Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday November 17th through Sunday the 23rd.
The new moon for the month of November is on Saturday the 22nd, so we'll have a waning crescent moon for most of this week.
Saturn is in conjunction with the sun on Tuesday and will move from our evening skies in to our morning skies.
Venus is starting to climb out of the sun's glare, but is still setting just 20 minutes after the sun this week.
Mars continues to be visible in the southwest at nightfall and is setting at 9 p.m.
Jupiter continues to make its way back into our evening skies and is rising at 11:30 p.m. at midweek.
Mercury is starting to sink back towards the sun and is rising 50 minutes before the sun at midweek.
The Leonid meteor shower peaks early this week, with activity expected to be in range of 20 meteors an hour. The Leonids are caused by the debris from the Comet Tempel-Tuttle and appear to come from a point in the constellation Leo the Lion which rises around midnight.
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of Robert Lee Moore Hall is on Wednesday nights now from 7 to 9 p.m. RLM is located on the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and Speedway. Take the elevator to the 17th floor and follow the signs to the telescope.
Public viewing at the 9 inch refractor at Painter Hall is on Friday and Saturday nights from now from 7 to 9 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe and is northeast of the UT Tower. To get to the telescope, take the elevator to the 5th floor and exit to the left. Follow the 5th floor hallway to the end and take the staircase through the double doors on the left. Once you reach the 6th floor, go to your right and follow the signs up to the telescope.
Please note that there will be no viewing on UT campus telescopes next week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. The week following Thanksgiving will be the final week of viewing for the fall semester. Spring viewing will resume in mid-to-late January.
All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year so please check the schedule before planning a visit. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 512-232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start time.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
