from our Universe. Radiation emitted by particles crossing this boundry can sometimes be detected. Also, the Black Hole often cannot ingest all the matter approaching the event horizon and the excess is ejected from its poles as jets of particles that can be detected at the centre of a galaxy. The main way of detecting Black Holes is to map the orbits of stars moving around an apparently empty spot in space. Close passes of stars around a Black Hole also cause the emission of high energy light that can be detected too. This is how our own galaxy’s Black Hole was discovered. The spot is called Sagittarius A*. All galaxies have a super massive Black Hole at their centres and are thought to have formed soon after the Universe began with the Big Bang.

Don’t forget that the spectacular Leonid meteor shower peaks in early morning on November 17th. The radiant is in the sickle asterism of the constellation Leo the Lion low in the east. Expect about 10 meteors per hour. You might see more since it occurs in Moon Free darkness.

Well, what’s on the event horizon for this month? Since I was delayed getting this month’s column out, I hope you didn’t miss this month’s Full Moon on the 4th. Given the weather, it has been pretty iffy for seeing the Moon. This month’s Moon is called the Full Beaver Moon and there’s a tail to tell behind that! It’s time to set beaver traps before freeze up for those of you who don’t go to the mall for warm winter clothing and prefer to trap your coats.

November 5th: Daylight Savings Time ends. The Moon passes less than a degree north of the red eye of Aldebaran in Taurus, the Bull, around 10 pm EST. The Moon is also at perigee.
November 13th: Venus is less than a degree north of Jupiter about 1 am EST.
November 14th: The Moon passes a 3 degrees north of Mars at 8 pm EST.
November 16th: The Moon is 4 degrees north of Jupiter at 4 pm EST. Spectacular!
November 17th: The Moon is 4 degrees north of Venus at 1 am EST.
Leonid Meteor Shower: watch all night and the days before and after.
November 18th: New Moon. Search for the slim crescent.
November 20th: The Moon is 3 degrees north of Saturn at 7 pm EST. It is 7 degrees north of Mercury at 4 am EST.
November 21st: The Moon is at apogee.
November 27th: Mars is 3 degrees north of the star Spica in the constellation Virgo around 7 pm EST. To find Spica, remember “around the arc to Arcturus , speed on to Spica”. The arc is the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper. Arcturus is in the constellation Bootes and Spica is in Virgo.
November 28th: Mercury is 3 degrees south of Saturn at 4 am EST.
November 29th: My birthday – Hopefully a star studded clear night!

Keep looking up!

“The Beginners Observing Guide” by Leo Enright is an invaluable companion for adventures in the night sky. It contains star charts and is packed with information. It can be purchased at the Sharbot Lake pharmacy or it can be ordered from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at www.rasc.ca/publications. A subscription to our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine “SkyNews”, with its centerfold sky chart, can be ordered at the RASC site as well.
Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ask questions or report any unusual sights in the night sky.

Clear Skies! Fred