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Manchester Astronomical Society
Established 1903
Manastro Journal for November
In the Sky for the next few weeks (images taken at 10pm on 15th November)
North
East
South
West
The Moon
New Moon on 23rd
1st Quarter on the 1st
Full Moon on 8th
3rd Quarter on the 16th
Planet of the month: Uranus
Diameter: 51118 km 4.007 Earths
Mass: 14.54 Earths
Density: 1.25 g/cc (water=1)
Gravity: 0.905 G
Rotation Period: 0.72 days 0d 17h 14m 24s
© NASA
Uranus will reach opposition, when it lies opposite to the Sun in the sky. Lying in the constellation Aries (see constellation of the month), it will be visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky around midnight local time. From Manchester, it will be visible between 18:45 and 04:53. It will become accessible around 18:45, when it rises to an altitude of 21° above your eastern horizon. It will reach its highest point in the sky at 23:49, 52° above the southern horizon. It will become inaccessible around 04:53 when it sinks below 21° above the western horizon.
At around the same time that Uranus passes opposition, it also makes its closest approach to the Earth – termed its perigee – making it appear at its brightest. This happens because when Uranus lies opposite to the Sun in the sky, the Earth passes between Uranus and the Sun. The solar system is lined up with Uranus and the Earth on the same side of the Sun
Constellation of the Month: Aries (shown 15th November 22:00)
Aries constellation is located in the northern hemisphere. Its name means “the ram” in Latin. The symbol for the constellation is ♈ and it represents a ram’s horns.
The constellation Aries is usually associated with the story of the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology. Like other zodiac constellations, Aries was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in his Almagest in the 2nd century.
Aries contains the bright stars Hamal and Sheratan and is home to several notable deep sky objects, among them the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 772 and the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1156.
Aries is the 39th largest constellation in the sky, occupying 441 square degrees. It lies in the first quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ1) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -60°. The neighboring constellations are Cetus, Perseus, Pisces, Taurus, and Triangulum. The constellation has five stars with known planets and contains no Messier objects. The brightest star in Aries is Hamal, Alpha Arietis. There are several well-known meteor showers connected to this constellation: the May Arietids, Autumn Arietids, Delta Arietids, Epsilon Arietids, Daytime-Arietids, and Aries-Triangulids.
During November, the 'planet of the month 'Uranus' lies in Aries and can be see throughout all of November.
NGC 772 © ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Seth et al.
Meteor Showers this month
Peak 12th/13th - Taurids (ZHR 5)
Peak 17th/18th - Leonids (ZHR 10)
MAS Society & MAS Facebook members' recent images
Here is a selection of some of the recent images from our members, ther are far mor excelent pictures on our Facebook page & in the images section of this website, check them out.
Jupiter © Martyn Jones - 09/10/22
Mars © Phil Masding - 18/10/22
Moon © Richard Knisley-Marpole-18/10/22
