Post by bsimon615 on Oct 15, 2020 8:28:49 GMT -6
Looking at Accuweather, the projection for the November 10th to the 15th is:
Clear to mostly sunny with no rain forecast, but that is slightly less than 4 weeks out so look at it only for what it is - a long range forecast. The temperatures are forecast to be -
Tues - 76/51
Weds - 75/52
Thurs - 66/37
Fri - 62/40
Sat - 64/40
Sun - 65/50
So pleasant weather in the forecast right now. Some may think it might be a bit too cool, but we have been as low as 21 degrees at the DSSG. Personally my comfort zone observing cutoff is about 40 degrees so I think we should be ok. Take away message is come prepared. You do not need to make a cold weather fashion statement as it is dark at night. If you forget something there is always the Wal-Mart Supercenter about 13 miles away in Columbia.
So what are the celestial highlights between November 10th and November 15th?
The Northern Taurid meteor shower will be active between October 20th and December 10 with a peak projected to happen around 11 pm for us on Wednesday the 11th. If clear all nights should be good when Taurus is in view. The zenith hourly rate could be as high as 20 but 5 to 10 is more typical. Between this shower and what we call Randomid meteors (no particular radiant point) if clear and if you are looking you should see some meteor activity.
Plenty of planets will be visible this year with Mercury and Venus easily seen and well placed in the morning sky for those that stay up all night or get up early specifically to see them or to observe the waning old Moon. Look for the Moon to be close to both Venus and Mercury on successive nights.
Jupiter and Saturn are moving ever closer to each other (from our perspective) as they approach their extremely tight conjunction on December 21st (6 arc minutes). At the time of the DSSG they will still be about 3.5 degrees apart, but virtually all binoculars will be able to fit them into the same field of view. Wide field telescopes should be able to do that too. A 700 mm focal length telescope such as an AT 102 f/7 will yield a 3.6 degree field with a 40 ES/68 or a TV 41 Panoptic so that should just be able to get these two in the same field. If just barely on the night of the 10th, you really see how they are moving closer with a better view on the 14th.
Mars too is well placed, as are both Uranus and Neptune for observation during the DSSG.
Clear to mostly sunny with no rain forecast, but that is slightly less than 4 weeks out so look at it only for what it is - a long range forecast. The temperatures are forecast to be -
Tues - 76/51
Weds - 75/52
Thurs - 66/37
Fri - 62/40
Sat - 64/40
Sun - 65/50
So pleasant weather in the forecast right now. Some may think it might be a bit too cool, but we have been as low as 21 degrees at the DSSG. Personally my comfort zone observing cutoff is about 40 degrees so I think we should be ok. Take away message is come prepared. You do not need to make a cold weather fashion statement as it is dark at night. If you forget something there is always the Wal-Mart Supercenter about 13 miles away in Columbia.
So what are the celestial highlights between November 10th and November 15th?
The Northern Taurid meteor shower will be active between October 20th and December 10 with a peak projected to happen around 11 pm for us on Wednesday the 11th. If clear all nights should be good when Taurus is in view. The zenith hourly rate could be as high as 20 but 5 to 10 is more typical. Between this shower and what we call Randomid meteors (no particular radiant point) if clear and if you are looking you should see some meteor activity.
Plenty of planets will be visible this year with Mercury and Venus easily seen and well placed in the morning sky for those that stay up all night or get up early specifically to see them or to observe the waning old Moon. Look for the Moon to be close to both Venus and Mercury on successive nights.
Jupiter and Saturn are moving ever closer to each other (from our perspective) as they approach their extremely tight conjunction on December 21st (6 arc minutes). At the time of the DSSG they will still be about 3.5 degrees apart, but virtually all binoculars will be able to fit them into the same field of view. Wide field telescopes should be able to do that too. A 700 mm focal length telescope such as an AT 102 f/7 will yield a 3.6 degree field with a 40 ES/68 or a TV 41 Panoptic so that should just be able to get these two in the same field. If just barely on the night of the 10th, you really see how they are moving closer with a better view on the 14th.
Mars too is well placed, as are both Uranus and Neptune for observation during the DSSG.