Hey everyone! Happy Native American History Month and Week 7! There are a lot of exciting things happening this month.
To start off, there are not one, not two, but FOUR meteor showers happening this month! Three of these showers will be ending December 2nd, but their peaks will be happening at three different times. One will be ending a little earlier on the 22nd, so we will not find its peak this month. On November 4th-5th, the Southern Taurids meteor shower will have peaked, so if you had a chance to check that out, congrats! On November 11th-12th, the Northern Taurids will peak; the moon on this night will be about half full, so while some might not be visible, it’s your second best chance to see some. And for the final one a week later on November 17th-18th, the Leonids will peak. Sadly though, the next night is the full moon, so the light from the moon might block this shower out.
On that note, the full moon will make her appearance on Nov 19th. This moon is commonly known as the Beaver Moon. This moon is called the Beaver Moon because in the past around this time, people would set beaver traps before swamps froze (in places where bodies of water do that). Or as another interpretation suggests, this is the time beavers start to prepare for winter.
Between the Leonid meteor shower and the full moon, beginning at 11pm, there will be a partial lunar eclipse on the 18th. But if you stay up until 1am on the 19th, you will see the maximum point of the partial eclipse.
Throughout the month you will be able to see Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus getting closer together in our sky. Make sure you look to the southwest so you don’t quite miss it.
With the promise of meteor showers and a Partial Lunar eclipse, we here on campus are going to need places away from all the light pollution to sit and look, so here are my three suggestions. An obvious spot is OPERS; the night sky is almost always visible from the field—just watch out for the deer. If you’re up to a little night hike, the clearing by the painted barrels offers clear views of the sky as long as your flashlight is off. And for those of you who are over on west campus, Oakes Meadow is far from most things and the night sky there is clearer than I’ve seen this close to a city in a while.
All of this of course is if the weather permits and I sure hope so. It promises to be a spectacular month. So don’t forget to look up and revel in the night sky as it does in you.