November 16
The Coming Storm
Sun Position
The Sun is in Scorpius at roughly -22° declination. Northern Hemisphere nights dominate the day; Southern Hemisphere is in its brightest, warmest stretch.
Sky Highlight
The Leonid meteor shower approaches its peak. The shower is caused by debris from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle and is notable for its periodic storms, years when the comet has passed recently can produce outbursts of thousands per hour. Every year the fast, persistent-train meteors are worth watching from midnight to dawn.
Deep Sky Object
M45, the Pleiades, open cluster in Taurus, about 440 light-years away. In November, the Pleiades transit near midnight, making them ideally placed for all-night viewing. The associated reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars is subtle in binoculars but striking in long-exposure photographs. Visible from both hemispheres.
Featured Star
Rana (δ Eridani) is an orange subgiant 29.5 light-years away, spectral class K0IV, a nearby star crossing the evolutionary boundary between main-sequence and giant. Its proximity means precise parallax measurements and good physical data: radius, mass, and luminosity all well-constrained compared to more distant stars.
Around This Date
- November 16, 1974The Arecibo message was broadcast into space, targeted at M13, 25,000 light-years away, a message that will not arrive for another 25,000 years.
- November 17, 1970Soviet Lunokhod 1 began its surface traverse of the Moon, operated by remote control from Earth, the first long-range lunar rover mission.
The Leonids are coming, fast and bright, a reminder that the solar system's debris field is not as clean as it looks.