Don’t miss these astrophotography opportunities in November 2024

Every month brings some unique astronomical events which can be seen with the naked eye and can be photographed. In this article, let us take a look at the astrophotography opportunities in November 2024.

November 15: Last Supermoon of the year

This month, the Beaver full moon rises as the last supermoon of the year. Although it is not the largest among the four consecutive supermoons of this year, it will appear larger and brighter than a regular full moon, a great opportunity to capture visuals and images of a supermoon.

November 16: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

On 16^th November, the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury, will reach its greatest eastern elongation. It will reach a 22.5-degree distance from the sun. Although it remains low on the western horizon after sunset, this will be the best opportunity to catch a glimpse of this planet and to photograph it with a wide-angle or a telephoto lens.

November 17-18: Leonid meteor shower

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of 17^th November. The radiant point of this meteor shower is located in the constellation of Leo, which rises at midnight. From a dark location, you can see and photograph up to 15 meteors per hour. However, the bright, waning gibbous moon stays near the radiant point and will interfere with the visuals of the meteor shower.

Other opportunities throughout the month

Along with the celestial events mentioned above, the sky will present more opportunities to catch a few more objects. And some will be better than before.

Milky Way season never ends

Although the core region of the Milky Way, the Sagittarius arm now sets almost right after sunset, the Cygnus arm and the Orion arm will give you ample opportunity to capture the band of the Milky Way. The Cygnus arm can be seen right after sunset in the Northeastern sky, and it sets at dawn. During its setting, many deepscape opportunities can be utilized, including Andromeda galaxy, Triangulam galaxy, Pleiades star cluster, etc.

The Orion arm rises in the evening and provides a great opportunity for wide-field images of the arm, especially with an Astro-modified camera.

Venus shines bright in the evening sky

Venus continues to shine at -4 magnitude and is difficult to miss in the western sky after sunset. Throughout the month, it gradually moves across the band of Sagittarius arm. This provides a great opportunity for a week-long project to capture the movement of Venus in the sky. This bright planet is visible from light-polluted skies, and you can photograph it with a wide-field or mid-telephoto lens with landscape elements.

Galore of Planets

All the bright planets, including Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, can be easily spotted in the night sky throughout the month. With long exposures or with a telescope, you can also spot Neptune and Uranus in the sky.

Hope you have a great month with lots of astrophotography opportunities ahead. Clear skies!

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