Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

excerpt from "Works and Days"

"And if longing seizes you for sailing the stormy seas,
when the Pleiades flee mighty Orion
and plunge into the misty deep
and all the gusty winds are raging,
then do not keep your ship on the wine-dark sea
but, as I bid you, remember to work the land."

Hesiod, presumably lived around 700 BCE

Victoria Crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL/HiRISE (Thanks to Fraser at Universe Today)

Michael this one is for you! Does it remind you of the SARLACC PIT from Episode VI? But wait there is more...WHAT makes straight parallel lines on Mars?

Listener Feedback

URL for the 7 Mag Charts Table of Contents
Jim has had great luck with this red light/ white light head lamp from Lowes
I picked up something similar from Home Depot and just love it! Unfortunately I can't find it on the internet site.

Sun

There are two nice sunspots just appearing 926 and 927

Planets

Evening Planets
Be ready around Dec 7th-11th with Mercury, Jupiter and Mars on converge on one another LOW on the pre-dawn sky!

• Venus - Mag -3.8 but currently lost in the Sun's glare.
• Neptune - Mag +7.9 in Capricorn will also be better for dark evenings and is less than 1 degree north of the +4.3 magnitude star Iota Capricorni
• Uranus - Mag +5.8 in Aquarius Uranus is best seen in a dark moonless sky away from artificial lighting. It may be seen looking like a very faint star to the dark-adapted naked eye that shimmers in and out of visibility just under 1 degree east of Lambda Aquarii. Find the tipped over letter Y of Aquarius, go 4 thumbwidths southeast to find Lambda, and then a smidgen Southwest.
• Saturn - Mag 0.4 on the western edge of Leo just west of Regulus.

Morning Planets

• Jupiter - Mag -1.6 currently lost in the Sun's glare.
• Mars - Mag 1.6 just barely above the Sun's glare between the Sun and Mercury
• Mercury - Mag -0.5 barely 5 degrees off the horizon. Use the bright orange/red Arcturus and "spike" almost horizontally South to Spica. Mercury sits 25 degrees ESE of Spica.
• Saturn - Mag 0.4 on the western edge of Leo just west of Regulus.

Constellations

Time for a quiz!

Fornax - the Furnace - Invented by Lacaille during his stay at the Cape of Good Hope in 1751 - 1752 (who else!)

Indus - the Indian (Native American?) Invented by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman between 1595 and 1597 Epsilon Indi is one of the closest stars (17th)to Earth, approximately 11.82 light years away. Proxima Centauri is the closest at 4.2 light years away.

Viewing

Naked eye - the Pleiades


Mentioned by Homer about 750 B.C.At least 6 member stars are visible to the naked eye, while under moderate conditions this number increases to 9, and under clear dark skies jumps up to more than a dozen

The Pleiades nebulae are blue-colored, which indicates that they are reflection nebulae, reflecting the light of the bright stars situated near (or within) them. The brightest of these nebulae, that around Merope, was discovered on October 19, 1859 by Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht (Wilhelm) Tempel at Venice (Italy) with a 4-inch refractor; it is included in the NGC as NGC 1435.

The Pleiades also carry the name "Seven Sisters"; according to Greek mythology, seven daughters and their parents.

In the Maori language, Matariki is the name of the constellation Pleiades. In traditional times, Matariki was a season to celebrate and to prepare the ground for the coming year. Offerings of the produce of the land were made to the gods, including Rongo. This time of the year was also a good time to instruct young people in the lore of the land and the forest. as well, certain birds and fish were especially easy to harvest at this time.

