Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, November 21, 2012

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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, November 21, 2012. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:

The moon emerges into the evening sky this week. It may first be spotted through binoculars starting 30 minutes after sunset on Wednesday the 14th, only 5 degrees above the south-southwest horizon. The waxing moon will be higher, brighter and easier to see as the week progresses. By Thursday the 15th, moon set happens after twilight ends, and by Wednesday the 21st, the moon sets at first quarter phase at 12:11 a.m. The moon appears to the right of the planet Mars on Thursday the 15th.

The brilliant planet Jupiter, in Taurus the Bull, rises in the east-northeast during evening twilight, at 5:40 p.m., and is visible all night long. It is highest, 77 degrees above the southern horizon, at 12:45 a.m., then moves to the western sky by dawn. The giant planet is in the sky long enough to watch its entire 9 hour, 55 minute rotation through a telescope. When weather permits, Jupiter and its four brightest moons are featured through Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes after 8:00 p.m.

In the early morning, the brightest planet, Venus, clears the eastern horizon at 4:00 a.m., and is still visible at sunrise, 28 degrees above the southeast horizon. Look at 6:00 a.m. (about 30 minutes before sunrise) to see the planet Saturn about 13 degrees high in the east-southeast, to the lower left of Venus and midway between Venus and the horizon.

While the annual Leonid meteor shower happens in November, it is now in a quiet phase and is not expected to produce much activity when it reaches maximum in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, November 17. Meteor experts expect fewer than 10 shower meteors per hour will be visible, even from ideal locations far from city lights. The next great meteor storm from the Leonids is not expected until just before the 22nd Century! The next good meteor shower, the Geminid shower, is about three weeks away.

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 five days a week (Wednesday-Sunday) through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next Griffith Observatory public star party, hosted by Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, is scheduled for Saturday, November 17.

From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.