The below notes outline predictable astronomical and space events visible from Canberra, Australia during the period 24 – 30 November 2019. In most cases, the events will be visible to the unaided eye. Times are given in Australian Eastern Daylight Time.
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. Uranus and Neptune are also in the evening sky. However, a telescope will be required to locate and resolve their tiny featureless discs. Mars is visible very low on the Eastern horizon as twilight begins.
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 visible from Canberra in the morning twilight sky during the period 25 – 30 November 2019.
Space X’s recently launched Starlink satellites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_(satellite_constellation)) pass over Canberra in the evening twilight sky during the period 28 – 30 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 and visibility information for any satellite 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 International Space Station or Starlink satellites are visible for that particular day, there will be a link to a page with a finder chart. The chart will also list when the pass will occur.
Sunday 24 November 2019
Evening twilight. Venus and Jupiter are now at their closest together as seen by an Earthbound observer. They will be approximately three Moon widths apart. Their differing orbital motion will now carry them away from each other rapidly over the next couple of evenings.
Wednesday 27 November 2019
New Moon. 2.06 am AEDT.
Thursday 28 November 2019
Check the New Zealand Rocket Lab website (https://www.rocketlabusa.com/) for a webcast of the launch of its 10th Electron rocket from the Mahia Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand’s. Check the Rocket Lab Twitter account @RocketLab for any updates to the launch time of 6.56 pm AEDT. The main payload for the mission is a Japanese satellite that creates artificial shooting stars (meteors).
Evening twilight. Look low above the Western horizon to see a very slim crescent Moon located below Jupiter. The brilliant white star above Jupiter is Venus.
Friday 29 November 2019
Evening twilight. Jupiter, Venus, the crescent Moon and Saturn (in ascending order from the horizon) form a wiggly line along the ecliptic above the Western horizon.
Saturday 30 November 2019
Evening twilight. Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the crescent Moon (in ascending order from the horizon) form a wiggly line along the ecliptic above the Western horizon.
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/).
