In the Sky This Month

The tiny dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster climbs into good view on November nights. It is in the east in mid-evening, high in the sky around midnight, and low in the west at dawn.

The constellation Perseus is in the northeast in mid evening. A cloud of gas known as the California Nebula stands near its southern tip. The nebula, which is just visible through small telescopes, resembles the outline of California.

Pegasus, the flying horse, gallops across the sky tonight. The constellation’s most prominent feature is the Great Square — four relatively bright stars that stand high in the east as darkness falls.

The Moon will reach first quarter early tomorrow, indicating that it is one-quarter of the way through its month-long cycle of phases. The Moon will rise in early afternoon and stand in the south at nightfall.

Most of the United States “falls back” tonight as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end. The Sun will set an hour earlier on our clocks, so we will see less evening sunlight. The switch takes place at 2 a.m. Sunday local time.

Some of the stars in one of the Milky Way Galaxy’s spiral arms climb high overhead this evening. It is known as the Perseus Arm because it snakes through Perseus and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia looks like an M or W, with Perseus below it in early evening.

A demon star will look down on trick-or-treaters tonight. It is called Algol, from the Arabic name Ras al Ghul, which means “head of the demon.” It is in the constellation Perseus, which climbs the eastern sky during the evening hours.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, pairs up with the Moon this evening. The planet looks like like a brilliant star, close to the upper left of the Moon as night falls.

Venus is continuing its slow return to view as the “evening star.” It stands to the lower right of the Moon about 30 minutes after sunset. The planet is quite low in the sky, though, so any obstructions along the horizon will block it from view.

The giant planet Uranus is at opposition. It rises around sunset and remains in the sky all night. Under a dark sky, it’s at the edge of naked-eye visibility. Most viewers, however, will need binoculars to pick it out, near the western corner of Aries.