Binocular -
Drift from the Pleiades through the sword of Orion (M42, NGC 1976, NGC 1977) the Great Orion Nebula
Continue ENE and head to the middle of Cancer and M44 the Beehive Cluster

Telescope -
Northern Hemisphere chart

• Auriga -for use with Telrads
• Taki's 8.5 Mag Chart
• Taki's 6.5 Mag Chart

M38 - open cluster mag 8 (NGC 1912)
M36 - open cluster mag 9 (NGC 1960)
M37 - open cluster mag 11 (NGC 2099)
M35 - open cluster mag 8 (NGC 2168) and near by NGC 2158

Southern Hemisphere chart

• Cetus -for use with Telrads,
• Taki's 8.5 Mag Chart
• Taki's 6.5 Mag Chart
• Fornax dwarf Taki's 8.5 Mag oddly enough a globular cluster (NGC 1049 mag 12.6) in the galaxy was discovered before the galaxy itself.
• M77 Taki's 8.5 Mag

The Moon

Images created with Lunar Phase Pro

Our beautiful lunar photos are courtesy of Frank Barrett at celestialwonders.com I recommend visiting his site and checking out his lunar phase photos. You can zoom in for more detail.

Spanning 56 miles and descending 13,800 feet below lunar surface, Tycho�s massive walls are 13 miles thick. As one of the youngest craters, Tycho might not look like much tonight, but it is surely one of the most impressive of all features when the Moon reaches Full. Look around Tycho for six small craters encircling it like an old analog telephone dial. To the southeast, another prominent feature calls attention to itself - Maginus. Power up and look closely at the more than 50 meteoritic impacts that have all but destroyed it. The very largest of the wall craters is on the southwest crest and is named Maginus C. On the outer north wall, look for less conspicuous Proctor. It, too, has been struck many times!

Gifts for the Astronomer!

Do it yourself (DIY) gifts
There are so many creative things you can do for your astronomer, or for yourself, that won't cost and arm and a leg! Consider the following:

• "Rite in the Rain" paper - perfect for creating your own lists without having to pull them in and out of sheet protectors.
• Hats, scarves, mitten (especially with flaps so you have finger access)
• Renovate an old hard sided Samsonite style suitcase for observing! Paint it and find some nice foam padding for the inside.
• Cold weather observing 'basket' - Be Creative!! a good thermos, hot cocoa, snacks, handwarmers, and maybe a favorite CD all 'wrapped' in a new accessory case
• Warm weather observing 'basket' - Have Fun!! snacks, a nice wide brim hat, some new shades, Miracool bandana, some oil free sunscreen and bug spray, all 'wrapped' in a Pelican case
• Online Star Atlases - print them out, put them in protective sleeves, laminate them or print them on waterproof paper and bind them into a book that will open flat!
  • Taki's Charts
  • Andrew Johnsons Mag 7 charts
• Fraser Cain at Universe Today emailed to let me know that there will be a "What's up 2007" so keep an eye on his site!
• My favorite give-away Messier Telrad Charts - by John Small courtesy of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston.
• Messier Telrad Charts - From Utah Skies
• Caldwell Telrad Charts - From Utah Skies

For the woodworkers out there...

Binocular Mounts
Observing Chair - example or the Cats Perch Plans

On to the shopping...
Telescope accessories

• Telrad
• Accessory Cases
• Variable Polarizing filter
• Lazermate deluxe collimator
• On-off switch green laser pointer (I'm ordering one for myself!)
• lens cleaning gear
• 2X barlow
• protective scope covers
• eyepiece containers

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering a 5% discount for any AAGG listener! Just put "AAGG" in the discount code box at checkout to receive your discount.

Off the scope

• eZipSky - free 10 day trial - know your cellphone charges first!
• Observing chair
• Red flash lights
• Storage containers
• Planetarium software
• Folding tables
• Handwarmers (buy them a case or better yet the reusable ones)
• How about a good first aid kit!

References
Atlases

• Pocket Sky Atlas - an AAGG favorite!
  
• Field map of the Moon - an AAGG favorite!
  
• Skyspot books - The Messier telrad books - fantastic for beginners searching for Messier objects!

Planisphere

• Chandler or Levy Plastic Planispheres for your latitude

Books
...there are just toooo many but here is a start....

