APOD 2.4

Astronomy Picture of the Day: November 19th 2010
Nebulae in the Northern Cross

I really liked this picture a lot for many reasons.  For one, the picture is stunningly beautiful as is almost every picture that they decide to post on the site.  However, the contrast between the dark reds and dark blacks makes for an intense photo.  Also, I enjoyed how they labeled everything in the picture.  It didn't take away from the beauty by putting too much notation on it, but instead I could easily understand what was going on.  I think the highlight of this picture astronomically is the bright intense Deneb.  It's so obvious as to which star Deneb is even without the notation because of how bright it is.  Alberio is suprisingly bright too. The Northern Cross asterism is widely popular and all of this is happening in the constellation Cygnus.  With all of this going on, how does Cygnus not get a ton of recognition for its beauty? Maybe it does as it should. Also even outside of the main focus of the photograph lies the veil nebulae which in and of themselves are beautiful.  Nature created something incredibly beautiful this time around.

Star Count Observation 11/12/10

I went out behind my house to the other side of the wooded area to look at the sky at approximately 7:30pm.  Looking up to Cepheus I was suprised at how few stars I could see. In comparison to the pictures online I would classify being able to see Magnitude 3 stars.

APOD 2.3

Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Elephant's Trunk in IC 1396, November 6th 2010

This nebula is extremely appropriately named.  The Elephants Trunk Nebula exists in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus.  The "trunk" is over 20 light years long.  Cool interstellar dust and gas form and come together to create this image in the night sky.  These dark clouds interest astronomers because they usually contain the raw material for star formation.  This could be a hot spot of stars in millions of years from now.  This nebula, even though it is far off into the distance, takes up 5 degrees of the night sky.  This is about 4 Full Moons.

Pretty.

APOD 2.2

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 2010 November 3

The Necklace Nebula is beautiful.  It is located in the summer constellation Sagitta (The Arrow) which is just below Vulpecula and above Aquila.  This is a newly discovered example of a ring shaped planetary nebula and is approximately 15,000 light years away. It's bright ring is a half a light year in diameter making it a gigantic nebula in the night sky.  Planetary nebulae are created by sun like stars in their final phase of stellar evolution.  That sun like star in this case ia actually a binary star.  This makes this nebula extremely unique.  Astronomers estimate this nebula to be about 5,000 years old.  What a pretty picture.

APOD 2.1

Astronomy Picture of the Day: Mirach's Ghost 2010 Oct. 28th

This is a good example of the effect diffraction and glare can have on a picture and viewing sample.  In actuality Mirach is a faint and fuzzy star considering it is nearly 10,000,000 light years away.  It itself is larger (yet cooler) than our sun and so we can't see it very well from where we are.  However, the diffraction and glare make the star seem extraordinarily bright.  This star is part of the constellation Andromedae and constitutes NGC 404. This is a completely different galaxy which is obvious considering its distance from us.

APOD 1.8

APOD October 18th: It Came From The Sun

This picture documents one of the largest solar prominences ever recorded.  A solar prominence is a large bright feature extending from the Sun's surface out into it's corona.  Depending on how stable the specific the prominence can sometimes last up to multiple months in the suns corona.  The largest prominence was 216,000 miles long which is 28 times the diameter of the Earth!  This picture illustrates the holding of the solar prominence to the sun by the sun's magnetic field.  That is how they stay for such a vast period of time.  There is a magnetic attraction between the two objects.  This picture documents an explosive prominence which don't last as long as quiescent prominences.   There are more volatile and have the ability to explode and dispel hot gas through out the surrounding atmosphere within a matter of minutes.  Because the prominences are slightly cooler than the surface of the sun when viewed through a telescope there appear dark.

APOD 1.7

Astronomy Picture of the Day on October 15th 2010: Vista with NGC 2170

This picture takes place in Monoceros, a one horned constellation.  It is photographing part of Monoceros's star forming region which explains the amount of activity in this picture.  NGC 2170 is the prettiest part of the picture.  It is a nebula with a blueish tint.  When viewed through a near infared spectrum there are signs that indicate there are many new stars forming, giant stars.  Winds and radiation from the star forming are changing the surrounding clouds and space.  This is a very volatile area of out universe.  The picture is incredible in appearance which is why I chose to do it.  Not too much is actually going on besides what has already been mentioned.  It's simply a perfect illustration of the beauty of the universe.

