What's going on, Albuquerque?

Birds and Stars (a Comet and a Falcon)

First installment of Birds and Stars - What's up in New Mexico skies

Stars:
Who hasn't seen the comet gracing our northeastern sky?
It's p17 Holmes, a member of the Jupiter family of comets. It orbits between Jupiter and Mars and is usually fainter than Pluto, but at the end of October, this comet brightened over a million times and became visible to the unaided eye! It was easily visible for a few weeks and now (as the dust of its coma has spread over an area as large as the Sun), is visible through binoculars in the city. Just look next to the brightest star in Perseus (see finder chart).

For more help finding the comet, go see a planetarium show at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History !

Birds:
Those who want to see an endangered species back at home in its natural habitat should head down to the Bosque del Apache south of Socorro! One of the Aplomado Falcons (a juvenile female), raised in Ted Turner's captive breeding program has taken up residence (for the time being) near the Flight Deck in the refuge. On your way in, check out the visitor's center for notes on where he was last seen. Visit the Friends of the Bosque del Apache page for information about the refuge.

More Birds: Keep your eyes and ears to the sky, because Sandhill Cranes are still migrating south for the winter. Many are already here, but due to the warm weather, many are still up north and should be making their way here now! To hear their distinctive call (my FAVORITE sound in the world), go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds site.

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Comment by Neonnoodle on November 19, 2007 at 11:41am: The Planetarium is great! and so is the NM Museum of Natural History. Boy, I can't wait to see those NM skies again. I think you need to start the Amateur Astronomers group here on DCF!

Comment by Steve Whitman on November 19, 2007 at 12:17pm: NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site has been following the comet's progress closely. Its a great site for pics.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Comment by Neonnoodle on November 19, 2007 at 12:30pm: Hey Sophie - Yup - I just did :)
http://www.dukecityfix.com/group/abqstargazers

Comment by Adelita on November 19, 2007 at 9:18pm: Dome Duck - great stuff! It's hard for me to see much from my overly lighted neighborhood. Any good observing spots you would recommend not too far from the city?

Comment by Dome Duck on November 19, 2007 at 9:49pm: Neonnoodle, thanks for starting the stargazing group!

Steve, yep... APOD is the best!

and Adelita, dark skies abound in our 'neighborhood'. There are some dark spots within Albuquerque (south of Tingley Beach, some neighborhoods along the river), Out by the volcanoes or up in the mountains you'll find great places for stargazing. If you go south from Tijeras, the Oak Flats picnic ground is an excellent spot.
Happy stargazing! ;o)

Comment by Karen Keese on November 20, 2007 at 12:41am: Dome Duck, your star maps are the BEST in the west. For more on the comet and other things astronomical, visit my blog at http://whassupinthemilkyway.blogspot.com

Comment by Dome Duck on November 20, 2007 at 12:44am: Thanks, Karen! I'll be posting links to full monthly star maps starting (hopefully) next week!
Your blog is great! thanks for sharing!
All you people who want great advice about buying telescopes for the holidays, check out Karen's blog!

Comment by jason argus zermeno on November 20, 2007 at 8:19pm: Yay for Laurel's blog! This lady is the best around for anything you want to know about birds and astronomy...and astronomical birds for that matter. If you want to see some of her beautiful digital astronomical creations come visit the Planetarium at the science museum and prepare to have your mind blown!

Comment by Dome Duck on November 21, 2007 at 5:48pm: Jason, you are too kind. Everybody, you can also see lots of Jason's amazing creations on our friendly neighborhood planetarium dome!

And it turns out that the Aplomado Falcon pictured above is a female. I checked on the band information. So, if you see a Aplomado Falcon with a silver band on the left leg, it's a female. If the band is black, it's a male. If the colored bands are on the right leg, it is one of the ones raised in captivity and now living in its natural habitat. If the colored bands are on the left leg, it is one of the originally wild birds that participated in the captive-breeding project. We saw a juvenile male (falcon) this afternoon, hanging out at the north end of the farm loop!

Comment by Dome Duck on November 21, 2007 at 6:31pm: here's a link to the latest, greatest comet photos!

http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page20.htm

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