APOD 2.7 Orion Over El Castillo

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121221.html

This picture shows the Orion constelaltion over El Castillo, a famous piece of Mayan Architecture. This picture looks extraordinary. The suprising thing about this structure, is that it can actually be used as a calender and astronomically aligns with certain stars. It can also align with our sun and moon. This picture was taken today, December 21st which is the summer solstice but more commonly known for the supposed end of the world by the Myans. Fortunatley it did not :)

Weekly Observation Post 13

This week was not a great week for me. I did get to see Cassepeia again, easily identifiable by the Worm Asterism. I viewed the moon a few times and that was about it. I forgot to observe at all on Monday and Tuesday, and when Wednesday came around the sky was a little cloudy. So really I could only observe on Sunday and Thursday. I plan to make up for the loss next week by making sure I observe.

APOD 2.6 Plasma Jest from Radio Galaxy Hercules A

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121205.html
This picture shows a large galaxy emitting even larger jets of energy. This is apparently because there could be a super massive black hole at it's center. The plasma jets aren't even visible unless you look at the galaxy in radio waves. After seeing the over one million light year long plasma jets, you will surely be impressed. This galaxy is over 1,000 times more massive than ours (the Milky Way). The picture was taken with the Hubble space telescope, which is arguably one of the best telescopes ever made.

What I Want to See at The Sunday Star Gaze

1. The Moon near Spica
2. Mercury (I've never seen it before so it would be cool.)
3. M31(Andromeda)
4. Any kind of asteroid or anything like that
5. M27 (Vulpecula)
6. Altair
7. Vega
8. M42 (Orion Nebula)
9. M15 (Globular containing planetary nebula)
10. M1 (Crab nebula Super Nova)

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre Sources

3 cited sources

"Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre." Delambre Biography. School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Apr. 2003. Web. 03 Dec. 2012

"Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre." Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre. Soylent Communications, 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.

"Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre (French Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.

Weekly Observation Post 11+12

I'm going to combine week 11 and week 12 together since there was no school last Friday. Last week I honestly didn't observe much because it was Thanksgiving Break and I was spending time with my family, but I did manage to get out side for a total of about 20 minutes last week. I looked at the stars and didn't see anything recognizable except for Casseopia. I could tell it was Casseopia because of the "Worm Asterism". That comes in great use. This week I got to see Jupiter right near the moon. It was really cool. I took one of my sisters outside to show her and I told her it was Jupiter, but she didn't believe me. I know it was though. I think that's the third time I've seen Jupiter and the other times I saw it were in Summer so it was cool to see it in the fall.

APOD 2.5 A Halo Around the Moon

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121120.html

This picture kind of has a familiar meaning to me. I see this happen every now and then with the sun. I've never seen this happen with the moon, but it is just as interesting. This apparently happens from when there are very thin clouds in the sky. There are little, tiny ice crystals in the clouds that bounce light all around and make the halo shape. Now the next time that I see one with my family, whether it is with the sun or the moon, I will be able to tell them why it looks like that.

 

Good Constellation Quizzes/Practice Websites

3 Good websites
http://www.uni.edu/morgans/ajjar/Constellations/quiz/index.html
http://www.factmonster.com/quizzes/constellation/1.html
http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/science/stars_and_constellations/quiz816.html

Weekly Observation Post 10

During the extent of this week I didn't pay much attention to the stars. Instead I payed more attention to the moon. Last night (Thursday), I saw how the moon was just a sliver in the sky. It is now entering its waxing phase so it will soon grow larger. I should probably take advantage of the time now when it is small to look at the stars while I still can. I'm going to try to attend the star gaze at PV on Sunday, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to.

APOD 2.4 Solar Eclipse Over Queensland

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121115.html

On November 13th there was an amazing Solar Eclipse. Although most of the eclipse took place over the Southern part of the Pacific Ocean, some of it hit just the Northern tip of Australia in Queensland. In the picture shown of that very Solar Eclipse, you can see around the edges solar flares from the sun. It was a nearly full Solar Eclipse. Each one of the flares that you can see are bigger than most planets. It makes me really wish that I could have seen it and it makes me want to see the Solar Eclipse that will be in Kentucky even more.

