The November night sky

Graphic: Finbarr Sheehy

Venus and Jupiter still dominate our predawn sky, though they are drawing apart after their spectacular conjunction a week ago. Mars is involved too, but the other bright planets, Mercury and Saturn, are out of sight as they track around the Sun’s far side.

The Square of Pegasus stands large, empty and less than striking on Britain’s meridian at our map times with Andromeda stretching to the left from its top-left star Alpheratz. Look for the hazy oval of the famous galaxy, M31, which, at 2.5 million light years, is the farthest thing we can see with the unaided eye.

Between the Square and Cetus, the Sea Monster, is the dim and unmarked constellation of Pisces the (pair of) Fish. Mira, labeled as star 11, can rival the brighter stars of Cetus at its best, but dips below normal binocular visibility as it pulsates every 11 months – it is now near its faintest. To complete the watery theme across our lower southern sky, Eridanus represents a river, while Aquarius is the Water Bearer and Capricornus the Sea Goat.

Orion is rising in the E at our map times and strides across the meridian six hours later. By then Jupiter shines below Leo low in our E as it climbs to stand in the SE before dawn. Brighter than any star at mag –1.8 to –2.0, it lies 4° left of the waning Moon on the 6th while its cloud-banded disc appears 33 arcsec wide through a telescope.

Venus, brighter still at mag –4.2, lies 6° below-left of Jupiter on the 2nd but their separation soars to 33° by the 30th as Venus speeds ESE through Virgo to end the month 4° above-left of Spica. Mars, very much fainter at mag 1.7 to 1.5, is a meagre 0.8° to Venus’ left on the 2nd but tracks more slowly through Virgo to lie 14° above-right of Venus and 19° below-left of Jupiter on the 30th.

Mars and Venus make a neat triangle with the Moon on the 7th. Mars is a tiny 4 arcsec wide on that morning while Venus is gibbous, 21 arcsec across and 57% sunlit.

Super-swift meteors of the Leonids shower diverge from the Sickle of Leo, above and to the right of Jupiter, during the morning hours from the 15th to 20th. There have been stunning Leonids storms in the past, but this year’s forecast is for fewer than 20 meteors per hour at the shower’s peak on the 18th.