Astronomy in November 2018 With dark skies back and the good weather holding, there may even be some cloudless night skies to enjoy. Here are some suggestions for things to look out for in October. NOVEMBER 5/6 Nov: Taurids Meteor Shower. The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from 7 September to 10 December. The thin crescent moon will set early in the evening leaving dark skies for viewing. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky. 6 Nov: Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation of 23.3 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset. 7 Nov: New Moon. The Moon will located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. A good time to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters. 16 Nov: Conjunction of the Moon and Mars 17 Oct: M45 is well placed 17/18 Nov: Leonid Meteor Shower. Produces up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from 6 to 30 November. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky. 23 Nov: Full Moon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. 27 Nov: Close approach of the Moon and M44 30 Nov: Venus at greatest brightness
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