When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
Over the coming days, Venus and Saturn will rendezvous in the dawn. Already drawing close, the pair is separated by less than 4° this morning. Close approach will be on the morning of the 26th when the separation will be only 40 arc-minutes. The two will remain close for about a week, the separation having grown to over 4° on the morning of the 30th.
This is a mismatched pair, with Venus dominating the view at a brilliant -4.0 magnitude. Saturn will be far dimmer at 0.6 magnitude.
Mercury is beginning its third and final dawn apparition of the year. Today the planet will be over 10° from the Sun, rising a little further each day until maximum elongation on December 4th. There will be a nice trio with the Moon and Venus around December 11th.
Today the planet Mercury passes through inferior conjunction, passing between the Sun and the Earth. In a week or so the planet will again be visible in the dawn sky, climbing higher each day. Maximum elongation will occur December 4th.
A thin crescent Moon will be about 5.5° from Mars tonight. The Moon will be a thin crescent, only 8% illuminated. The pair will be about the same elevation, 25° above the horizon at sunset.
Tomorrow morning, November 12th, Saturn will join a very thin Moon in the dawn. The pair will be at about the same elevation, 15° above the horizon at sunrise and about 4.5° apart. The Moon will be very thin, only 2.3% illuminated. Above the pair a brilliant Venus will shine at about 30° elevation at sunrise.
A thin crescent Moon will rise in accompaniment with Venus tomorrow morning. A brilliant Venus, shining at -4.0 magnitude, will rise about 5.5° from a 7% illuminated Moon. The pair will rise about 04:10HST and be about 30° above the horizon at sunrise.
Mercury is ending it’s last evening apparition of 2012. Over the next few days the planet will slide into the sunset heading for inferior conjunction on November 17th and begin a morning apparition beginning in waning days of November.
As Saturn emerges from solar conjunction it will appear in the dawn sky. This week the planet will become visible to alert skywatchers low in the sunrise sky. Saturn will dance with Mercury and Venus in the dawn during late November and early December. On November 26th, Venus and Saturn will be less than a degree from each other.
Tonight the bright pair of the Moon and Jupiter will dominate the sky. The Moon will be about 7° from Jupiter.
The following night, November 1st, the Moon will have moved east of Jupiter, but be even closer, about 5° away.
Today Mercury reaches maximum elongation, the furthest point it will reach from the Sun in the sky and the highest it will be above the sunset this apparition. The planet is easily visible as a bright, starlike object about 15° above the setting Sun as the sky grows dark. Over the next couple weeks Mercury will slide back into the sunset, heading for inferior conjunction on November 17th.