stargazer newsletter november...
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Nene Valley Astronomical Society
Stargazer NewsletterNovember 2019
www.neneastro.org.uk
Forthcoming NVAS SocietyMeetings
Friday 1st November: StarnightObserving Session at 8.00pm. To confirmthat conditions will permit observing andto avoid a wasted journey please check ourTwitter feed on our website from 6.30 onthe evening.
Monday 4th November: Club NightMeeting. An evening of shortpresentations and the chance to discussand share your recent observations withyour fellow society members. 8pm startwith doors open from 7.30pm. Admission£2.
Friday 8th November: StarnightObserving Session at 8.00pm. Details as1st November.
Friday 15th November: StarnightObserving Session at 8.00pm. Details as1st November.
Monday 18th November: ‘LadyPioneers Of The British AstronomicalAssociation’ by Mike Frost. 8pm startwith doors open from 7.30pm. Admission£3.
Friday 22nd November: StarnightObserving Session at 8.00pm. Details as1st November.
Friday 29th November: StarnightObserving Session at 8.00pm. Details as1st November.All meetings are held at Chelveston VillageHall, Caldecott Road, Chelveston NN9 5AT
Note: Occasionally, it may be necessary to alter thespeakers and or subjects at short notice. Where this is the
case details will be posted on our website, Twitter andFacebook accounts.
Follow The Nene Valley Astronomical Society on Twitter and like us on Facebook!
Northamptonshire’s Free To Join Astronomical Society
Society OfficersChair: Peta Jellis e-mail: [email protected]
Events Co-ordinator: Kevin Burton e-mail: [email protected]
Membership: Paul Blackman e-mail: [email protected]
Treasurer: David Jones
Web Site Editor: Tony Stock e-mail: [email protected]
Newsletter: Steve Williams e-mail: [email protected]
Committee Member & Refreshments: Alec Parker
Facebook & Twitter: Steve Williams
The First Image Of A Black Hole - At The Centre Of Galaxy M87
Above: No one knows where it came from. No one knows how long it hasbeen drifting through the empty, cold abyss of interstellar space. But this yearan object called comet 2I/Borisov came in from the cold. It was detectedfalling past our Sun by a Crimean amateur astronomer. This emissary fromthe black unknown captured the attention of worldwide astronomers whoaimed all kinds of telescopes at it to watch the comet sprout a dust tail. Thefar visitor is only the second known object to enter our solar system comingfrom elsewhere in the galaxy, based on its speed and trajectory. The HubbleSpace Telescope took a series of snapshots as the comet streaked along at110,000 miles per hour and has provided the sharpest image to date of thefleeting comet, revealing a central concentration of dust around an unseennucleus. The comet was 260 million miles from Earth when Hubble SpaceTelescope took this photo on 12th October 2019.
Members Observations
If you have a recent observation(s) that you’d like to share with your fellow members, then they can be sent [email protected] or alternatively via our accounts on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you to Graham Algeo andPaul Allen for this months contributions.
M45 - the Pleiades cluster taken by Graham Algeo on 26th August 2019
M31 the Andromeda Galaxy taken by Graham Algeo on 26th August 2019
M33 in Triangulum taken by Graham Algeo on 1st September 2019
The Dragonfly Cluster (Caldwell 13) in Cassiopeia taken by Graham Algeo on 7th September 2019
Outreach Event - Help Needed
Tony Stock is hosting an Outreach Event on Monday 25th November at Saint Mary’sChurch Youth Group in Rushden between 6.30 and 8.00pm.
Tony is looking for members who are willing to bring along their ‘scopes and showthe children items of interest and help answer any questions.
Set up time will be from 6pm.
If you’d like to help out, then please e-mail Tony at [email protected]
Or speak to Kevin at one of the society meetings.
Nene Valley Night Sky - November 2019
Generated using Stellarium (Stellarium.org),the above starchart shows how the evening night sky willlook on November 1st at 10pm, November 15th at 9pm and November 30th at 8pm.
At the time of our chart, the ‘lead’ constellation of the Autumn nightsky, Pegasus has just transited the southern meridian, making thisan ideal time to explore this part of the sky. The four stars makingup the famous square of Pegasus are easily identifiable, althoughadmittedly not that bright. The number of naked eye stars visiblewithin the Pegasus square are supposed to provide a goodindication of how dark your observing site is. On a moonlessevening, how many can you make out? If you can spot two, thenyour site carries a limiting visual magnitude of 4.6, up to eight starsand you are up to magnitude 5.5. If you manage more than this,then do you are doing very well indeed and I and you fellow NVASmembers will be delighted to hear details of your observing site!
