Stargazing Side Quest – November 9th, 2022

Happy Wednesday everyone! It’s time for another #WUFO stargazing side quest! Tonight’s side quest is a continuation from week 42. Read on to see what we’re looking at tonight!

For week 42 we found the Moon near Jupiter and Saturn in the western part of the sky. This week we are looking for the Moon again, but we’ll see that the Moon is no longer anywhere near Jupiter and Saturn, but instead it will be near Mars.

The Moon takes ~29 days to reach the same place in the sky again so 1 week = roughly 1/4 of the way or 90° through the sky Compare that to Jupiter & Saturn below which take ~12 and ~29 years to reach the same position. These two hardly changed position at all by comparison: Tonight you will find the Moon in the southeast near Mars. Mars will look like a distinctly red dot in the sky near the Moon so you can’t miss it. Once you’ve found the Moon & Mars, turn 90° to the southwest to find Jupiter & Saturn, where the Moon was for last weeks side quest: If you have found the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn this week AND last week, congratulations! You are getting really good at identifying the planets in the sky AND now have a really good sense for how quickly these celestial bodies move through the sky as the days go by. If you have been following these weekly side quests for a while, you may recognize something else near the Moon tonight – a star in the constellation Taurus called Aldebaran. This is very exciting! You know why? Aldebaran was one of our very first side quests from week 4 back in Feb! The winter stars from early #WUFO are starting to rise in the east again! If you have been stargazing with us this whole time, you now have a good idea of the motion of the fixed stars over the seasons too! Remember to tag @LiminalEarth and #WUFO with your Moon and Mars pics tonight so we can boost and celebrate your stargazing achievements! I hope you also enjoy the feeling of being more personally and viscerally connected to the celestial rhythms of the night sky too Check out the new weekly WUFO soundtrack thread I just came up with so we can all share the tunes we’re into each week 🎶