• "NightWatch" by Terence Dickinson- the first book I remember purchasing for observing
• "The Stars" by H.A. Rey
• Celestial Sampler by Sue French
• "Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Objects" by Stephen O'Meara
• SkyWatch 07 (magazine single issue)- Sky and Telescope 12 months of starcharts and lots of great observing tips for the new astronomer
• Skygazer's Almanac'07 reprint (leaflet)- Sky and Telescope $2.25 and up
• RASC Observers guide (book)-Royal Astronomical Society of Canada $24.95+

Comets

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
-- Shakespeare

Email us at astronomyagogo   AT  gmail  DOT com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering FREE web hosting on our servers for you or your organization's website. In order to promote the hobbies of Astronomy, Astrophotography, Photography, Birding or generally any topic that is of interest to our customer base, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering Hosting Grants.

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

Photo by: Jon Bergskog "Mercury Transit" 76mm Televue

Escape at Bedtime

The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree
Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
And the star of the sailor, and Mars,
These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall
Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
And the stars going round in my head.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Listener Feedback

AAGG listener Dan has created a MySpace for AAGG listener AND he has started using TalkShoe and his own live chat show Astro-Tech (I hope I got that right) Check them both out at http://groups.myspace.com/aagglisteners

Constellations

Of the 88 modern constellations we have visited all of the Northern Hemisphere constellations and we are only missing 2 Southern Hemisphere constellation!

Andromeda -Antlia -Apus -Aquarius -Aquila -Ara -Aries -Auriga -Bootes -Caelum -Camelopardalis -Cancer -Canes Venatici -Canis Major -Canis Minor -Capricornus -Carina -Cassiopeia -Centaurus -Cepheus -Cetus -Chamaeleon -Circinus -Columba -Coma Berenices -Corona Australis -Corona Borealis -Corvus -Crater -Crux -Cygnus -Delphinus -Dorado -Draco -Equuleus -Eridanus -Fornax -Gemini -Grus -Hercules -Horologium -Hydra -Hydrus -Indus -Lacerta -Leo -Leo Minor -Lepus -Libra -Lupus -Lynx -Lyra -Mensa -Microscopium -Monoceros -Musca -Norma -Octans -Ophiuchus -Orion -Pavo -Pegasus -Perseus -Phoenix -Pictor -Pisces -Piscis Austrinus -Puppis -Pyxis -Reticulum -Sagitta -Sagittarius -Scorpius -Sculptor -Scutum -Serpens -Sextans -Taurus -Telescopium -Triangulum -Triangulum Australe -Tucana - Ursa Major -Ursa Minor -Vela -Virgo -Volans -Vulpecula

Pictor - The Easel. Invented by Lacaille during his stay at the Cape of Good Hope 1751-1752
Caelum (SEE-lum)- The Artist's chisel.
Dorado - The Swordfish. Dorado was one of the eleven constellations invented by Pieter Diksz Keyser and Fredrich Houtman, during the years 1595-1597. Most famous not for its shape but for a famous inhabitant of its boundaries, the Large Magellanic Cloud
Hydrus - The Southern water snake. The alpha star is very close to Achernar and the right angle seems to bracket the Small Magellanic Cloud



Another cultural tale of the now quickly receding Lyra, Altair and Cygnus.

A young cowherd named Niulang (the star Altair) happens across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he steals their clothes and waits to see what will happen. The fairy sisters elect the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhinu ("the weaver girl", the star Vega) to retrieve their clothing. She does so, but since Niulang sees her naked she must agree to his request for marriage. She proves to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang a good husband, and they are very happy together. But the Goddess of Heaven (in some versions Zhinu's mother) finds out that a mere mortal has married one of the fairy girls and is furious. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratches a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever (thus forming the Milky Way, which separates Altair and Vega).

Zhinu must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars Beta and Gamma Aquilae). But once a year all the magpies in the world take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, the seventh night of the seventh moon.

Planets

Evening Planets
Be ready around Dec 7th-11th with Mercury, Jupiter and Mars on converge on one another LOW on the pre-dawn sky!