Weekly Observation Post 9

Due to the clocks being turned back one hour, I now have to observe the cosmos one hour earlier. Throughout the week, I observed how the moon was very close to Jupiter. Now that I have seen Jupiter, I can add that to the list of planets I have seen. Now that it is transitioning into fall, more of the fall constellations will be visible. I ook forward to trying to spot those. Besides that, this week wasn't very eventful and I didn't really look at any of the summer constellations.

APOD 2.3 Arp 188 and the Tadpole's Tail

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121108.html

This image, from the Hubble Legacy Archive, details an image of galaxy "Arp 188". Arp 188 is also known as the Tadpole. I can clearly see why it is known as the tadpole being that there is a long jet of gas being emitted from one side of the galaxy which gives it a 'tadpolesque' look. This galaxy is 420 million light years away from the the constellation Draco, which is actually pretty close despite the 'astronomical' numbers. The tail alone is 280 thousand light years long. The tadpole galaxy is filled with beautiful blue stars in the head and some in the tail. However, it is estimated that the tail of the galaxy will eventually split from the head and become a small satellite that will always hover near the head.

Weekly Observation Post 8

This week was a really good one. As always, I view Orion's Belt get higher and higher in the sky every day. I also believe I saw the Little Dipper. I couldn't quite identify it but it looked jsut like the handle and a little bit of the scooping part. There was some light pollution so that is to blame I assume. I also observed the full moon, which was really cool and very bright. Also, Friday, I think I saw Jupiter near the moon. I heard that it was supposed to look like a very faint star that was closest to the moon. I did see a very faint star that was pretty close to the moon, so I assume that was Jupiter. If it was, Jupiter would be the second planet I have ever seen besides Venus.

APOD 2.2 The Red Spider Planetary Nebula

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121029.html

This picture shows the Red Spider Planetary Nebula. I can clearly see why it is the "Red Spider" Nebula. It is very red in hue and has a couple of longer strands coming off the sides which resemble spider legs. This nebula was formed when a normal star shot out its gases and became a white dwarf star. This nebula holds one of the hottest white dwarf stars that we know of. The cosmic winds inside have been estimated to be moving at around 1,000 kilometers per second. That's a truly oustanding speed. This nebula is closest to the constellation of Saggitarius the Archer. The distance of this nebula is unkown, but it is estimated to be around 4,000 light years away.

APOD 2.1 The Horse Head Nebula

http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/ap121021.html

Being one of the easiest to identify nebula, the Horse Head Nebula is located in Orion and is s small portion of a large, black cloud which was first discovered in 180's. It's easy to see that there is a large cloud of Hydrogen behind the nebula because it is appearing in a pinkinsh-red. The dark part of the nebula (the horse part) is easily identified and it then becomes clear why it is called the "Horse Head Nebula". It does look like a horse head to me, but more of just a skull. More of the bone structure of a horse than a horse with flesh on it. There are large jets of gas that shoot out of the sides of the nebula which are powered by a strong megnetic field. There are some light spots in the middle of the nebula which are speculated to be new stars being created. It takes 1,500 years for the light from this nebula to reach us, so it makes me think of what those new stars are doing now.

Weekly Observation Post 7

This week was a decent one for observing stars. I could see Orion's Belt in the morning before I left to school every day this week. Venus is still also visible at night and in the early morning. It is overpoweringly brighter than other stars and can still be seen during the day, unlike other stars. I wish I could have remembered to look at the moon, but for some reason I never did. Maybe I did and I don't remember, but I don't recall anything amazing as of now. I really didn't see anything spectacular even though I observed this time for twice as long as I usually do. I missed seeing Antares and Mars being next to each other due to cloud cover. I plan to try to ovserver them on Saturday, though.

