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Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
The moon is new at 10:10 p.m., P.S.T. on the night of Thursday, November 24. We’ll next see it on Saturday night, November 26, when it is 3 degrees to the right of the brilliant planet Venus, now visible in the west-southwest for more than 90 minutes after sunset. By the night of Tuesday, November 29, the waxing crescent moon will set at 9:37 p.m.
The time of new moon on the 24th is also the middle of a three-hour period when a partial solar eclipse will cross from the southern tip of South Africa to Tasmania and New Zealand, mainly centered on Antarctica. Over 90-percent of the sun will be covered as seen from the southern portion of Palmer Peninsula. This eclipse happens two weeks before a total lunar eclipse that will be visible from Los Angeles at dawn on Saturday, December 10.
Planet Jupiter, in Aries the Ram, is prominent in the east during evening twilight, and is highest in the south at 9:40 p.m. The giant planet sets in the west shortly after 4:00 a.m. Telescope users will want to be on the lookout for the shadows of Jupiter’s moons on the disk of the planet, a phenomenon known as a shadow transit. On Friday the 25th, the tiny shadow of the moon Europa will be in the middle of a two-hour transit of the planet at about 9:20 p.m. On the following night, the 26th, Io’s shadow will be in the middle of a two-hour transit at about 10:30 p.m. On the 28th, a transit of Europa will be underway when Jupiter first becomes visible, and will end at about 6:00 p.m. Six hours later, starting at about 2:00 a.m.; the large shadow of Ganymede will start a two-hour transit of the southernmost region of Jupiter.
The glittering object low in the southeast at about 10 p.m. is the brightest nighttime star, Sirius, of Canis Major, the Big Dog. Sirius crosses the meridian 39 degrees high in the south at 2:00 a.m.
The orange planet Mars is the brightest object in Leo the Lion, and is best seen just before dawn when it is 62 degrees high in the south. At the same time, 20 degrees high in the east-southeast, the ringed planet Saturn is equally bright and is to the left of Virgo the Maiden’s slightly fainter star Spica.
NASA’s large, new Mars rover, Curiosity, is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday, November 26 as early as 7:02 a.m., P.S.T. the launch will be carried live on NASA’s web page, www.nasa.gov.
Free public viewing of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night, is available in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes before 9:45 p.m. Check our website for our holiday schedule. The next public star party of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and the Sidewalk Astronomers is scheduled for Saturday, December 3.
The Sky Report is updated every Wednesday. It can be read-and now heard-on our website by following the Sky Information links. From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.
— Anthony Cook
Astronomical Observer