Tycho Brahe Biography

Tycho Brahe

      Brahe was born in Denmark (now a part Sweden) in 1546.  His father was a nobleman and he was always part of a higher class throughout his entire life which was necessary at the time in order to have the money and power to make his future discoveries.  At one point Brahe was said to have owned one percent of the entire wealth of Denmark. 

      Brahe was alive prior to the invention of the telescope and therefore was never capable of observing the heavens through a telescopic eye piece.  Through his observation he developed the Tychonic System.  In this system the Earth was the center of the universe which we clearly know now as not being true.)  Regardless, the moon and the sun revolved around the Earth.  Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (the only observable planets without a telescope) revolved around the sun in a seperate revolution.  Although this system was soon discredited in Brahe's defence he was doing all of his experimenting and observation with the naked eye.  In 1572 Brahe observed a change in the heavens with the unexpected appearance of a star in the constellation Cassiopeia.  Prior to this event the heavens were regarded as unchangeable.  He proved that the object was farther away than the moon because parallax could not be observed.  Thus, this was the appearance of a star in the distant heavens which proved that the heavens are always changing.  This caused a large problem with the church at the time because the heavens were thought to be perfect and unchanging.  Brahe figured out that this was not true.  This was one of many contributions to astronomy made by Brahe.   

     Brahe's biggest legacy was his precise and accurate way of measuring the heavens.  He made a major contribution to the scientific method and set a standard for scientific review and observation.  Even though his theories about the composition of the universe were incorrect, he still did a lot for the scientific community.  In his own time he was not just known for his astronomical observation but also for his contributions to medicine and his creation of a higher education institution in Denmark.    

Interesting Fact: Tycho's first published piece of work was a Latin writing that he wrote for his brother who died before being baptized, not a astronomical discovery or hypothesis.  





Observation 10/11/10

I just went out into the clearing behind my house away from most external lighting to try and get a good view of some of the constellations. It was 10:11. (Thats right, 10:11 10/11/10)

The moon just passed a New Phase and is clearly waxing crescent tonight.

I am still having trouble locating constellations. I get lost. I think I saw the keystone, the popular asterism of Hercules.  Although I was not sure.

APOD 1.6

Astronomy Picture of the Day: Globular Star Cluster NGC 6934 October 9th 2010

The beauty of this picture is astounding.  The star cluster is estimated to have several hundred thousand stars.  Thinking about this in respect to there being an infinite universe that is expanding makes the human brain seem incompetent.  It makes me feel so small.  It makes the Earth feel so insignificant.  It's really a cool feeling to be put in perspective with the rest of the universe.  This picture does it well.  This cluster lies 50,000 light years away from the constellation Delphinus.  The picture itself spans 50 light years and was captured by none other than the Hubble Space Station.

This picture is my favorite yet. *set as background*

APOD 1.5

Astronomy Picture of the Day: Zarmina's World October 1st 2010

What a compelling article. The picture can't be taken too seriously as it is just an artist's rendition of what he/she thinks the real thing looks like. However, it puts it into perspective and helps me be able to visualize Zarmina's World which is potentially a habitable planet a " mere 20 light years away".  I find it comical how they prefence a distance of 20 light years with the word mere, but I guess in the context of an infinite universe, 20 light years isn't too far of a distance.  It is absolutely incredible that science is making such leaps and bounds into the discovery of a possibility of human life in our Milky Way galaxy.  Because this planet is so close astronomer's think that there are very possibly many more instances in our galaxy where life could be possible. With an orbital period of only 37 days, and an AU of .15, Zarmina's World is very different from Earth but it is in the star named Gliese 581's habitable zone so life is technically possible.

Absolutely fantastic.

Sources!

Dictionary of Scientific Biography, C Gillispie, editor. Charles Scribner's son. 1981

Encyclopedia of World Biography. Vol. 2. 2^nd ed.  Detroit: Gale, 2004. p489-490. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=fl_sarhs&tabID=T003&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3404700853&&docId=GALE|CX3404700853&docType=GALE&role=

APOD 1.4

Astronomy Picture Of The Day: Aurora Over Norway, 2010 September 20.

