Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday November 17th through Sunday November 23rd.

The moon is new late on Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, so we’ll start the week with a waning crescent moon and then we’ll have a thin waxing crescent moon in the west at sunset for the weekend.

Mercury is at inferior conjunction on Thursday the 20th when it will pass between the Earth and the Sun and move from our evening skies into our morning skies.

Mars is still low in the west-southwest at sunset and is setting at 6:15 p.m., about 45 minutes after the sun.

Saturn is high in the south-southeast in the early evenings and is setting at 2:10 a.m.

Jupiter is rising at 9:20 p.m. and is visible for the remainder of the night.

Venus is rising at 6:05 a.m., about 50 minutes before the sun.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Monday November 17th and this year there won’t be much interference from moon light. The Leonids get their name because they appear to come from a point in the constellation Leo the Lion and are caused by the Earth passing through the debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Known for meteor storms about every 30 years, this year’s Leonids are only expected to have about 15-20 meteors an hour near the peak.

Public viewing at the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building is on Wednesday nights now from 7 to 9 p.m. PMA 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. There will be no public viewing at PMA next week for the fall break.

There will be no public viewing at Painter Hall this weekend, November 21 and 22, and next weekend, November 28 and 29, for the fall break.

The first week of December will be the final week of UT campus telescope public viewing nights for 2025. Viewing for the spring semester will resume in the second half of January 2026.

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 star party status information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start times.

Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.