* Astronomy

Meteor Showers

There are many minor meteor showers this month...
The northern Taurids and southern Taurids started to become active about October 1st, but do not reach maximums until early November. Both have fairly slow meteors, with the northern Taurids velocity at 29 km per second, and the southern at 27 km per second.
The Taurids produce bright slow moving orange fireballs.
At maximum in November, both showers will peak at about ZHR rates of 5 meteors per hour.
The Southern Taurids will peak around the 5th November and the Northern Taurids the 12th November. Both these meteor showers are part of the Taurid stream which in turn has been associated with Comet Encke.
Late Orionid rates typically continue until about November 7, long after their October peak, for post-midnight observers. In early November their radiant lies a few degrees east of the second magnitude star Geminorum. The Leonid Meteor Shower is one of the better meteor showers to observe, producing an average of 60 meteors per hour at their peak. 

Deep-sky objects for November:
Andromeda: M 31 M 32
Cepheus: B173-4 IC1454 IC1470 Mrk50 NGC7235 NGC7261 NGC7354 NGC7380 NGC7419 NGC7510
Cygnus: NGC6819 NGC6826
Hercules: DoDz 9
Lyra: M56 M57 NGC6791
Pegasus: NGC 7814
Perseus: M 76
Triangulum: M 33

Highlights

Halloween, the word itself, is a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. It actually has its origins in the Celtic New Year. The holiday was called Samhain (Sah-ween). The date marked the beginning of winter. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year travelled into the other world. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honour of the dead, to aid them on their journey. Here are a few deepsky objects to look out for:

In Aquila, "The Ghost of the Moon Nebula"
In Cetus, NGC246 called "The Skull Nebula".
In Bootes (abbreviated BOO), you may find The Spider Galaxy, NGC5829 .

Leonid Meteor Shower. The Leonids is one of the better meteor showers to observe, producing an average of 60 meteors per hour at their peak. The shower itself has a cyclic peak year every 33 years where hundreds of meteors can be seen each hour. The last of these showers occurred in 2001. The shower peaks this year on November 19. Look for the shower radiating from the constellation Leo after midnight.

The Pleiades
In the evening sky youll see the wonderful gem of an "open cluster" rising in the East. As Tennyson said "The Pleiads , rising thro' the mellow shade, Glitter like a swarm of fireflies Tangled in a silver braid...".
Nearly every culture mentions the Pleiades in some respect. Chinese writings appear to mention it from 2357 BC. American Indian folklore of the Kiowa talks of the "Seven Maidens" who where protected from giant bears by their placement in the skies. To the Japanese, they are called "Subaru".