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This Announcement / Report is from HAA member Jeff Lillycrop:

JOURNEY TO THE AMNH

If anyone is planning a trip to NYC (aka: the big apple) soon , you are in luck. I was lucky enough to be in New York over the past weekend and took the time to check out the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and the Hayden Planetarium. The planetarium is just one part of many wonderful earth and space exhibits at the AMNH. I took in the planetarium show “journey to the stars” which was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg ?! ( she did an excellent job ) and was presented on a 67 foot wide hemispheric dome in a room that held 250 people +/-. The show was supported in a partnership with NASA Science Mission Directorate, Heliophysics Division. It presented information to keep everyone riveted from beginners to full blown space junkies. Here is the description of the planetarium from the web site, to give you a measure of the experience

“The Hayden Planetarium is unlike any other such facility in the world. In the top half of the Hayden Sphere, the most technologically advanced Space Theatre in existence will use advanced visual technology (including a customized, one-of-a-kind Zeiss Star Projector) to create shows of unparalleled sophistication, realism, and excitement. With this high-definition system, the Hayden Planetarium is the largest and most powerful virtual reality simulator in the world.

The bottom half of the Hayden Sphere houses the Big Bang, where visitors will be transported to the beginning of time and space, experiencing a dramatic, multisensory re-creation of the first moments of the universe. From here, visitors continue on an awe-inspiring journey that chronicles the evolution of the universe by following the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway — a sloping walkway that takes them through 13 billion years of cosmic evolution

The Digital Dome System takes the astronomical information of the Digital Galaxy and stores it on a Silicon Graphics® Onyx2™ InfiniteReality2™ visual workstation, one of the largest supercomputers ever dedicated to creating visual simulations and equivalent in power to those used by NASA or the largest military research laboratories. When the Digital Galaxy software is booted, the Hayden Planetarium's supercomputer generates a three dimensional map of the galaxy that is so realistic that the dome itself seems to disappear. Thirty times a second, the Onyx2 calculates the real location and visualizes the appearance of every star and nebula that is about to be seen by the audience. The Onyx2 has 28 central processing units and can store up to two terabytes (2,000 gigabytes) and simultaneously process 14 gigabytes of data — the equivalent power of about 200 desktop computers.

The Digital Dome's computer graphics are composited with the output of several other instruments, including the Zeiss Mark IX star projector and an Omniscan all-dome laser that provides images of superior color and brightness. The central platform, which holds the Zeiss projector, a "2PI" All-Sky slide projection system, and the Omniscan laser, can be lowered to create more space inside the theatre. A state-of-the-art spatial sound system controls the direction of sounds, enhancing visitors' experiences of moving objects, and subwoofer speakers are wired into each seat giving a sense of vibration and "lift off" at the start of the presentation.”

All I can say is WOW!! I was blown away , but that was just the start of many excellent exhibits offered including:

Scales of the Universe, let’s you investigate the vast range of sizes in the universe.

Cullman Hall of the Universe, let’s you examine how the universe evolved into galaxies, stars, and planets

Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, let’s you explore how our own Earth took shape over 4.5 billion years ago

And the crowning jewel

Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites which features Ahnighito the largest meteorite on display in the world , its huge !! weighing in at a mere 34 tons standing 5’ tall 10’ long, very cool !!!!

And all this was located in Rose Centre for Earth & Space, that is just one wing of this amazing place. I had planned on doing a tour of the entire Museum but spent 4 ½ hours in this wing alone , then they gave us the boot because they were closing. I had completely lost track of time. I highly recommend this experience to everybody , it will not disappoint. The funny thing is that admission is a suggested $28.00 USD but you can pay what you like. The planetarium show is an extra $4.00. It is the best deal in the city.

With winter fast approaching I decided to do an imaging marathon back when we had a few really nice clear nights around the new moon. Clear skies and a sleeping baby helps :). Also thank goodness for some semi-automation!!!

Here are some of the images: Taken with the QHY-8, Astro-Tech 8in RC and TV 0.8 reducer.

Iris nebula: although this was imaged back in the early fall I finally found some time to process it. This is a whopping 12 hrs of total exposure time but believe me it was needed from my location. Although the light pollution is not terrible, this is a dark nebula and for that you really should have pristine skies.

http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7553

ET Cluster: This is a neat looking cluster that looks like ET. I remember seeing it for the first time in the eyepiece from Glenn and Gails dobservatory last year.

http://www.weatherandsky.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7558&g2_serialNumber=3

In addition to those I have frames of M1, m42, the horsehead and the cone nebula region that I'll post when I get the chance to process them.

KerryLH

Hopefully you had a chance to get out and observe some of the bright meteors from the Taurids during the last week. These were few but quite bright.

If you didn't, then tonight is your night. The Leonids will be starting after dark overnight tonight Nov 16 and into the early morning of Nov 17. They will appear to emanate from the constellation Leo rising a little after midnight. These are one of the better showers during the year (behind Geminids and Perseids). They are the result of debris being left behind from Comet Tempel-Tuttle which returns every 33 years.

The forecast tonight is for clear skies and no Moon. So get yourself out to a dark location and enjoy the wonderful show that nature will be providing. The peak for our area is expected to occur around 4 am in the morning of Tues 17 Nov as we pass through a slightly more dense stream of debris, but any time after midnight should provide a good show with rates ranging from about 20 per hour to more than 50 per hour.

Link to larger version

Since Mars is also currently located near Leo, it will be rising at the same time. And we are now only a few months away from opposition so Mars will be getting closer and brighter than it's been for almost 2 years. So you have a double incentive to get out observing. Perhaps you will catch a meteor passing in front of Mars - now that would be a real photo-op!

The Taurid meteor shower peaks tonight, making this an excellent time to go out and look for shooting stars.

The Taurids originate with a debris stream left from Comet 2P/Encke. There are actually two streams from this comet, and we passed through the first one about a week ago. Taurids are not that numerous, but are usually quite bright, so it's always a treat to see one.

No special equipment is needed for meteor watching; just keep an eye on the sky for the next couple of nights. And getting some practice now will have you good and ready for next week's Leonid shower.