Jared May: What's Up, October 31, 2021 - November 6, 2021

We are finally knocking on November’s door and it will be greeting us with cold temperatures and long nights. This upcoming week will be fairly cloudy with some chance of clearer skies later in the week and nighttime temperatures dropping down into the low 40’s and even the low 30’s some nights. Sunset occurs around 6:30 PM, so be ready to stargaze by 7:30 PM.

If you wake up early for work you have noticed that sunrise is around 8:00 AM, and you may be able to do a quick stargazing session in the morning too. In the event of gaps in the clouds, be on the lookout for an early-morning crescent, the return of the Pleiades, late-night Orion, a bright Aldebaran, the Summer Triangle effect, and in the spirit of Halloween, be on the lookout for the Witch’s Broom Nebula.

If you wake up early and find yourself outside before or just after sunrise this week, you will be greeted by the waning crescent moon which, through Thursday, will be creeping towards its new moon phase. If you catch it at the right time, you will notice earthshine, an effect where the side of the moon facing the earth is faintly illuminated. Tuesday and Wednesday, when the moon is only a few percent illuminated, may give some interesting photos because only a tiny white sliver will hang in the sky.

The thin crescent as seen before dawn on November 2.

Around 7:30 PM, look to the east to see the Pleiades cluster rising. If you look at this cluster when it is near the horizon you may notice the stars twinkle a lot and may appear fainter than normal. This is because when you look at something close to the horizon, you are looking through more air (astronomers call the amount of air that light must pass through to reach our eye “airmass’) than when the object is directly overhead. The stars will twinkle more due to all the turbulent air close to the ground. When light passes through a lot of airmass, the particles scatter light which ultimately dims the starlight and makes the colors appear redder. Once high in the sky, the Pleiades will provide a fun sight through a wide-field telescope or binoculars. How many stars can you count in this open cluster?

Five, six, seven or more stars? How many can you see with the unaided eye?

If you are out stargazing past 11 PM, look east to find a familiar winter constellation – Orion. You will first be greeted by the “shoulder” stars, Bellatrix and Betelgeuse. Shortly after, the three “belt” stars will be visible. This region of the sky is filled with deep-sky objects ranging from clusters, broadband nebulae, dark nebulae, and supernova candidates.

Orion as it peeks up over the eastern horizon after 7:30 PM.

One of the first few stars you will see after sunset will be found low in the east – Aldebaran. This bright star will take on a red color as the sky blackens. This is because Aldebaran is a red giant star meaning it is a cooler temperature star (6,500°F as compared to our sun’s 9,800°F surface temperature) with a huge diameter. This red giant has a diameter that is 44 times larger than that of the sun, or 40 million miles across!

Aldberan is the “Eye” of Taurus the Bull.

Also among the first few stars that will be up after sunset is the persisting Summer Triangle consisting of Altair, Deneb, and Vega. Around this time of year, this constellation appears almost fixed in the sky when observed just after sunset. There is a competing effect – the earlier and earlier sunset along with the sky oriented more west day-by-day. The combination of these gives the illusion that the Summer Triangle (and other familiar celestial objects) is in the same location every day.

The summer triangle is now starting to set in the west in the evening.

Since Halloween is this weekend, I should mention a “spooky” nebula – the Witch’s Broom Nebula. This is more commonly known as the West Veil Nebula to astrophotographers. This deep-sky object can be found almost directly overhead just after sunset and is neighbors with a somewhat bright star, 52 Cyg. You will likely need a telescope with a camera attached and really dark skies to see this nebula clearly, but if you can see it, the red and blue supernova remnants resemble a long and curved stick much like one a witch might fly on.

The “Witches Broom” nebula is part of the much larger “Veil Nebula” complex on the eastern wing of Cygnus the swan.

Ohio might be delivering some disappointing cloudy nights the next several days. And while the nighttime temperatures will be falling, the autumn and early-winter skies will be rising. Find your telescopes, binoculars, a winter coat, and a star gazing partner and head outside at sunset to begin exploring the cosmos one planet, one star, or one nebula at a time. Be on the lookout this week in particular for the thin-crescent moon, some rising winter objects, Aldebaran, the Witch’s Broom Nebula, and try observing the Summer Triangle effect.

Clear Skies!