Compilation

This is a compilation of 3 stargazes, 1 held by Mr. Percival.

(Note: The dates for the meteor showers are not exact. I couldn't find the dates for 2006 -I forgot to write down the dates, because I had expected to post the day after-, so I used Stardate.org's dates for 2007 showers. The 2006 should be somewhere around there)

Sunday, Dec. 17th, 2006
Place: Service road at PV
Time: 7PM to 9:30PM [5 hours(Mr. P's double time)/Total 8.5 hours]

M Objects: M1, Pleiades, Hyades

Constellations: Orion, Goat-herder, Pegasus, Andromeda, Cassiopea, Cetus, Pisces, Gemini, Ares, Aquarius, Canis major

Stars: Procyon, Sirius, Pollux, Castor, Betegeuse, Rigel

Misc: Telescope used was a Meade (grant). 2 of 3 did not work. The "Torch" is really really cool.

Dec. 16th, 2006:
Time 11PM (Dec. 15) to 12:30AM (Dec. 16th) [1.5 hours/Total 3.5 hours]
Place: My house

Geminid meteor shower. Saw very few (1-2 confirmed, 2 suspected). Saw a satellite.

November 19th, 2006:
11PM (Nov. 18th) to 1AM (Nov. 19th) [2 hours/Total 2 hours]
Place: My house.

Observed the Leonid meteor shower. Saw 9 meteors total.
Interesting fact: Leonids '66 was a meteor storm. 100k to 150k meteors in an hour was the count. Would've loved if Leonids 2006 were decent...

APOD #6 on The Outskirts of M77

M77, a face on spiral galaxy, is 60 million light-years away from our own, Milky Way. It is in the constellation Cetus. It is also known as NGC 1068.
The core of M77 is very well studied by scientists that are studying galaxies with active cores, as it's core has an active SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE.
M77 can be seen in x-ray, infrared, radio, and ultraviolet wavelengths, in addition to the visible part of the EM spectrum. M77 is estimated to be 100 light-years, which includes the faint dust surrounding the galaxy, making it larger than our own Milky Way.

APOD #5 on "In the Arms of NGC 1097"

Galaxy NGC 1097 has a companion galaxy, 42,000 light years away, that gravitationally interacts with NGC 1097, and will eventually merge with the larger galaxy. Seen in the picture is a hint of a jet from the top of the galaxy. It's origin is unknown.
Within the confines of NGC 1097 is a super-massive black hole which makes up the bulk of the activity surrounding the active, albeit faint, nucleus. Scientists believe it to be faint because the super-massive black hole is only "gulping down" small amounts of matter at any given moment.