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.