Jupiter will be prominent in the southwest after sunset during November. At the same time, the Pleiades will be rising in the East. The Pleiades are a cluster of young, hot stars moving through the Milky Way galaxy. The bright, fuzzy streaks you see in most pictures of the Pleiades are due to light scattered by interstellar dust surrounding the cluster. This dust is not associated with the Pleiades stars, but is an unrelated interstellar dust cloud the cluster just happens to be traveling through.

The Pleiades have been recognized since ancient times and are mentioned in Homer's Iliad, the Bible, and Hindu mythology. The large telescope Japan operates at Mauna Kea Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii is called Subaru, the Japanese name for the Pleiades. The symbol for the automobile manufacturer Subaru is a simplified graphic of the Pleiades star cluster.

The Astronomy Department's Public Viewing Nights continue this month on the roof of the Tate Physics Building, part of the Twin Cities East Bank Campus. Every Friday night, astrophysics graduate students open up the dome to observe objects through our historic 10.25" refracting telescope. Along with viewing there are also presentations each week about various astronomical topics. Come with astronomy questions to be answered or just to see the night sky. For more information go to www.astro.umn.edu/outreach/pubnight

The Como Planetarium in St. Paul's Como Park offers limited star shows. For more information, call (651) 293-5398 or check their website at www.planetarium.spps.org. If you're interested in how you can help build the new Minnesota Planetarium, please call (612) 630-6151 or visit www.mplanetarium.org.