The below notes outline predictable astronomical and space events visible from Canberra, Australia during the period 17 – 23 November 2019. In most cases, the events will be visible to the unaided eye.
Finder charts for a selected range of events can be found elsewhere on this website.
All week
Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are visible to the unaided eye above the Western horizon as evening twilight ends.
From a location away from Canberra street lights without binoculars you can see our Milky Way’s two largest satellite galaxies (the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds). They are so large they can be mistaken for faint Earthbound clouds. If you have binoculars or a telescope, this week is a fantastic time to look out into deep space. With patience, you can find brighter deep sky objects such as the giant galaxy M31.
As a starting point to exploring the ‘deep’ sky I would recommend downloading the free (and fantastic) monthly ‘The Evening Sky Map’ (http://skymaps.com/downloads.html). Print that, take it outside and start familiarising yourself with the night sky. Once you are ready to look for objects that require binoculars or a telescope, you will need a more detailed star chart. I highly recommend an app like Sky Safari rather than a printed star chart (which I have lots of and don’t use anymore). The advantage with Sky Safari is that you can select how faint you want to look. It makes it much easier to find objects. Just remember to switch on the ‘red screen/observing’ mode to save your night vision.
Satellites
The International Space Station is not visible from Canberra during the period 17 – 23 November 2019.
Space X’s recently launched Starlink satellites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_(satellite_constellation)) pass over Canberra during the period 17 – 23 November 2019. At the time of preparing this article, I have not had the opportunity to look for this second group of satellites. Reports from overseas observers indicate that binoculars are required to observe these satellites. Visibility times and location in the sky will vary each evening. To generate finder charts for your Canberra location, go here on my website: http://nightskyonline.info/customised-astronomy-satellite-viewing-information-for-your-location/customised-astronomy-satellite-viewing-information-for-your-canberra-suburb/. Select your suburb then select the page ‘Daily predictions for brighter satellites’. If the Starlink satellites are visible for that particular day, there will be a link to a page with a finder chart.
Wednesday 20 November 2019
Last Quarter Moon (8.11 am AEDT)
Friday 22 November 2019
NASA TV (https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public) is scheduled to provide live coverage from the International Space Station of a 6.5 hour spacewalk to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. The spacewalk is scheduled to start at 11.05 pm AEDT.
Saturday 23 November 2019
Morning twilight sky. Look low above the Eastern horizon to see both the Crescent Moon and Mars. Mars is relatively faint (magnitude +1.7) which will make it more difficult to see in the twilight sky. Binoculars are suggested. Mars will become easier to see in the morning sky over the next few months.
An Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled to occur from Kourou, French Guiana at 8.08 am AEDT. Check https://www.arianespace.com/ for webcast opportunities.
Moon at perigee (closest to the Earth in its orbit) at 7 pm AEDT.
Future events
Keep an eye on the Western evening twilight sky over the next week and a half. Venus and Jupiter are slowly moving towards each other as seen for an Earthbound observer. They will make a dazzling pair at their closest approach on 24 November 2019 (approximately three Moon widths).
Want to know more?
Further information about astronomy and space events can be found on this website. Alternative excellent sources of information are the annual astronomy yearbook published by Quasar Publishing (http://www.quasarastronomy.com.au/) or the fantastic astronomy apps in the Sky Safari family (go to the app store on your phone or tablet). A fantastic free astronomy computer program is Stellarium (https://stellarium.org/).
