Tonight – November 24, 2015 – as darkness falls around the world, the almost-full waxing gibbous moon will be traveling eastward toward the constellation Taurus the Bull. Because the moon is so bright on this night, and will continue to shine brightly as it moves through Taurus over the next several nights, it’ll very difficult to view the starry outline of the Bull right now. Still, you might pick out some prominent features of Taurus, particularly the bright reddish star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster, near the moon over these next several nights.

Eventually, as the moon makes its rounds through the constellations of the Zodiac, the moon will leave the evening sky.

Thus by late November, and in the first few weeks of December, you’ll have the opportunity to view the starlit figure of the Bull in all his majesty.

Despite tonight’s lunar glare, you still might be able to spot the constellation Taurus’ two most brilliant signposts: Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster. The star Aldebaran will probably be the easier of these two stellar “landmarks” to see in tonight’s moon-drenched sky. For a better view of the sky scene, try blocking out the moon with your finger.

So your sky tonight might look like the chart below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In previous posts, a few people have questioned our saying that the moon always moves eastward in front of the constellations of the Zodiac. We get it! The moon’s motion is complex and possibly confusing. But it’s true – if you watch you’ll see. The moon always moves eastward through the constellations of the Zodiac, but – if you watch the moon during the night – you’ll observe that it moves westward across the sky, much as the sun does during the day.

Use these two stellar signposts – Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster – to notice that they, too, go westward across the sky during the night. Keep in mind that the westward motion of the moon and stars across the sky tonight (and the westward motion of the sun during the day) is really a reflection of the Earth spinning upon its rotational axis from west-to-east.

In the parlance of astronomers, the daily westward movement of the stars, sun, moon and planets is referred to as diurnal motion.

To discern the moon’s true orbital (eastward) motion around Earth, note the moon’s change of position at the same time each day, relative to the backdrop stars of the Zodiac. The star Aldebaran is on the Zodiac, too. Notice the moon’s location with respect to this star tonight, andthen look again tomorrow night. You’ll see the moon’s eastward motion among stars of Zodiac. This motion is a reflection of the moon’s true motion in orbit around Earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom line: The November 24 moon is edging up on the constellation Taurus the Bull, with its bright star Aldebaran and prominent Pleiades star cluster. How to spot them. This post also explains how – even though the moon and Taurus will go westward across the sky – the moon is always movingeastward relative to the stars!

 

 

 

 

 

                                            ENJOY STAR GRAZING