In the Sky This Month

Tau Ceti, the nearest Sun-like star, is in Cetus, the whale. The constellation is low in the southeast in early evening. The faint star, which is just 12 light-years away, is barely visible to the unaided eye.

A faint but famous princess crowns the sky on November evenings. Andromeda is high in the east as night falls, and directly overhead by about 10 p.m. A slightly curved line of three equally bright stars marks the constellation.

Cetus, the whale or sea monster, swims through the eastern evening sky this month. It appears high in the southeast around 9 p.m. Its brightest star, Menkar, forms the monster’s nose, at the constellation’s northeastern corner.

As seen from parts of the U.S., the Moon will pass in front of Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, this evening, hiding the star from view. Aldebaran will stand close to the Moon as night falls. The Moon then will close in on the star and pass in front of it.

The Moon is just past full this evening, so it’s a big spotlight that is in the sky all night. Even from locations far from city lights, the brilliant Moon can still overpower much of the view of the Milky Way, meteors, and other subtle lights.

The Moon is full tonight, lining up opposite the Sun in our sky. The full Moon of November is known as the Frost Moon or Snow Moon. This year it also comes a month after the Harvest Moon, so it’s the Hunter’s Moon.

Look high in the north and east during the evening hours this month for a flattened “W” or “M” floating through the Milky Way. The letter is outlined by five bright stars that mark the constellation Cassiopeia, the queen.

Taurus, the bull, is climbing higher into the evening sky this month. It is in view in the east by about 9 p.m., but is well up in the sky a couple of hours later. Look for its V-shaped head and its bright orange “eye,” the star Aldebaran.

A “spooky” star system in Perseus is one of the highlights of the Halloween sky. Two of its stars eclipse each other, causing the system to get fainter every three days. Early skywatchers found this frightening, so they named it Algol, the Demon Star.

The brightest star of the constellation Perseus befits the celestial hero. Mirfak is seven or eight times heavier than the Sun, about 60 times wider, and 5,000 times brighter. That makes it easy to see even though it is more than 500 light-years away.