As we venture deeper into winter’s embrace, the long dark, and clear nights offer a superb window for celestial observation. This week is a genuine stargazer’s dream because the waning (decreasing) moon is cooperating fully, ensuring minimal light interference and creating wonderfully dark skies. This is the perfect time to catch a highly anticipated meteor shower, which will be visible with peak clarity and unobstructed views. Get your binoculars ready ! Observe the heavens in stunning detail, keeping a sharp watch for both the familiar constellation and the rare celestial gifts the winter sky holds in store.
Saturn – 13th of November
Saturn will be very visible all throughout the week, it will appear as a very bright yellow orb and will resemble a golden “star”. The best time to view this will be at dusk. It will be the second-brightest thing you will be able to see in the sky, after the Moon. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see Saturn’s multitude of rings unless you have a telescope, but if you don’t, the planet will be beautiful nonetheless.
Leonid meteor shower peaks – 17th of November
The Leonids meteor shower is considered to be one of the major meteor showers, even though its rates can be as low as 3 meteors per hour. The Leonids are bright meteors that can at times appear colorful. These meteors are very fast, they travel at speeds of about 71 kilometers per second, and are considered to be some of the fastest. Leonids are also known for being fireballs and getting very close to the Earth. These fireballs are large explosions of light and color that will appear longer than a regular meteor streak. This is because fireballs originate from larger comets. This meteor shower will be at its peak late in the night and will definitely be visible to the naked eye.
Micro moon – 20th of November
The new moon on Thursday will occur near lunar apogee, the farthest point in the moon’s orbit from Earth, making it appear very, very small. As it’s a new moon, it will be barely visible which is why this will be the best night this month to view faint deep sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae or distant galaxies, with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.