Day: November 2, 2021

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2021 November 2

SN Requiem: A Supernova Seen Three Times So Far

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Data: S. A. Rodney (U. South Carolina) et al.; Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)Explanation: We’ve seen this same supernova three times — when will we see it a fourth? When a distant star explodes in a supernova, we’re lucky if we see it even once. In the case of AT 2016jka (“SN Requiem”), because the exploding star happened to be lined up behind the center of a galaxy cluster (MACS J0138 in this case), a comparison of Hubble Space Telescope images demonstrate that we saw it three times. These three supernova images are highlighted in circles near the bottom of the left frame taken in 2016. On the right frame, taken in 2019, the circles are empty because all three images of the single supernova had faded. Computer modeling of the cluster lens, however, indicates that a fourth image of the same supernova should eventually appear in the upper circle on the right image. But when? The best models predict this will happen in 2037, but this date is uncertain by about two years because of ambiguities in the mass distribution of the cluster lens and the brightness history of the stellar explosion. With refined predictions and vigilant monitoring, Earthlings living 16 years from now may be able to catch this fourth image — and perhaps learn more about both galaxy clusters and supernovas at once.

 

Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD

November 2 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else, you know was on the date the person was born.

From Moongiant.com

The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waning Crescent phase. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. This phase is best viewed an hour or 2 before the sunrise and can be quite beautiful if you’re willing to get up early. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon’s surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the November 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on November 2 has an illumination of 8%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On November 2 the Moon is 26.83 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

If you need to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link

Currentplanetarypositions.com

To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to your local time use this link

For Your Local Time and Date

Northeastern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

2 November 2021
01:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CET
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:10 Scorpio 19
Moon:08 Libra 11
Mercury:24 Libra 42
Venus:27 Sagittarius 12
Mars:01 Scorpio 59
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 43
Saturn:07 Aquarius 18
Uranus:12 Taurus 53 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 38 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 29
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 50 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 41 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 52
Chiron:09 Aries 23 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 12 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 10 Rx
Juno:25 Sagittarius 54
Vesta:22 Scorpio 27
Eris:24 Aries 04 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:2
Air:8
Water:5
Cardinal:5
Fixed:6
Mutable:8

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for the Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Denver, Colorado, USA

November 02, 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM MDT
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:10 Scorpio 44
Moon:14 Libra 11
Mercury:25 Libra 20
Venus:27 Sagittarius 37
Mars:02 Scorpio 16
Jupiter:22 Aquarius 44
Saturn:07 Aquarius 19
Uranus:12 Taurus 52 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 38 Rx
Pluto:24 Capricorn 30
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 49 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:02 Gemini 39 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):11 Gemini 55
Chiron:09 Aries 22 Rx
Ceres:10 Gemini 08 Rx
Pallas:09 Pisces 09 Rx
Juno:26 Sagittarius 02
Vesta:22 Scorpio 41
Eris:24 Aries 04 Rx
Fire:4
Earth:2
Air:8
Water:5
Cardinal:5
Fixed:6
Mutable:8