In the Sky This Month

M31, the Andromeda galaxy, is our closest big galactic neighbor, at a distance of 2.5 million light-years. It stands high in the east in early evening, and looks like a small, faint, hazy patch of light.

The Blue Snowball Nebula stands high in the sky at nightfall, in Andromeda. Through a telescope it does look blue, and it has the slightly fuzzy outline of a snowball. The nebula is the last gasp of a Sun-like star, which is blowing its outer layers into space.

Andromeda is high in the east at nightfall and directly overhead by 10 p.m. It is marked by a slightly curved line of three equally bright stars. Alpheratz is at one end of the line, with Mirach at the middle and Almach at the other end.

A thin wedge of stars climbs the eastern sky on November evenings, the constellation Triangulum. It fills an otherwise dark space between the well-known constellations Aries, Perseus, and Andromeda.

Aldebaran, the star that represents the eye of Taurus, the bull, stands close to the lower right of the Moon as they climb into view after darkness falls.

The planet Uranus is putting on its best showing of the year. It is in view all night, in Aries, the ram. It is brightest for the year as well. Tonight, it is about halfway between the Moon and bright orange Mars. It is an easy target for binoculars.

A second planet is at its best this month. Mars was at its peak a couple of weeks ago and is still shining brightly. And today, Uranus is at its peak. It’s much bigger than Mars but it’s also farther, so it is much fainter. You need binoculars to find it.

The Moon is full early tomorrow, making it a Halloween Moon. As the full Moon after the Harvest Moon, it’s the Hunter’s Moon. And as the second full Moon this month, it’s a Blue Moon. Put them together and it’s a Blue Hunter’s Halloween Moon.

Look for Mars in the southeast in early evening, shining like a bright orange star. The planet will stand to the upper right of the Moon as they climb into view, and below the Moon as they set, before dawn tomorrow.

The planet Mars stands close to the Moon tonight. It looks like a bright orange star to the left of the Moon in early evening, and above the Moon as they set, before dawn.