Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday November 4th through Sunday November 10th.
The moon is at first quarter on Monday the 4th and will be full next Tuesday, so we'll have a waxing gibbous moon all of this week.
Mercury is rapidly sinking back towards the sun and is setting just half an hour after sunset at midweek.
Venus is moving away from the sun and is setting a little before 7 p.m. at midweek.
Jupiter is low in the southwest at nightfall and is setting at 8:05 p.m. this week.
Saturn is up in the south-southwest at nightfall and is setting at 9:40 p.m. at midweek.
Over in the morning skies, Mars is rising around 5 a.m., about an hour and 45 minutes before sunrise.
Next Monday, Mercury will move across the disk of the sun in what is known as a transit. Mercury will already be in transit when the sun rises here in Austin, but we will still get to see much of the event. Weather permitting, we will have public viewing with our solar telescope in Robert Lee Moore Hall room 13.132 starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday November 11.
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 currently 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. Please note that there will be no Painter Telescope viewing on Saturday evenings when the UT football team has a night home game. Logon to TexasSports.com to check the football schedule.
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.
