The Skies

Sun and Moon Data

To find sun and moon rising and setting times for your park or office, go to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day webpage.

Night Skies

An update on the moon, planets and night skies for the month of November, updated weekly.

The visible planets this week:

• Mars – Mars is visible in the early evening near the southwestern horizon.
• Jupiter – Jupiter rises in the northeast as Mars sets in the southwest. It’s not visible until late evening, rising with the bright star Aldebaran.
• Venus – Venus continues to be visible in the pre-dawn sky.

Calendar of upcoming celestial events for November:

• Friday, 11/16 – The moon passes four degrees north of Mars.
• Saturday, 11/17 – The Leonid meteor shower is at its peak tonight. Astronomers expect the shower to produce 15 to 20 meteors per hours shortly before dawn.
• Monday, 11/26 – Venus will pass very close by Saturn at midnight.
• Wednesday, 11/28 – The moon is full. It will pass close by Jupiter in the evening sky.

For more information on stars, planets and other night sky phenomena, go to “The Sky This Week” page at the U.S. Naval Observatory page at http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week

The Weather

Watches and Warnings

The principal watches and warnings posted as of early this morning were as follows. Note that these change over the course of a day and represent only initial daily forecasts. Click on this link for a full-sized map showing these hazards:

• Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories – The Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.
• Coastal flood advisories – Northeastern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina.

For additional information on severe weather, go to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/ .

This Day in NPS History

In The Parks

On November 16, 1821, after meeting with Gov. Facundo Melgares the day before, William Becknell began the first legal international trade on the Santa Fe Trail.  The Santa Fe National Historic Trail includes remnants of the route. Click here for other park anniversary dates.

In Memoriam

There were no NPS line of duty deaths on this date. Click here for a full list of on-duty deaths.

From The Morning Report Archives

Today’s incident from the Morning Report archives:

Yellowstone NP – A seven-year-old Indiana boy fell 130 feet from the Uncle Tom Trail at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone on the afternoon of August 6, 1988. He’d been sitting on a bench along the trail when he apparently slipped through the railing and fell. He was alive when evacuated, but died the next day at a hospital.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor