LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through November 21st, 2019. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The brightest planet Venus, the second brightest planet, Jupiter, and fainter planet, Saturn, make a striking sight in the southwest sky beginning shortly after sunset. Venus is the lowest, and Jupiter and Saturn, respectively form a line with Venus that ascends to the south. The gap between Venus and Jupiter will noticeably shrink from night to night as the 24th, the date of their conjunction (and when they appear closest together) approaches. Venus sets at about 6:15 p.m., Jupiter at about 6:40 p.m., and Saturn sinks from view by about 8:00 p.m.
About 30 minutes before sunrise, the planet Mars may be seen just above the east-southeast horizon and little lower than the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. The rapidly moving planet Mercury, having crossed the sun’s face on the 11th, may also be spotted to the lower left of Mars staring at about 6:00 a.m. each morning from the 16th through the end of the month.
The Leonid meteor shower reaches its maximum on the morning of the 18th. The light of the bright waning gibbous moon will vastly reduce the rate of 17 meteors per hour that potentially might have been expected if observing conditions were idea.
On the 11th, SpaceX launched another a second group of 60 Starlink Satellites, part of a system––eventually to consist of as many as 42,000 satellites––that is designed to bring the Internet to all parts of the globe. This new group made a spectacular showing over Los Angeles twelve hours after they were launched on the 11th. The next passage high over Los Angeles is expected before sunrise on Thursday the 21st . The line of satellites will move from the south-southwest to the northeast horizons between 5:40 and 5:45 a.m., and they will be at their highest, 56 degrees above the southeast horizon at 5:43 a.m. The individual satellites are predicted to have a brightness of magnitude 2.9, bright enough to be seen fairly easily by unaided eye, although binoculars will make them even easier to see.
Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, December 7th between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Follow The Sky Report, All Space Considered, and Griffith Observatory on Twitter for updates on astronomy and space-related events.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.