Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday November 23rd through Sunday November 29th.
The full moon for the month of November is on Wednesday the 25th. This full moon is known as the Frost Moon and the Snow Moon.
Mercury and Saturn are both lost in the sun's glare this week with Mercury gradually moving away from the sun as it leaves conjunction and Saturn moving towards the sun as it heads towards conjunction next week.
The remaining naked eye planets are still up after midnight with Jupiter rising at 1:25 a.m., followed by Mars at 2:45 a.m. and Venus at 3:40 a.m.
In science anniversaries, this month marks the 100th anniversary of the first publication by Albert Einstein of his General Theory of Relativity. In a nutshell, Einstein showed that the gravitational effect between masses result from the warping of spacetime and not an attractive force between objects as Newton theorized. In the past 100 years Einstein's model has been tested and confirmed experimentally several times over.
There will be no public viewing on UT campus telescopes this week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Next week will be the final public viewing for the fall semester. Spring semester viewing will start in late January.
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of Robert Lee Moore Hall is on Wednesday nights 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 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.
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 and have a happy and safe Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.