APOD 1.8 The Hubble Extreme Deep Field

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121014.html
This image is the deepest image of the universe in the visible light spectrum. It was taken by the Hubble Telescope and these galaxies are the oldest that have ever been seen. It is estimated that the galaxies are over 13 billion years old. It took 10 years for the Hubble Telescope to get this image and is an invaluable resource in our understanding of galaxies. It amzes me at how many galaxies are there. There's got to be at least 300, and just think. What if one of those galaxies contains a planet like Earth.

Chapter 5 Outline

-Telescope- Device designed to collect light from distant objects
-Refracting Telescope- Uses a lens to concentrate and focus the light
-Reflecting Telescope- Use mirrors to collect light
-Newtonian and Cassegrain Telescopes- Use secondary mirrors for more complex light levels
-Collecting Area- The are of the telescope of which absorbs the light. Proportional to  the square of the mirror's diameter
-Angular Resolution- Highest resolution through Earth's atmosphere.
-Charge Coupled Devices (CCD)- Instead of an actual image being taken, millions of pixels are arranged into the would be image
-Image Photometry- Using a spectrometer to analyze the spectrum of a certain radiation
-Active Optics- Optics used to increase the resolution of a telescope
-Adaptive Optics- Optics used on the telescope to help it see through the Earth's atmosphere
-Radio Telescopes- Much larger than usual telescopes and track radio signals rather than light. They need to be large because such little radio radiation reaches Earth
-Interferometer- Several instruments combined into one in order to find patterns in radiation
-Infrared Telescopes/Ultra Violet Telescopes- Similar to Optical Telescopes but track light that we can't see like Infrared light and Ultra Violet light
-High Energy Telescopes- These study the X-ray and gamma waves in space, which can be harmful to humans


All large telescopes are Reflecting Telescopes. They suffer from fewer optical defects so readings can be more accurate and precise. Some physical processes can produce dufferent types of electromagnetic radiation.

John Flamsteed

Gasparoni 1

Antonio Gasparoni

Astronomy

Percival, Period 3

14 September, 2012

John Flamsteed

John Flamsteed is a well-known astronomer from the 1600’s and was born in Denby, England on August 19^th 1646 and died on December 31^st, 1719. His father’s name was Stephan Flamsteed and his mother’s name was Mary, who died when he was an infant. When John Flamsteed was being admitted to Jesus College in England, complications arose with his health. He became ill and couldn’t attend the college. He helped in his father’s shop and that is where he learned how to use fractions and learned arithmetic. He then gained a fascination in math, and more notably astronomy. His interest in Astronomy eventually led to what he would be most famous for.

John Flamsteed is most known for collecting improved observations and position measurements for stars. Published after his death, was his large compilation of celestial observations over the course of two books. Historia Coelestis Britannica was the title of the first one which was published in 1725, and then Atlas Coelestis which was published in 1729. Flamsteed had observed countless stars along with some celestial objects that he could not identify. In fact, in his book Historia Coelestis Britannicahe includes documentation on over 3000 stars and celestial objects. It is believed he witnessed a super nova, not knowing what it was, on August 16^th, 1680. This has now been identified as “Casseopeia A”. He documented this as being called “3 Cassiopeiae”. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he thought it was important enough to document. He also had observed around 16 nebulous patches and nebulous stars in his life time. One of which was an original discovery by him the open star cluster of NGC 2244.

Gasparoni 2

An acquaintance of Flamsteed, Edmond Halley, insisted that Flamsteed publish his work, but Flamsteed never did while he was alive. His book Historia Coelestis Britannica was published while he was alive in 1712; however it was unauthorized and was later published with authority, as said before, in 1725.

In 1675 Flamsteed asked King Charles II to build him a Royal Observatory. Being that Flamsteed made a barometer and thermometer for King Charles II the year before, how could the King refuse? King Charles II built the first ever Royal Observatory for John Flamsteed in Greenwich, England in 1676. John Flamsteed became the first ever “Royal Astronomer”. He had an entire observatory for himself now, rather than using just telescopes at home to observe stars. He could now carry his work much farther and could discover new mysteries. Being the first Royal Astronomer was not the only interesting thing that he did after he obtained his observatory, he also invented the “conical projection”. A conical projection is a sphere which is produced onto a two dimensional plane. This made it easier to map out the Earth on paper.

