PLANETS IN NOVEMBER

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29350, 1 November 1960, Page 7

PLANETS IN NOVEMBER

[By C. S. L. KEAY, Physics Department, University of Canterbury] All through November there will be plenty of interest in the evening sky for those who care to stay out-of-doors after sunset. Last month's display of planets brought many inquiries about the two brilliant objects in the western sky after sunset. This month will probably bring many more since the two eye-catching objects planets Venus and Jupiter—will move very close together. They will be in conjunction on the evening of November 19 when Venus will appear two degrees (four moon-diameters) above and to the left of Jupiter. It should be a very beautiful sight. If Venus is watched for several nights around the date of conjunction its motion will be very noticeable indeed. It will, in fact, move on to reach conjunction with Saturn on the evening of November 28. Mercury Invisible The planet Mercury has sunk back towards the sun and is now invisible in the sun’s glare. On November 8 it, too, will feature in a conjunction, but of a very special kind, for it will then transit across the face of the sun. Transits of Mercury can only occur in November or May and recur at intervals of from three to 13 years. They are much more common than transits of Venus, which occur in pairs at intervals of more than a century, the next in the year 2004. New Zealand is said to owe its rediscovery by Captain Cook to a transit of Venus which occurred in June, 1769, when Cook was dispatched to the South Pacific to observe the event. After its transit across the sun | Mercury will'move into the early morning sky and although it will become quite bright it will stay too close to the sun to be seen easily with the naked eye. Among the morning stars Mars is the most prominent planet and is secondin brilliance only to Sirius, the brightest star. Mars is rising earlier each night and is soon to appear in the evening sky. To sum-up, watch out for Venus and Jupiter in the evening sky: their sheer brilliance and comparative closeness to one another make them unmistakable. As a guide for keen watchers of the heavens the following times will be useful. They apply on the evenings of November 1, 16 and 30 respectively: Venus sets: 10.11 p.m., 10.40 p.m., and 10.54 p.m. Jupiter sets: 11.30 p.m,, 10.43 p.m., and 10 p.m. Saturn sets: 12.24 a.m., 11.25 p.m., and 10.36 p.m. Mars rises: 12.38 a.m., 11.49 p.m., and 10.55 p.m.