• Jupiter - currently lost in the Sun's glare.
• Venus - currently lost in the Sun's glare.
• Uranus - Mag +5.8 in Aquarius Uranus is best seen in a dark moonless sky away from artificial lighting. It may be seen looking like a very faint star to the dark-adapted naked eye that shimmers in and out of visibility just under 1 degree east of Lambda Aquarii. Find the tipped over letter Y of Aquarius, go 4 thumb widths southeast to find Lambda, and then a smidgen Southwest.
• Neptune - Mag +7.9 in Capricorn will also be better for dark evenings and is less than 1 degree north of the +4.3 magnitude star Iota Capricorni

Morning Planets

• Mercury - Mag -1.7 barely 5 degrees off the horizon. Use the bright orange/red Arcturus and "spike" almost horizontally South to Spica. Mercury sits 20 degrees ENE of Spica.
• Mars - currently lost in the Sun's glare
• Saturn - Mag +0.5 on the western edge of Leo just west of Regulus. So when you are out getting ready for the Leonids make sure you bring along your telescope for Saturn!

Famous Astronomers

Abbe Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (March 15, 1713 - March 21, 1762) French astronomer.

He is noted for his catalogue of nearly 10,000 southern stars, including 42 nebulous objects. This catalogue, called "Coelum Australe Stelliferum", was published posthumously in 1763. It introduced 14 new constellations which have since become standard. He also calculated a table of eclipses for 1800 years.

In 1750, an astronomical expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, which was officially sanctioned. Among its results were determinations of the lunar and of the solar parallax (Mars serving as an intermediary), the first measurement of a South African arc of the meridian, and the observation of 10,000 southern stars.*

He lives on in the funny little constellations he re-mapped in the southern hemisphere as well as with a named lunar crater and a named asteroid.

But...he is the one who broke up the ship of the argonauts.....
*main source Wikipedia

Song Break

A DIY Project - The Mag 7 Star Atlas Project

by Andrew Johnson and available on Cloudy Night Telescope Review

"This project is my attempt to produce a free, downloadable set of high-quality star charts -- the Mag-7 Star Atlas -- capable of being printed at reasonable resolutions on the average home printer."

" Yes. And not just free of charge -- you have other freedoms as well. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Basically you are free to download, use, and or distribute this work for non-commercial purposes with appropriate attribution. You can create and distribute derived works if they follow the same license. The Mag-7 Star Atlas

There are 20 primary charts and one supplemental chart (11a for the Virgo Coma Berenices region) comprising the complete Mag-7 Star Atlas. Based on early feedback, I've made two versions available: a black on white version for use in the field (where red light may interfere with different color schemes), and a version with DSO's, constellation lines and boundaries, and grid lines highlighted in different colors. Different colors help to visually break up the charts making for a more relaxed viewing experience (whether viewing on-screen or printing in color for a "desktop" version). Apart from color, the two versions are identical. Enjoy."

Viewing

Naked eye - Leonid Meteor shower Peak time estimates range from 0445 UT to 0630 UT on Nov. 19th (more info at Spaceweather.com)
The mid-November region of Earth's orbit is littered with debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every time the comet visits the inner solar system (once every 33 years), it leave behind its dirty footprints of pebbles and rock. The Earth navigates this dustpath every November.

Sunspot #923 - Follow safe solar viewing practices! -

The Sun exhibit differential rotation: at the equator the surface rotates once every 25.4 days; near the poles it's as much as 36 days. Similar effects are seen in the gas planets and other non-solid bodies...like stars. The differential rotation extends considerably down into the interior of the Sun but the core of the Sun rotates as a solid body. Sunspots sometimes form and fizzle in a matter of days. Other times they last weeks so we can keep an eye on this one.

Binocular - Comet Garradd C/2006 L1 +9.7 mag comet that will be very near Saturn about the time of the Leonid Meteor Shower. Moving from Leo to the tip of Cancer at month's end. If you want more there is also 4P/Faye Comet Faye that is currently in Cetus not far from alpha Pisces.

