Show #32: Leonid Meteor Shower

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

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Music

Christopher Burke - Caroline
Hipnotics -I Feel it Too

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