What’s Out Tonight?

 November 2024 
Sky Notes
★  About 90 minutes after Sunset ★

MARS will be very close to Earth this January 2025 and thus VERY BRIGHT. Click this sentence for more information.

Planets
Venus is low in the West and sets about 2.5 hours after the Sun. Saturn is high up in the South while Jupiter is rising due East. Saturn’s rings are almost edge on making it a little disappointing to view in a telescope. Jupiter is alway very bright and easy to spot and might be mistaken for the headlight of a commercial jet. Mars, in Gemini rises in the East around 10 PM and will rival Jupiter in brightest during January 2025.

Constellations
My highlight this month is the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Click on any of the words Pleiades to take you to more information about this unique and beautiful cluster of stars. About an hour after dark, you will find this little knot or concentration of stars almost due east and a little above the horizon. It will get higher and higher as the evening progresses (and as the month progresses). It is best observed with binoculars. And, even though I have heard many people say it looks like a little dipper, it IS NOT the Little Dipper.