The two great galaxies of Autumn, M31 in Andromeda and M33 inTriangulum are very well placed for observing during the mid-evening. Passing across the zenith is the familiar ‘W’ shape of theconstellation of Cassiopeia, one of the original 48 constellationsdrawn up in the second century by Ptolemy.
The Milky Way runs through Cassiopeia, making the constellation arich hunting ground for star clusters. M52 is a rich cluster,containing around 100 stars, with a rather nice orange hued startoward one side. The second Messier object is M103, whichcontains just 25 stellar members and is the more distant of the two.
Also in Cassiopeia is Caldwell 13 (a catalogue drawn up by the lateSir Patrick Moore), another rich open cluster containing over 100stars, which can be identified in binoculars, collectively shining atmagnitude 6.4.
Towards the west, the familiar constellation of Cygnus is still at agood altitude for observing (as are Lyra and Aquila earlier on in theevening). On the opposite part of the sky, the winter constellationsof Taurus and Auriga are already attained a good altitude by a midNovember evening, with Orion and Gemini not far behind.
Steve Williams
Nene Valley Night Sky - November 2019
Full Moon: 12th November
New Moon: 26th November
Mercury passes through inferior conjunction on 11thNovember when we have the opportunity to view a raretransit of the planet across the disc of the Sun. The transitbegins at 12.35pm, with the mid-transit reached at 3.19pmwhen the planet will appear roughly centre against thesolar disc. The sun sets in the south-west before thetransit itself reaches conclusion. Mercury will look tinyagainst the disc of the Sun and you will need to use atelescope to observe the event, however the current lowlevel of sunspot activity, will enable the identification ofMercury. Of course, the usual caution of not lookingdirectly at the Sun applies, a certified safe solar filter or theprojection method are the best ways to observe the transit.The last transit of Mercury in 2016 was successfullyobserved by a number of society members, the next oneoccurs in 2032, so they are relatively rare events. Let’shope for clear skies on the afternoon of the 11thNovember!
After the transit, Mercury will quickly become visible in thepre-dawn sky, putting on it’s best pre sunrise apparition forthe year. Look toward the east-south-east from the thirdweek of November, for a magnitude 1 object around sevendegrees high at 7am. By the end of the month, Mercuryhas brightened by a magnitude and is ten degrees high at7am. If you are able to, see if you can get a telescope onthe planet and track it’s growing phase through this period.On the morning of 24th November, the waning crescentMoon, Mars and Mercury all lie close to each other. Thefollowing morning, the Moon will appear to the lower left ofMercury and more difficult to observe.
Venus remains a challenging evening sky object,visible very low above the western horizon immediatelyafter sunset. Our nearest planet disappearing belowthe horizon shortly after 5pm during mid-November.
Mars is now re-establishing itself as a morning skyobject, visible low above the south-eastern pre-dawnhorizon. At magnitude +1.8, it can be found amongstthe stars of Virgo. As already mentioned within theMercury notes, Mars, the Moon and Mercury aretogether on the morning of 24th November.
Jupiter is now lost in the evening twilight as itapproaches conjunction at the end of next month.
Saturn is now rapidly approaching the end of it’sevening sky apparition. An early evening object in thesouth-western sky, Saturn is amongst the stars ofSagittarius. The ringed planets sets just before 7.30pmby mid-November.
Uranus remains well placed for viewing this month inthe constellation of Aries. Transiting the southernmeridian at 10.30pm at mid-November, Uranus is atmagnitude 5.7.
Neptune remains an evening sky object in Aquarius.It’s best to track down Neptune during the earlyevening, when it is at it’s highest. Neptune sets shortlyafter 1am mid-month.
The Sun - Solar Activity remains extremely low invisible light, with no sunspots visible for nearly all ofOctober.
Minor planet Vesta comes to opposition on 12thNovember. At magnitude 6.5, the second largestasteroid is visible in binoculars. Look roughly to thewest of Aldebaren in Taurus to track it down.
This month’s meteor showers are the Taurids and theLeonids. The Taurids are actually have two peaks -the Southern Taurids on the night of 5th/6th Novemberand the Northern Taurids on the night of 12th/13thNovember. Whilst these radiants do not produce morethan a handful of meteors per hour at best, the patientobserver should still be rewarded, although strongmoonlight will drown out the maximum of the NorthernTaurids.
Also struggling with moonlight this year will be theLeonids. These reach maximum on the night of17th/18th November and are renowned for being brightmeteors that leave persistent trails. Around 10 to 15meteors per hour can be expected from the Leonidsunder ideal conditions.
Contributions for future editions ofthe Stargazer Newsletter are
welcomed. Observations, reports andarticles on an astronomical theme can
be forwarded to Steve Williams [email protected]
The ‘old’ waning crescent Moon, can be found nearby toMars and Mercury on the morning of 24th November.
Stellarium Image