TONIGHT : Full Moon( Beaver/Frost/Snow/Hunter's)

 

The Moon is full tonight, lining up opposite the Sun in our sky. The full Moon of November is known as the Frost Moon or Snow Moon. This year it also comes a month after the Harvest Moon, so it’s the Hunter’s Moon.

 

 

 

November 4: Bright Sky

 

The Moon will be just past full , so it'll a big spotlight that in the sky all night. Even from locations far from city lights, the brilliant Moon will still overpower much of the view of the Milky Way, meteors, and other subtle lights.

 

 

 

November 5: Moon and Aldebaran

 

As seen from parts of the U.S., the Moon will pass in front of Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, hiding the star from view. Aldebaran will stand close to the Moon as night falls. The Moon then will close in on the star and pass in front of it.

 

November 6: Andromeda

 

A faint but famous princess crowns the sky on November evenings. Andromeda will be high in the east as night falls, and directly overhead by about 10 p.m. A slightly curved line of three equally bright stars marks the constellation. Note that I am talking here about the constellation Andromeda, whose most obvious deep-sky object is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.

What in the heck is going on with a star named Tabby's Star? Kepler caught the star dimming by as much as 20%, a number way too high for the dimming to be due to a planet. Could it be a swarm of comets, a giant ring of dust, or .... an alien megastructure attempting to harness the star's power???

 

Stay tuned...

Tabby's star(pic below), seen in the infrared on the left and ultraviolet on the right, has scientists puzzled. Astronomers are mystified as to why the star is dimming by as much as 20%. Are ET's trying to harness the star's energy??? Probably not, but what's going out there around Tabby's world?

 

The Puzzle of 'Tabby's Star': 9 NASA Explanations for Star's Odd Dimming

 

Is there a consensus among scientists as to what they're ruling out? From the link above, it seems the one possibility they haven't been able to prove is the "Ravenous Star" theory. :hungry:

50 shades of grey.... Well, not this time.

 

Wanna take a guess at what you're looking at below ?

 

The Puzzle of 'Tabby's Star': 9 NASA Explanations for Star's Odd Dimming

 

Is there a consensus among scientists as to what they're ruling out? From the link above, it seems the one possibility they haven't been able to prove is the "Ravenous Star" theory. :hungry:

 

Yes, in fact, I read an article the other day about one such star that was cannibalizing another. I think the star I was reading about was a binary about 730 LY away. The small star, a white dwarf about the size of Earth, is cannibalizing its much larger companion, a star about 125 times more voluminous than our sun. Interestingly, it's the only known case of a binary system in which the larger star completely eclipses its companion. In fact, because of the extremely tight orbit, it does so every 50 minutes!!!

The Leonid Meteor Shows PEAKS in the pre-dawn hours this Saturday. Expect to see as many as 15 meteors per hour, some with persistent trains. A new moon will provide star-gazers like you and I with a dark sky. Don't miss the show!!! Hopefully, we will have clear skies.

The Leonid Meteor Shows PEAKS in the pre-dawn hours this Saturday. Expect to see as many as 15 meteors per hour, some with persistent trains. A new moon will provide star-gazers like you and I with a dark sky. Don't miss the show!!! Hopefully, we will have clear skies.

 

SF - I have been watching this thread from a distance as I am not that knowledgeable but am curious. That being said, one of my little guys is showing a strong interest in the stars. How do I get started in developing a young astronomer?

Thanks a ton!

SF - I have been watching this thread from a distance as I am not that knowledgeable but am curious. That being said, one of my little guys is showing a strong interest in the stars. How do I get started in developing a young astronomer?

Thanks a ton!

 

Great question and thanks for reading the thread. I hope to start posting more soon as school winds down for the semester. Let me know if there are particular topics you want me to write about in future posts.

 

As for your little guy, I think that's wonderful that he's showing an interest as a youngster. I did the same. From the time I was five or six, I was fascinated by the stars and had a passion for learning about the solar system and beyond.

 

I would say, find him some books with lots of pictures of the planets, moons, comets, and deep-space objects like galaxies and nebulae. National Geographic has a special edition on the newsstands right now with anything and everything on astronomy. It has maps of the night sky for each season. So, books are great resources.

 

Also, take him to a planetarium. He will LOVE it !!! And you will too. It's like going to movie theater and watching the night sky come alive above you.

 

Maybe find a nice pair of astronomy binoculars or a telescope(although I don't recommend a cheap one). Once he gets to where he wants to see some planets or deep sky objects invest in a good telescope. At first, just a good pair of binoculars should allow you to see some more detail.

