Tonight, by about 8:00 p.m., the waning gibbous moon and the constellation Taurus the Bull will appear together over your eastern horizon. Thereafter, the moon will shine in front of the Bull for the rest of the night.
The radiant points for two November meteor showers – the South Taurids and North Taurids – both reside in front of Taurus. If you trace the paths of shower meteors backward, each shower appears to radiate from a certain point in the starry sky. As can be expected, the radiant point for the South Taurids is found in southern Taurus, while that of the North Taurids is found in northern Taurus.
The South Taurids are expected to peak after midnight tonight, but unfortunately, the bright moon will wipe out all or most of this year’s 2009 South Taurid meteor display. However, the moonlit glare will be much less obtrusive when the North Taurids peak a week from now, on the night of November 11-12.
Although the moon will make it easy to locate Taurus tonight, the glare will make it difficult to visualize the starlit figure of the Bull. This evening, you may be able to make out Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star, to the moon’s lower right, and Elnath, Taurus’ second brightest star, to the lower left
尽管有月亮时能很容易找到金牛座,但明亮的月光却很难看到牛的形态。今晚你可能看到金牛座中最亮的一颗星-------------一等星Aldebaran,在月亮的右下方;还有二等星Elnath,在月亮的左下方。 |