Open cluster M52 in Cassiopeia. Extend the last leg of the "W" from Schedar to Caph, one more like distance until you spot a narrow diamond pattern of stars. M52 is just to the south.

NGC 7789 is a misty patch in binoculars but you are looking at one of the most densely packed open clusters north of the celestial equator. There is an estimated 1000 stars crammed into an area 40 light year across

Telescope - Northern Hemisphere chart
NGC 1245 - a swarming open cluster in Perseus. Find Mirfax and it is 1/3rd the way to Algol.

Another fainter swarm is NGC 1528 this time on the other side of Mirfax almost due west. There is a faint trail of brighter stars that make a 'spoon' shape crossing through the cluster.

The last of the open cluster swarms in Perseus is NGC 1513
NGC 581 (M103) in Cassiopeia with its own little 'Orion's Belt'
NGC 663
NGC 659, and
NGC 654.

Tired of clusters, try planetary nebula NGC 7662, the 'Blue Snowball Nebula' you will see a consistently 'glowing' blue tinted perfectly circular disk. From Alpheratz (Sirrah on your chart) head NNE towards Lacerta (the Lizard)use the star chart to help you get to the right spot.

Another fine object in Cassiopeia is NGC 185 and elliptical galaxy at 9.3 mag.

Southern Hemisphere chart
NGC 1261 which sits in the hook of Horoligium (the pendulum clock). Find Caelum, from earlier this evening, and follow the line to the cluster.

Backing up to Caelum and find the small dove between Caelum and the feet of Lepus (the hare) the alpha star, Phact, and epsilon star point right to where you want to globular cluster NGC 1851.

Scanning back up and in between the feet of Lepus is spiral galaxy NGC 1964 and while you are there take a look for M79 a globular cluster not too far away. This GC is so densely packed the center looks solid. One of the more challenging M objects for mid to upper northern latitudes.

What's on your list!

I am putting together an astronomer's "Must have" list for all those folks out there who are worried about the perfect gift for the astronomer on their list! I will divided the list up by skill level (just starting, amateur, with or without scope, astrophotographer, etc) so we need all your ideas! Our sponsor, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is creating a webpage with the ideas we have been bouncing around so far so now is a great time to pitch in your wish list and who knows, maybe if you drop enough hints we can get the right people to view the list and check it twice!

Post your ideas here on the website or send me an email at astronomyagogo AT gmail DOT com!

Comets

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
-- Shakespeare

Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat

Music

Christopher Burke - Caroline
Hipnotics -I Feel it Too

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering FREE web hosting on our servers for you or your organization's website. In order to promote the hobbies of Astronomy, Astrophotography, Photography, Birding or generally any topic that is of interest to our customer base, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering Hosting Grants.

Hey!  Were you out and about today sharing the Mercury Transit with the public, your family or friends?  Need some blog-bling?  Well here you go, your own "Local Transit Authority" badge to wear proudly.  Let the world know just how weird we really are.  (yeah I should have come up with this last week!)

Event notes:
Tacoma started off clear in the morning and by noon it was starting to get cloudy so in typical Pacific Northwest style it was Gorilla Astronomy as usual!  I pulled the scope out at work during lunch and we had a blast watching Mercury creep between us and the sun and even more fun talking about sunspots! 

Let me know what you did in your area and we will give you a shout out in the next podcast!

Cheers!
Alice

HOW the old mountains drip with sunset,	
  And the brake of dun!	
How the hemlocks are tipped in tinsel	
  By the wizard sun!	
  
How the old steeples hand the scarlet,	        
  Till the ball is full,
Have I the lip of the flamingo	
  That I dare to tell?	
  
Then, how the fire ebbs like billows,	
  Touching all the grass	        
With a departing, sapphire feature,	
  As if a duchess pass!	
  
How a small dusk crawls on the village	
  Till the houses blot;	
And the odd flambeaux no men carry	        
  Glimmer on the spot!	
  
