November 2019

Phases of the Moon

Transition of Mercury before the Sun

On November 11, around 15h UT afternoon, there will be the transition of the planet before the Sun disk. The whole transition will be visible from South America, eastern part of USA and western part of Africa. The transit will not be visible in Asia and Australia. In Europe, you will only see a part of the transition in the afternoon sky and the Sun will set when Mercury will be still before disk. Please, contact the local observatory for exact timings. Remember, that you MUST HAVE appropriate SUM FILTER when looking through the telescope towards the Sun. However, the safest method to observe the transit is the projection of the Sun onto a piece of white paper. This can already be done with small binoculars.

NEVER EVER OBSERVE THE SUN DIRECTLY THROUGH ANY OPTICAL AID !!!

Venus

The planet begins to be visible on evening, low over NW horizon (about 30 degrees from W towards N). During November, however, it will be less than 5 degrees over horizon 45min after the sunset. Hence, you should try to find it very soon after sunset.

Jupiter and Saturn

Both giant planets can be observed on the evening sky. However, both planets will be only about 10 to 15 degrees over horizon 45min after sunset. So, you have to start to locate them shortly after sunset.