In The Sky This Month
November 1997

Date.......Time.......Event
4/11.........07h.........Mars 6 degrees S of Moon
4/11.........13h.........Venus 9 degrees S of Moon
6/11.........09h.........Venus greatest elongation E. - 47 degrees
6/11.........17h.........Neptune 4 degrees S of Moon
7/11.........07h.........Uranus 4 degrees S of Moon
7/11.........22h.........Jupiter 4 deg S of Moon.
12/11.......03h.........Saturn 0.4 deg S of Moon.
14/11.......16h.........FULL MOON.
28/11.......18h.........Mercury greatest elong E. (22 degrees).
30/11.......04h.........NEW MOON.

Date.....Moon rise.....Moon set......Sun rise......Sun set
1/11.........06h 05...........19h 24...........05h 19........18h 24
11/11.......17h 28...........04h 19...........05h 13........18h 32
21/11........-- --..............11h 18...........05h 06........18h 39

December 1997

Date.......Time.......Event
3/12.........07h.........Mars 5 degrees S of Moon
3/12.........19h.........Venus 7 degrees S of Moon
4/12.........00h.........Neptune 3 degrees S of Moon
4/12.........14h.........Uranus 4 degrees S of Moon
5/12.........10h.........Jupiter 3 deg S of Moon.
7/12.........22h.........Venus 3 deg S of Neptune.
9/12.........09h.........Saturn 0.2 deg S of Moon
9/12.........19h.........Moon at perigee
12/12.......01h.........Venus greatest brilliancy
13/12.......07h.........Aldebaran 0.5 deg S of Moon
14/12.......05h.........FULL MOON.
15/12.......21h.........Mars 1.6 deg S of Neptune.
21/12.......22h.........Solstice.
22/12.......13h.........Venus 1.1 deg N of Mars
26/12.......22h.........Mars 0.6 deg S of Uranus
29/12.......19h.........NEW MOON
31/12.......08h.........Neptune 3 deg S of Moon
31/12.......15h.........Venus 1.3 deg S of Moon
31/12.......23h.........Uranus 4 deg S of Moon

Planets: I wonder whether astrologers see these rare planet clusterings as good or bad omens? For astronomers, this month presents some intriguing sights with Venus, Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter all within about 25o of sky. Saturn is not far behind. With the moon passing this patch twice this month, there are going to be some nice groupings to photograph or show your friends.