In the Sky This Month

Blanco 1, a young star cluster that may be like a smaller version of the Pleiades, moves low across the sky on late-autumn evenings. It is in the constellation Sculptor, which is quite low in the south at nightfall.

The Moon is at last quarter at 6:19 p.m. CST today. It lines up at a right angle to the line between Earth and the Sun, so sunlight illuminates half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way.

NGC 7252, the Atoms for Peace galaxy, is in Aquarius. The constellation is low in the southeast at nightfall, and scoots across the south during the night. NGC 7252 looks like electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom.

The Moon slides toward the star Regulus, the heart of the lion, the next couple of nights. Regulus climbs into good view by about midnight. It rises far below the Moon tonight, but will stand quite close to the lower right of the Moon tomorrow night.

The planet Jupiter is in conjunction today as it passes behind the Sun as seen from Earth. The solar system’s giant world will return to view in the dawn sky in a few weeks, shining like a brilliant star.

Mars is about half way up the southern sky as night falls. The planet looks like a bright golden star. The latest Mars lander, InSight, is scheduled to touch down on the planet tomorrow. It will study the Red Planet’s interior structure and temperature.

The Pleiades star cluster passes high across the south at midnight. If you see the cluster out of the corner of your eye, it looks like a bright smudge of light. Look straight at it, though, and you will see six stars that form a tiny dipper.

Aldebaran, the bright eye of Taurus, stands quite close to the upper right of the just-past-full Moon this evening. The proximity of the brilliant Moon should make it difficult to see the star’s orange color.

The star Aldebaran appears near the Moon the next couple of nights. The eye of Taurus, the bull, stands to the lower left of the full Moon this evening. The Moon will move closer to it later on. Aldebaran will stand even closer to the Moon tomorrow night.

The brightest stars of Orion, which is in the east this evening, are both supergiants. Betelgeuse, at Orion’s shoulder, is a red supergiant, while Rigel, the foot, is blue-white. Look for them flanking the three bright stars that form Orion’s Belt.