When comet Kohoutek entered the skies in 1973 it was hyped as the “comet of the century” that would be bright enough to be seen in daylight. It proved to be a modest naked-eye object in the dark sky but fell far short of the expectations for it. Now comet ISON, due to enter the night skies this month, is getting similar rave reviews from some quarters and a good deal of skepticism in others. “The brightness could reach that of the full moon,” predicted Russian astronomer Vitali Nevski who was one of its discoverers but, when it emerged from the sun’s glare in August, it proved to be much dimmer than expected leading others to proclaim, “The comet has fizzled.”
So what are excited comet watchers likely to see? Something between these two extremes most likely. Comet ISON will be high in the south-southeast at dawn as November opens and sink toward the horizon, while gaining in brightness, as the month progresses. It is predicted to peak on Nov. 28 when it is at a perihelion of only 750,000 miles from the sun and could rival Venus in brightness. Then it will be low in the east-southeast with Saturn and Mercury forming a close pair above it. Comet ISON is going to be a naked-eye object well into December and certainly ranks as one of the major celestial events of the year.
Focus on the planets
A bevy of planets plus a comet will provide plenty of activity for sky watchers during November.
Mercury climbs into view in the east-southeast before dawn by the end of the first week in November. It will remain bright and relatively high for the rest of the month giving the best view of the elusive planet for 2013.
Venus starts the month low in the southwest as evening falls but rises higher in the sky on each successive night. Look for a waxing crescent moon above and slightly to the right of Venus on Nov. 6.
Mars rises in the southeast a couple of hours after midnight among the stars of Leo as the month opens. Mars is starting to brighten and readily shows up as a ruddy dot by telescope but it is still too far distant to pick out any surface features.
Jupiter may be found in the east among the stars of Gemini where it is a third of the way up on the horizon shortly before midnight and nearly overhead during the early morning hours. The belts and zones of the gas giant are readily seen by telescope as are the four moons dancing around and across the face of the planet.
Saturn does not become readily visible to the naked eye until late in the month when it rises low in the southeast at dawn. On Nov. 25 look to the east-southeast at dawn for a close conjunction of Saturn and Mercury.
Uranus is in the south-southeast around 9 p.m. where its blue-green color stands out among the stars of Pisces.
Neptune is halfway up on the southern horizon as night falls and may be seen as a blue-gray disk among the stars of Aquarius.
November events
1: Sunrise, 7:13 a.m.; sunset, 5:24 p.m.
3: First Sunday in November. Set your clocks back one hour as the nation goes from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time. New moon, 7:48 a.m.
6: Moon at perigee or nearest approach to Earth today. Look for Venus, the “evening star,” to the left of the thin crescent moon as you look to the southwest an hour after sunset.
10: Moon in first quarter,12:58 a.m.
12: This is the peak night for the Northern Taurid meteor shower, however, the waxing gibbous moon and expected rate of about 5 per hour will not provide for much success to meteor buffs.
17: This is the peak night for the often spectacular Leonid meteor shower but this year finds the peak coinciding with the full moon that will all but obliterate them. Full moon, 10:15 a.m. The full moon of November is known as the Beaver Moon or Frost Moon.
18: Aldebaran, the “red eye of Taurus the Bull,” is just to the upper right of the moon at nightfall.
19: Mercury, comet ISON, and the bright star Spica form an ascending, left to right line in the east-southeast an hour before sunrise.
21: Brilliant Jupiter is to the upper left of the moon as they rise together in mid-evening.
22: The sun enters the astrological sign of Sagittarius but astronomically is still in Libra. The moon is at apogee or farthest distance from Earth today.
24: The sun enters Scorpius on the ecliptic but astrologically is in Sagittarius.
26: Look to the east-southeast about 30 minutes before sunrise for a very close pairing of Saturn and Mercury with comet ISON well below them.
30: Sunrise, 6:51 a.m.; sunset, 3:57 p.m.
Send astronomical queries to Clair Wood at cgmewood@aol.com or care of the Bangor Daily News, Style Desk, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402.