Now it is night in nest and kennel,	
  And where was the wood,	
Just a dome of abyss is nodding	
  Into solitude!	        
  
These are the visions baffled Guido;	
  Titian never told;	
Domenichino dropped the pencil,	
  Powerless to unfold.

- Emily Dickenson (1830-86), Complete Poems 1924, Part Two Nature: CX

Download this month's sky map!

Kym Thalassoudis does a wonderful job creating accurate and easy to use star maps every month! Visit his site at www.skymaps.com for skymaps and links to other useful astronomical sites. Also a great portal for astronomical gifts!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere October sky.

Transit of Mercury:

Nov 8 19:12 UT - Nov 9 00:10 UT
Transit Information
NASA, nice animated gif of what we might expect.
NASA Transit Webcast
From Hawaii
The Exploritorium
View the transit from the SOHO pages
Tacoma Astronomical Society will be out, weather permitting, check the website on the 7th for location updates.
S.Hemisphere details visit James Barclay's site the Maidenwell Observatory will be having a sunrise transit breakfast.
Safe Solar Viewing
Space Weather
Mr. Eclipse
The Exploritorium

Key Dates for November

Days and Times in UT (help with time)

Observations are for 8pm for the mid-northern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-southern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Astronomical

November
	Comet Swan (C/2006 M4) starts the month Hercules and end in Aquila
5	-Moon near Uranus possible occultation for SE Australia and New Zealand International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) to see if you can view the occultation in your area
	-Full Moon (12:58 UT)
	-Taurids Meteor Shower Peak full moon will interfere
	- Asteroid 5535 Annefrank Closest Approach To Earth (1.215 AU)
6	-Moon very close to the Pleiades, possible photo ops!
7	-Asteroid 2006 UQ216 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
8	-Transit of Mercury (Mercury at inferior conjunction). Refer to this chart for your viewing opportunity. WARNING: NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN--IT WILL INSTANTLY DAMAGE YOUR EYES. Observers require a safe Sun filter attached securely to the front of their telescope to see Mercury's tiny disk pass in front of the Sun. The event will be visible from most of Asia, Australia, Pacific, and North and South America. Observers in the Americas will view the event in the afternoon before sunset. Transit begins at 19:12 UT; mid-transit at 21:41 UT; ends at 0:08 UT (Nov 9). Next transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016.
10	-Mars, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all within 9 degrees of the Sun
12	-Last Quarter Moon (17:45 UT)
	-N.Taurids Meteor Peak, better viewing with a late rising moon!
17	-Leonids Meteor Peak
	-Mercury stationary
20	-New Moon (22:18 UT)
	-Uranus stationary
21	-Jupiter in conjunction with the Sun
23	-Venus in descending node
24	-Mercury at greatest heliocentric lat. N
25	-Mercury at greatest elongation W 20 degrees
28	-First Quarter Moon 6:29 UT)
	-Moon occults Uranus (S.Africa, India, SE Asia)Go to the International Occultation Timing Association for more information

Historical

...Did you know?
November
7	-10th Anniversary (1996), Mars Global Surveyor Launch
	-40th Anniversary (1966), Lunar Orbiter 2 Launch
8	-Edmund Halley's 350th Birthday (1656)
9	-Carl Sagan's 72nd Birthday (1934-1996)
12	-25th Anniversary (1981), Space Shuttle Columbia Launch (STS-2)
	-Seth Nicholson's 115th Birthday (1891)
13	-James Clerk Maxwell's 175th Birthday (1831) Maxwell is the only man to have a Venusian named object.
15	-William Herschel's 268th Birthday (1738)
16	-Arecibo radio telescope dedicated (1974)
20	-Edwin Hubble's 117th Birthday (1889)
26	-First French satellite -Asterix 1
27	-Anders Celsius' 305th Birthday (1701)
29	-45th Anniversary (1961), Mercury 5 Launch (Enos the Chimpanzee)

