Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday November 2nd through Sunday November 8th.
The moon is at third quarter on Tuesday morning and we'll have a waning crescent moon for the remainder of the week.
Saturn continues to move towards conjunction with the sun and is now setting just a little over an hour after sunset.
The rest of the naked eye planets are still visible in the morning skies. Jupiter is rising at 2:30 a.m. at midweek. Look for a thin crescent moon alongside Jupiter on Friday morning.
Venus and Mars are rising a little after 3 a.m. and will start the week less than a degree apart and then slowly separate over the remainder of the week. Venus has passed its greatest elongation and is now slowly moving back towards the sun. Look for the very thin crescent moon next to Venus on Saturday morning.
Mercury is now rising just half an hour before the sun and is lost in the dawn twilight.
In space anniversaries this week - Monday November 2nd marks the 15th anniversary of the arrival of the Expedition One crew on the International Space Station, which has had continuous human occupation ever since. You can follow all the activity onboard the ISS at station.nasa.gov
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 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 Painter Telescope viewing on Saturday evenings when the UT football team has a night home game. To check the football schedule, logon to texassports.com. The game on Saturday November 7th is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., so there will be no viewing that night.
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.