 

When I was young, I loved just going out at night , laying down a blanket and looking up at the night sky. If you get a sky map, you will be able to learn the night sky and identify the various constellations. He will enjoy being able to look up and spot the Big Dipper, the Seven Sisters, Orion, or some of the other constellations. It's also fun to be able to look up and identify the planets. It's amazing that we can look up with the naked eye and see objects that are so very far away!!!!

Those are some things that should get him even more excited about astronomy. I'll post more ideas as they come to mind.

I saw this on my Google home page yesterday. It's a 360 degree tour of the International Space Station's Observation Deck. Click on the "hot spots" and a pop up explains the function of the equipment.

 

To take the tour -

Google Maps

 

For more about the ISS -

International Space Station Cupola Observational Module | NASA

I can imagine being on the deck of the Starship Enterprise with captain James T. Kirk and looking out at the image below as it approached the starship.

 

A multi-wavelength composite image from several orbiting and ground-based telescopes captures an ongoing cosmic collision between at least four galaxy clusters, each containing hundreds of galaxies. The region is collectively known as Abell 2744, approximately 4 billion light-years from Earth. Yes, I said 4 BILLION LY !!!

 

Great question and thanks for reading the thread. I hope to start posting more soon as school winds down for the semester. Let me know if there are particular topics you want me to write about in future posts.

 

As for your little guy, I think that's wonderful that he's showing an interest as a youngster. I did the same. From the time I was five or six, I was fascinated by the stars and had a passion for learning about the solar system and beyond.

 

I would say, find him some books with lots of pictures of the planets, moons, comets, and deep-space objects like galaxies and nebulae. National Geographic has a special edition on the newsstands right now with anything and everything on astronomy. It has maps of the night sky for each season. So, books are great resources.

 

Also, take him to a planetarium. He will LOVE it !!! And you will too. It's like going to movie theater and watching the night sky come alive above you.

 

Maybe find a nice pair of astronomy binoculars or a telescope(although I don't recommend a cheap one). Once he gets to where he wants to see some planets or deep sky objects invest in a good telescope. At first, just a good pair of binoculars should allow you to see some more detail.

 

When I was young, I loved just going out at night , laying down a blanket and looking up at the night sky. If you get a sky map, you will be able to learn the night sky and identify the various constellations. He will enjoy being able to look up and spot the Big Dipper, the Seven Sisters, Orion, or some of the other constellations. It's also fun to be able to look up and identify the planets. It's amazing that we can look up with the naked eye and see objects that are so very far away!!!!

Those are some things that should get him even more excited about astronomy. I'll post more ideas as they come to mind.

 

Thank you very much. I will bring lots of questions.

Great question and thanks for reading the thread. I hope to start posting more soon as school winds down for the semester. Let me know if there are particular topics you want me to write about in future posts.

 

As for your little guy, I think that's wonderful that he's showing an interest as a youngster. I did the same. From the time I was five or six, I was fascinated by the stars and had a passion for learning about the solar system and beyond.

 

I would say, find him some books with lots of pictures of the planets, moons, comets, and deep-space objects like galaxies and nebulae. National Geographic has a special edition on the newsstands right now with anything and everything on astronomy. It has maps of the night sky for each season. So, books are great resources.

 

Also, take him to a planetarium. He will LOVE it !!! And you will too. It's like going to movie theater and watching the night sky come alive above you.

 

Maybe find a nice pair of astronomy binoculars or a telescope(although I don't recommend a cheap one). Once he gets to where he wants to see some planets or deep sky objects invest in a good telescope. At first, just a good pair of binoculars should allow you to see some more detail.

 

When I was young, I loved just going out at night , laying down a blanket and looking up at the night sky. If you get a sky map, you will be able to learn the night sky and identify the various constellations. He will enjoy being able to look up and spot the Big Dipper, the Seven Sisters, Orion, or some of the other constellations. It's also fun to be able to look up and identify the planets. It's amazing that we can look up with the naked eye and see objects that are so very far away!!!!

Those are some things that should get him even more excited about astronomy. I'll post more ideas as they come to mind.

Also, there’s an app that allows you to point your cell phone toward any section of the sky and it will show and name each star you’re looking at.

I don’t have it on my phone but I saw it from a friend’s phone.

SF - I have been watching this thread from a distance as I am not that knowledgeable but am curious. That being said, one of my little guys is showing a strong interest in the stars. How do I get started in developing a young astronomer?

Thanks a ton!

Having just purchased some books for the son of a friend of mine, I can make some recommendations. How old is your kiddo that is interested?

@Science Friction, did you see this? I'm not sure if we discussed it on here or not, but an asteroid from outside our solar system made a trip around our sun and will never be seen by us again. Here is an artist's rendition:

 

 

ESO Observations Show First Interstellar Asteroid is Like Nothing Seen Before | ESO