Saturday, November 20
The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 9:13 P.M. EST. At that time, our satellite sits 252,450 miles (406,279 kilometers) away.
Just a bit past Full, the Moon rises in the east about an hour after sunset. Its bright light will wash out much of the sky around it, but that just means now is a great time to take a tour of some of its nearside features.
Of course, Full Moon (or nearly Full Moon) can be a difficult time for lunar observing. With the Sun high overhead from the viewpoint of the lunar landscape, shadows are minimal and some features are washed out. But that doesn’t mean the endeavor is a wash. Because the Moon is just a little past Full, focus in on the area where night has begun to fall on its eastern limb (which is west on the sky). Particularly stark will be the eastern edge of Mare Crisium, a large, circular basin about 3.9 billion years old. Visible to its south is the large crater Langrenus, which is still fully lit but whose high walls and central peak offer some shadowed terrain.
Sunrise: 6:51 A.M.
Sunset: 4:40 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:32 P.M.
Moonset: 8:03 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (98%)
Sunday, November 21
Cassiopeia the Queen holds our target for tonight: M52, sometimes called the Scorpion Cluster. This open cluster can be a bit hard to find, simply because it’s laid out against the glittering background of the Milky Way.
First find the familiar W of Cassiopeia, an easy-to-spot asterism in the northern sky. Beta (β) Cassiopeiae, also called Caph, is the northwestern most tip of the W, and will guide us right to M52. Simply draw a line from Alpha (α) Cassiopeiae, or Shedar, through Caph, and follow it in the same direction for just a bit more than the same distance. There, about 6° northwest of Caph, is our Scorpion. In binoculars or even your finder scope, it will appear as a fuzzy patch; small (4-inch) scopes will begin to resolve its stars, with a few particularly bright (magnitudes 7, 8, and 11) luminaries present.
Overall, M52 glows around magnitude 7 and spans roughly 13' on the sky. It was cataloged by Charles Messier in 1774, after a comet that year had passed near this young group of stars.
Sunrise: 6:52 A.M.
Sunset: 4:39 P.M.
Moonrise: 6:13 P.M.
Moonset: 9:02 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (95%)
Monday, November 22
Tonight, let’s turn our gaze toward Pegasus, already high overhead after sunset. Near the western edge of this constellation is the globular cluster M15. This ancient swath of stars holds an added bonus: Pease 1, the first planetary nebula discovered inside a globular cluster.
M15 sits just over 4° northwest of 2nd-magnitude Enif, which marks the end of the Winged Horse’s nose. If you’re using binoculars or a small scope, the cluster will look like a fuzzy cotton ball hanging against the dark background of the sky. M15 glows at magnitude 6.2 — just visible with the naked eye from a dark site on a dark night — and spans about 18' across. It sits about 33,600 light-years away.
Pease 1 can be seen in amateur instruments, but you’ll need a large scope with an aperture of at least 12 inches, and more likely 16 to 20 inches to net a reliable sighting. Alternatively, you can set up your camera (or smartphone) to take a long-exposure image, which will collect many more photons than your eye and more easily bring out the planetary’s soft glow. The SEDS Messier site has a helpful finder chart if you’re interested in this challenge.
Sunrise: 6:53 A.M.
Sunset: 4:39 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:01 P.M.
Moonset: 9:57 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (90%)