Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday November 25th through Sunday December 1st.
The moon is new on Tuesday November 26th so we’ll have a waning crescent moon at the start of the week and a waxing crescent moon in the western skies shortly after sunset for the remainder of the week.
Jupiter and Venus are now moving apart after their close approach to one another last weekend. Jupiter is setting at 7:00 p.m. at midweek with Venus following at 7:30 p.m. Look for a thin crescent moon above Venus and Jupiter on Thursday evening.
Saturn is a little above and to the left of Jupiter and Venus and is setting at 8:25 p.m. this week. Look for Saturn to the right of the crescent moon on Friday evening.
In the morning skies, Mars is rising at 4:45 a.m. followed by Mercury at 5:30 a.m. Mercury is at its greatest elongation west on Thursday the 28th. After that point it will start sinking back towards the sun and its next conjunction.
In space anniversaries this week, Thursday November 28th marks 55 years since the launch of the Mariner 4 spacecraft. Eight months later, Mariner 4 would perform the first successful flyby of the planet Mars and return the first close-up photos of the Red Planet to Earth.
There will be no viewing on UT campus telescopes this week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Next week will be the final week of public telescope nights for the fall semester. Spring semester viewing will start in mid-to-late January.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report and have a great Thanksgiving holiday!
