The Crab Nebula
Spectacular Stellar Death Mystery!
In the summer of the year 1054 a new star suddenly appeared in the nighttime sky.   This was not a typical star:  bright enough to be visible in the daytime, estimated nearly ten times brighter than Venus and was able to cast shadows at night.  Today, a faint little smudge of light in the constellation of Taurus called the Crab Nebula marks the position of the supernova that signaled the spectacular death of a massive star.  At the height of its brightness, the supernova blazed with the equivalent energy of 400 million suns.  Today, at the heart of the Crab resides a pulsar – a super-dense (a sugar cube-sized piece would weigh 100 million tons) rapidly spinning (30 times per second) neutron star.  The mystery?  Although observed in Asia, Middle East and North America, Europe does not have any record the event!

SkySightings

November 1 at 2 a.m. -	Daylight-Saving Time Ends
November 1, South at 5 a.m -	BINOCULAR PLANET CHALLENGE:Mars surrounded by Beehive Cluster
November 2, East after Sunset -	Full Moon visible
November 9, South at 1 a.m. -	Mars passes 3o above of the waning gibbous Moon
November 9, South at Sunrise -	Last-Quarter Moon visible
November 12, Southeast at 5:00 a.m. -	Saturn 7o left of the waning crescent Moon
November 16 -	New Moon
November 17, East between 12:00 - 5:00 a.m -	Leonid meteor shower peaks
November 23, South-Southwest at 7:00 p.m -	Jupiter 2o below waxing crescent Moon
November 24, South at Sunset -	First-Quarter Moon visible
November 28 -	BARLOW PLANETARIUM FAMILY ASTRONOMY NIGHT featuring telescope viewing of the Moon and Jupiter.

Photo Caption from front page:

The Crab Nebula image created using 24 images collected by the Hubble Space Telescope from October 1999 through December 2000.  At a distance of 6,500 light-years, the Crab is 10 light-years in diameter and continues to expand.

If you need help finding any of the planets or constellations, come to one of our Wisconsin Skies star shows and we will show you how its done. For showtimes check out our show schedule.