Earth's major motions for 2006

Perihelion		Jan 4
Equinox		Mar 20 18:26(UT)
Solstice		June 21 12:26(UT)
Aphelion		July 3
Equinox		Sept 23 04:03(UT)
Solstice		Dec 22 00:22(UT)

Planet Positions for 2006

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Venus

Sgr

Sgr

Cap

Aqr

Psc

Ari

Tau

Cnc

Leo

Vir

Lib

Sgr

Mars

Ari

Tau

Tau

Gem

Gem

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Vir

Vir

Lib

Sco

Jupiter

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Sco

Saturn

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Uranus

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Neptune

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Comets for November

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Monika Herzig - "Dancing in November"
Alyssa Hendrix - "Good Summer Rain"

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering FREE web hosting on our servers for you or your organization's website. In order to promote the hobbies of Astronomy, Astrophotography, Photography, Birding or generally any topic that is of interest to our customer base, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering Hosting Grants.

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night! Week of Oct. 31, 2006

The Starlight Night

LOOK at the stars! look, look up at the skies!
O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!
The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!
Down in dim woods the diamond delves! the elves'-eyes!
The grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold lies!
Wind-beat whitebeam! airy abeles set on a flare!
Flake-doves sent floating forth at a farmyard scare!
Ah well! it is all a purchase, all is a prize.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Happy Halloween Astronomy Style!

Here are some great creepy astronomy sites:
Chandra has some great autumn greeting and Halloween cards
NASA Spooky Sounds Video
Spitzer captured this creepy, skull like image in Cygnus.
Creepy, cool, spooky silhouette of the shuttle and space station against the sun.

Planets

Evening Planets

• Mercury - Mag 0.0 in Libra. Mark your calendars for inferior conjunction and visible transit on Nov. 8th! Low on the western horizon near Jupiter.
• Jupiter - Mag -1.6 in Libra. Visible low in the sky just after sunset.
  
  
  
  images courtesy of: Stellarium software
• Pluto - Mag +14.0 in Ophiuchus
• Uranus - Mag +5.8 in Aquarius Uranus is best seen in a dark moonless sky away from artificial lighting. It may be seen looking like a very faint star to the dark-adapted naked eye that shimmers in and out of visibility just over 1 degree east of Lambda Aquarii. Find the tipped over letter Y of Aquarius, go 4 thumbwidths southeast to find Lambda, and then look pinky nail east.
• Neptune - Mag +7.9 in Capricorn 1.25 degree north of the +4.3 magnitude star Iota Capricorni

Too close to the sun..

• Mars - Mag +1.6 is at the western end of Virgo and lost in the sun in the northern latitudes. You will have to look hard in the haze of the horizon and it will help to be closer to the equator.
• Venus - Mag -3.8 in Virgo.

Morning Planets

• Saturn - Mag +0.6 on the western edge of Leo!

Shall we be sassy? Dwarf Planets..er...Minor Planets...er...Icy Dwarfs....er...um...hmmmm

• 1 Ceres +7.9 mag in Pisces Australis 18.5 degrees West of Fomalhaut
• Eris mag +19 in central Cetus

Constellations

Horologium -the pendulum clock - Horologium was named by Abbe' Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Originally named Horologium Oscillitorium to honor Christian Huygens, the inventor of the pendulum clock in 1656-57 but like most longer astronomical names it was shortened to Horologium . Huygens is also famous for discovering Saturn's rings.

Reticulum - the grid - A reticle consists of sets of parallel and perpendicular lines, either in the form of thread or wire or in the form of markings etched in glass. The result is a square grid which may be accurately used to locate and plot the relative positions of objects viewed through the grid. Zeta Reticuli is a double star visible to the naked eye and strangely enough the home of the aliens in the alleged Barney and Betty Hill abduction.

