Rubens painted the Roman goddess, Abundantia, holding a goat-horn cornucopia overflowing with fruits and nuts as two well-fed little toddlers gathered them up. Well, November’s evening skies offer an abundance of heavenly objects just as pleasing to your eyes as a Rubens.

As the Sun sets in the west, a brilliant Mars hangs high in the southeast. Last month, Mars and Earth were as close as they will be until 2035. Although Earth has now passed Mars, we are still close. Mars shines at magnitude -2, brighter than any of the stars.

In the west, Jupiter and Saturn are within five degrees of each other. Jupiter is also at magnitude -2. Although Saturn is dimmer, it’s still brighter than any star in that area of the sky. On November 19, the waxing crescent Moon joins the planetary pair, adding to the beauty.

During early November evenings, our home galaxy, the Milky Way, spans the heavens from the northeast to southwest, passing through the easily recognized constellation of Cassiopeia. This “M” shaped asterism of stars rotates around the North Star as the night progresses and becomes a “W” as it inverts. The beautiful Milky Way also passes through Cygnus the Swan, often referred to as the Northern Cross. Nearby, the Milky Way passes by the overhead Vega, the bright star featured in the film Contact.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks the evening of November 17. In dark skies you should see a “falling star” every five minutes or so. Meteor showers are caused when the Earth orbits through a debris field left by previous comets, in this case comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle. The Moon sets about 10 p.m., and anytime after that would be a good time to view the shower, but the best time is just before sunrise.

Would you like to learn more about these and other heavenly objects? Join me November 17 at Pebble Hill’s Uno Hill facility come rain or shine for an indoor introduction to astronomy, followed by a gathering under the stars, weather permitting. For more information, please contact https://pebblehill.com/upcoming-events, or telephone Kitty Spivey at (229) 226-2344. We’ll have a cornucopia of fun!