We've all seen pictures of the Aurora Borealis from the Alaskan ground.  Auroras are photographed often due to there beauty.  This specific picture taken above Tromso Noway is unlike anything I personally have ever seen.  The sky it stretches is absolutely incredible.  It's superbly bright.  Even the landscape below is beautiful.  It's interesting how the subscript points out the auroras never block light behind them (for example stars, planets, or even airplanes).  Thus everything behind this aurora is still visible which makes for an even more beautiful sight.  Auroras are caused by collisions between charged particles from the magnetosphere and air molecules from Earth's atmosphere.  They are even visible from space. The combination of its beauty and its scientific prerequisites makes the aurora one of the coolest, most interesting things in the sky in my opinion.

P.S. LOOK AT ALL OF THOSE STARS.

Observation 9/16/10

I was walking around my development at night at approximately 10:10 pm.  The Moon had just started to become more and more (waxing) gibbous. The outline of the unlit Moon has been completely lost as opposed to being very visible during its crescent phases.

Due to poor lighting now many stars were visible, if any. It was very difficult to find any significant constellations or asterisms. However, the part of the sky that specifically stood out to me was the Milky Way.  It was extraordinarily bright and clear, extremely visible from where I was standing. 

Hopefully there will be better conditions in nights to come so I can start to find specific stars.

APOD 1.3

APOD 2010 September 16th: The Veil Nebula

This is yet another supernova remnant. The light from the explosion of the previous star reached Earth approximately 5,000 years ago.  It's interesting to see the varying bright and dim parts of this specific nebula.  For instance there are two specifically bright spans located at the very top and the very bottom.  In comparison to the other streaks of gas these two areas are exceedingly bright.  This may explain why one of these areas has been named; that is how much it sticks out in the night sky. It's called The Witch's Broom and spans three times the angular distance of the moon.  This is a huge bright area in the sky that is extroardinarily beautiful.

P.S.: The beauty of the Veil Nebula takes all of the attention originially. However I looked past it for a second and realized that the number of stars photographed is simply mind blowing.  This is only one tiny portion of the infinite sky.

APOD 1.2

APOD Post of September 10th 2010: Vela Supernova Remnant

I was originally drawn to this post for aesthetic purposes considering the picture is absolutely incredible. The nebulous aftermath of an exploding star clearly is an appealing subject as well. However, going into the subject more deeply, the science behind the picture is just as interesting. During the explosion of a supernova for a brief time the explosion can be brighter than an entire galaxy. The shock wave that is released after the explosion picks up an expanding shell of gas and also sweeps up interstellar dust which then creates a supernova remnant. This specific supernova is located in the constelation Vela. The light from the explosion is estimated to have reached Earth 11,000 years ago and is approximately 800 light years away. Figures like this are so hard to grasp and yet so interesting. This supernova remnant is said to be part of the Gum Nebula which is also supposedly of the same nature, only is said to have exploded over 1 million years ago and is so close to Earth that it is hard to see.

Take some time to go look at pictures of other supernova remnants. They are incredible, literally almost unbelievable.

-Samuel

APOD 1.1

APOD Post from August 30th 2010: Comanche Outcrop on Mars Indicates Hospitable Past

I had always heard of fictional stories regarding "extraterrestrial life", some involving the heroic actions of a young adult Will Smith, and others not.  Regardless of alien portrayal in Hollywood it is more interesting to realize that a planet in our solar system had a chance of housing life.  The skepticism prior to the discovery of Comanche was that Mars was believed to have water in anceint times but that the water would be too acidic to sustain life. The reason why Comanche is so important is because it has a high concentrate of magnesium iron carbonate.  Carbonates dissolve in acid.  Thus, in this specific area there was a good chance of there being water pure enough to create and sustain life. This is the first real informational, understandable, down to earth (forgive the pun), scientific article I have read and fully grasped that explains the possibility if not probability of there being life on Mars at some point.

Pretty boss.

-Samuel