The change to Universal Time makes the evening skies much darker and there is plenty to see in the skies this month, including the return of the Leonid meteor shower and a total eclipse of the moon.

Leonids

The Leonids are one of our most spectacular meteor showers. As with most meteor showers they are associated with comets, in this case Tempel-Tutt.

The best time to view the Leonids is during the early hours of Wednesday 19th. Click here for The Leonids 2002.

Mars remains a bright feature of the southern evening sky. After Mars sets, Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury appear in the morning sky.

Soon after sunset Taurus the bull appears in the eastern sky. Close by lie the Pleiades.

Pleiades

The Pleiades is an interesting little constellation. It is also known as the Seven Sisters but most people can only identify six separate stars with the naked eye.

There are many legends as to the 'missing Pleiad' but on a clear, dark night it is said that more than 15 stars are identifiable with the naked eye.

With a good telescope it is possible to identify almost 50 stars.

The Pleiades lie some 400 light-years away and appear slightly misty due to the large volumes of gases that lie between the stars of the cluster.

Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse

The second total lunar eclipse of the year is on the night of Saturday 8th.

A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the full moon, casting a shadow over the Moon.

Cloud permitting, it should be quite a sight.

The Moon will be almost full as it rises fairly high in the evening sky.

At 2309 the Moon will enter the outer portion, the penumbra, of the Earth's shadow.

But the eclipse will be noticeable to the naked eye from 2332 when the Moon enters the umbra. This stage is expected to take 3 hours and 33 minutes.

Totality will last from 0106 to 0131. In that 25 minute period the Moon is unlikely to disappear entirely but will turn a coppery red because if the Earth's atmosphere refracting light into the shadow.

The next such eclipse will occur in May next year.

Richard Angwin
Points West Weatherman