What’s Up in the Night Sky? – November 2024

Fred Barrett | Nov 06, 2024

Well I stand corrected! When I stepped out the front door at 10 pm, Thursday evening, October 10 for my dog Maggie’s good night walk, my eyes got a blast of colour so intense I just about fell over myself. Right in front of me was a stunning display of colour in the sky that I had never seen before. Intense reds and greens and misty whites danced ever changing in the sky. All with my naked eyes! I have only seen colours like that when using a time exposure with my camera. I have mentioned in past columns that our eyes are not sensitive enough to register colour in the northern lights. A huge arrival of particles from an especially massive coronal mass ejection on the Sun was so large that the excitation of gas molecules, that creates the colours in our atmosphere, was intense enough to register on and be picked up by my eyes. This is exceptionally rare. I have never seen this in all my years of following the night sky. The best I’ve ever observed, on a very good night, were wispy, rippling curtains of whites with touches of green. I took many pictures with my cell and essentially they looked the same as what I could see with my own eyes – a once in a lifetime event! The colours were gone an hour later and with them, the auroras; right time, right place. The memory of them was like a dream when I put my head down that night.

The annual Leonid meteor shower is a special treat that we can look forward to this month. Unlike the northern lights, it’s predictable! As I said in my November column last year, who needs a telescope to roam the night sky. There’s lots happening up there that only need naked eyes. The Leonids peak on the night of the 17th and are active from the 6th to the 30th. Full Moon is on the 15th and will badly interfere with observing the meteors. Go out the week before. There will be plenty of meteors leading up to the peak. Also, waiting until the Moon sets on peak night and watching early in the morning is a good option. The debris trail that produces the shower is left behind by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The radiant or point in the sky from where the meteors appear to come from is on the right upper side of the constellation Leo and above the bright star Regulus. Leo rises about midnight but remember, meteors can appear all over the sky even though the radiant may still be below the horizon.

You have a golden opportunity to see comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-Atlas) quite possibly by eye and certainly through binoculars in the southwest. Its path crosses through some beautiful fields of stars between Aquila and Ophiuchus. Start your search above the southwest horizon about a half hour after sunset. Find Venus and it will be very bright and obvious! Take a moment to have a look at Messier 22, the Great Sagittarius Cluster, just above and to the right of Venus. It’s a beauty. Starting there, trace a path straight up about 10 to 20 degrees and you should find the comet in your binocular field roughly along that line. You might even find it naked eye. It will be best during the first and second week of November.

The gas giants are prominent for viewing this month. Saturn is high in the south, about 35 degrees and in the constellation Aquarius. The rings are tilted very wide and provide a spectacular view of their structure in a modest telescope. Jupiter rises in the east about 7:30 pm EST in early in the month and is wonderfully bright. You have the opportunity to view the equatorial belts on either side of the equator and if you are patient enough, observe the Great Red spot. Jupiter is in the sky essentially all night and the Spot is bound to rotate into view if you watch and wait. Look for its moons, Io, Europa, giant Ganymede and Callisto passing in front of its disk. You can research transit times on the Net or just see what you can see when you have a good night to go out.

Mars rises about 10 pm EST at the beginning of the month and by 8:30 EST at month’s end. Its disk size and brightness increases as the month progresses. Near the end of the month and in early morning, look for Mars near the Beehive Cluster (M44).

Next year Mars will be in opposition so it’s important to get in some observing practice to take advantage of viewing Mars at its closest passage to Earth.

Remember that the Sun will be at Solar maximum until 2025. Check every clear night for the Northern Lights. They can come and go during the night so go out a few times. You can sign up on the Net for reports of CME’s occurring on the Sun and be prepared for a possible night sky spectacular.

Looks like a pretty exciting month for astronomy. Have a great observing month and keep looking up!

Highlights this month:

Nov. 1: New Moon Nov. 4: Moon passes 3 degrees south of Venus. Nov. 9: First Quarter Moon. Around 11 pm EST, see if you can find Mercury a little above bright Antares in Scorpius. Nov. 10: Moon passes less than a degree north of Saturn at 9 pm EST. Nov. 11: Moon passes less than a degree north of Neptune at 9 pm EST. This is a tough one. Give it a try in your binoculars. Nov. 14: Moon is at perigee 358,020 Kms. Nov. 15: Full Moon. This is the Full Beaver Moon. Beavers have finished their preparations for Winter and hide themselves away in their comfy lodges. I call it the Full Winter Tires Moon or the Slip Sliding Full Moon if you haven’t put them on! Nov. 17: Leonid meteor shower peaks. Moon passes 6 degrees north of Jupiter at 10 am EST. Jupiter is pretty bright. You just might be able to make it out. Nov. 20: Moon passes 2 degrees north of Mars at 4 pm EST. Iffy but worth a try. Nov. 22: Last quarter Moon. Nov. 26: Moon is at apogee 402,960 Kms. Nov. 27: Moon passes 0.4 degrees north of Spica at 7 am EST. Spica is bright, you might see it. Nov. 30: In the west, Mars is close to the Beehive Nebula (M44) just before dawn.

Good luck and have fun on your observing adventures this month!

Don’t forget to check out events at the North Frontenac Astronomy Park and also check the Lennox and Addington Dark Sky Viewing Area for observing opportunities in the coming months.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) website https://rasc.ca has a listing of astronomy events for Ontario and the Kingston branch of the RASC website lists events happening, especially in our area.

Feel free to contact me with questions or observations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

I would like to know how you have done with your observing.