The 365 Days Of Astronomy, The Daily Podcast Of The International Year Of Astronomy 2009

I’m Rob Webb, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  Let’s start by talking about the naked eye planets visible this month, the lunar phases, and then the meteor shower and other events, so you can plan further ahead than me.  Similar to October, in November Saturn and Jupiter are the steady highlights above, Venus shines brilliantly after sunset, and rocks fall from the sky.   A highlight: 17th - 18th – Leonid Meteor Shower – This annual, weak (10-15 per hour) meteor shower can have some wonderful years.  This year is good because the waxing crescent Moon will already be set early in the evening, making it clear of lunar light pollution into the morning, the best time to view it. Some advice for watching:  Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or hammock Look around Leo’s head.  That is where the radiant is - where the meteors will appear to be coming from.  The strategy to observe this year is to get out there whenever you can, but