Periodic Comet Borrelly comes to perihelion on November 1st, when it will be 204 million km from the Sun and about half that distance from Earth. It's still observable in the late-night sky, a challenge made easier now that the Moon no longer dominates the night. Here are the comet's positions for 0 hours Universal Time:
R.A. Dec.
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Nov. 1 7h 40m +14.7 deg
Nov. 3 7 45 +15.9
Nov. 5 7 50 +17.1
A total solar eclipse occurs on November 3rd that will be visible from South America. The Moon's shadow makes landfall on the southern Peruvian coast at about 12:11 Universal Time, where totality will last 2 minutes and 51 seconds. The path then crosses southern Bolivia and the mountainous Altiplano plateau, which promises excellent viewing. Next it cuts northwest to southeast across Paraguay, clips the northeast horn of Argentina, and at 13:01 UT moves into the Atlantic Ocean from southernmost Brazil, where totality will be 4 minutes long. Throughout, the path will be about 180 km wide. This cosmic spectacle takes place too far south for partial phases to be visible anywhere in the U.S. Full details appear in November's SKY & TELESCOPE.
A reminder to eclipse-goers headed south: Jupiter will about 13 degrees to the Sun's east and Venus just to its west during totality. Any observations of Jupiter made during or near totality could yield very valuable updates on the new dark spots on Jupiter created by Comet Shoemaker-levy 9. The Great Red Spot should be visible, as Jupiter's central meridian longitude during the eclipse will be about 40 degrees. That's the general area where the comet's fragment H struck last summer.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy Home Page