Aries - the ram - One of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy and one of the 13 zodiacal constellations In Greek mythology Athamas, the king of Orchomenos, was married first to the goddess Nephele with whom he had the twins Phrixus and Helle. He later divorced Nephele and married Ino, daughter of Cadmus. Phrixus and Helle were hated by their stepmother, Ino who hatched a plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all the town's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus. Athamus reluctantly agreed. Before he was killed, though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying golden ram sent by Nephele, their natural mother. Helle fell off the ram into the the strait between the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara (Hellespont which was named after her) and died, but Phrixus survived all the way to Colchis (kolkis), where King Aettees took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter Medea in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus gave the king the golden fleece of the ram, which Aettees hung in a tree in his kingdom.

Viewing

October
30 -First Quarter Moon 11:04 UT
31 -Halloween!
November
1 -Uranus 0.5 deg North of the Moon, occultation possible in New Zealand and SE Australia
5 -Full Moon and Taurid meteors peak
8 -Transit of Mercury

Naked eye -
Saturn in the early morning 5 degrees West of Regulus
Ghostly smudge M46 and M47 in dark skies -in Puppis west of Canis Major
Algol (Al-goul) naked eye variable star in Perseus.

Binocular -
M45 - the Pleiades. Take time to appreciate the ghostly nebulosity around the sisters.

Telescope -
NGC 3242 - Ghost of Jupiter - planetary nebula near the tail of Hydra
NGC 1909 - IC 2118 - Witch head nebula - nebula just west of Rigel
M16 - ghostly nebula in Saggitarius 6.0 mag large but close to the horizon and the moon
M27 - Dumbbell nebula in Vulpecula - ghost of apple core
M97 - Planetary nebula in Ursa Major - Owl Nebula 9.9 mag
NGC 2070 - Tarantula Nebula - 8 mag in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Feature Attraction - Astronomy Trick or Treat!

Top 10 Astronomy misconceptions

""Be very, very careful what you put into that head,
because you will never, ever get it out.

Thomas Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530)

1. Bad! The Big Dipper is a constellation (and the Pleiades is the same thing as the Little Dipper)
   Good! The Pleiades and the Big Dipper are asterisms.
2. Bad! You can (only) balance an egg on the equinox.
   Good! If you have steady hands you can balance an egg anytime!
3. Bad! The seasons are caused by our distance from the sun.
   Good! The seasons are the result of the tilt of the Earth!
4. Bad! The Coriolis effect causes drains and toilets to rotate in different directions in different hemispheres.
   Good! Check out this website: http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html
5. Bad! August Mars will be as big as the full moon. This was a horrible email full of erroneous facts.
   Good! Track the relationship with Earth and Mars on this website to see when we are close(er) to Mars.
6. Bad! The moon looks larger on the horizon because the air is thicker and acts like a magnifying glass.
   Good! Look at the illusions here: http://www.lhup.edu/~DSIMANEK/3d/moonillu.htm
7. Bad! The "dark side of the moon" never receives any sun-light.
   Good! Try it! Since the moon rotates on its axis it will receive sunlight on all sides.
8. Bad! Polaris is the brightest star in the sky.
   Good! The sun is the brightest star followed my Sirius, Canopus, Rigel Kentaurus, etc
9. Bad!Bad! First man in space was John Glenn.
   Good! Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space.
10. Bad! You can buy a star or a piece of the moon.

Transit of Mercury Nov. 8 2006

Get more information about the Transit of Mercury: Wikipedia,
HM Nautical Almanac,
"Mr. Eclipse"

Viewing the transit safely!
Build a solar filter Sources for Baader film (http://www.baader-planetarium.com/sofifolie/details_e.htm#distributor)

New Comets

Comet Swan (8.5 mag) currently in Hercules check out the heavens-above.com site. From the city it looks like a faint nebulous globular cluster! I did NOT see this! Aerith.net, Heavens-above.com
Comet C2006 T1 (Levy) currently in Leo.

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site. Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat
"Intelligent or not, we all make mistakes and perhaps the intelligent mistakes are the worst, because so much careful thought has gone into them" Peter Ustinov

Music

Rebecca Loebe - All This Time

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