John Flamsteed is an astounding astronomer and will not be forgotten easily. He is most duly noted for his time spent as the first Royal Astronomer, having the Greenwich Observatory built for him, and for his two large celestial object books which were overflowing with information on stars and their distances from Earth. He could be said to be one of the greatest astronomers of all time and was a life-long rival with Edmond Halley, who Halley’s Comet is named after.

Gasparoni 3

Works Cited

Gillispie, Charles Coulston. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Scribner, 2008. Print.

Frommert, Hartmut. "John Flamsteed." John Flamsteed. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St. Andrews. "John Flamsteed." Flamsteed Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

Britannica. "John Flamsteed (British Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

Weekly Observation Post 6

This week was not bad for observing the skys. Everyday this week, except for Monday due to cloud cover, I was able to see Orion's Belt. As each day progressed, it got higher and higher in the sky. Venus is also still clearly visible. I could also see the moon everyday of the week and observed that is was in the waning crescent phase. I really wanted to go to the Wednesday and Thursday observing sessions, but I wasn't able to go. I really would have liked to see what everyone was looking at and I heard it was really fun.

APOD 1.7 Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121009.html

This image shows a remnant of a super nova named Simeis 147. Right now, it is estimated that the super nova is 150 light years long and 3000 light years away from Earth. The picture is mostly red because a special filter was used that allows hydrogen to be shown. This means that a large part of this super nova is made up of hydrogen. It is estimated that this super nova is 40,000 years old. It is also known that there is a spinning neutron star left behind, also known as a pulsar. Something that strikes me about this image is that the blast from the super nova, or the red part of the image, is not sphere shaped. I would like to know why some of the edges of it are farther away from the center than others. I would think that since the explosion came from a central point, all the matter from the explosion would be equal distances away.

Weekly Observation Post 5

This week was yet another unfortunate one. The clouds were too dense in the morning and night sky and I could hardly see anything at all. I glimpsed the moon in it's waning phase on Wednesday morning and Thursday morning, but not on Monday or Tuesday.  I also wanted to see if I could see Regulus in the sky, but due to the cloud cover I could not. I hope that next week will be more eventful than this week.

APOD 1.6 Goat Aurora Over Greenland

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121003.html
In this picture it is clearly visible that there is a large aurora in the sky. This aurora, according to veteran sky enthusiests, is one of the brightest, most colorful, and most fast changing ever. A goat's head is apparently visible in the middle and that's why it is called the "Goat Aurora". In my opinion it looks more like a dragon's head and not much of a goat at all, but it is still evident some animal's head can be identified in the aurora. This is the most fascinating aurora I've seen yet and it makes me really want to go see one. I hope to travel North sometime to see one in my lifetime.

Weekly Observation Post 4

This week was bad Sunday through Wednesday for me. However, Thursday night and Friday morning were great. Sunday through Monday was way too cloudy for me to see anything. On Thursday night I saw Orion's Belt, which I had never seen before. I really like to see new things in the sky that I would never have been able to identify before without taking this Astronomy class. Friday morning I also saw Orion's Belt and I could also see some random stars that I could not identify. Overall it was a good week for me because I got to see Orion's Belt, which I had never seen before. I never would have been able to tell it was Orion's Belt without taking this class.

APOD 1.5 NGC 2736 The Pencil Nebula

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120924.html
The "Pencil Nebula" is a large shockwave that is traveling at oustanding speeds. It is traveling at around 500,000 Km per hour. I can see why it is called the Pencil Nebula, due do it being a long thin line with smaller red ones that are being emitted from behind. It may seem strange, but it kind of reminds me of a beta fish. This nebula is 5 light years long and 800 light years away, making it close compared to other nebulas. It has been identified as a remnant of the Vela Supernova. When the supernova occured, the shockwaves were moving at millions of miles per hour, but has since slowed down to 500,000 Km per hour. In my opinion. it's one of the most interesting looking nebulas around.

John Flamsteed Sources

Gillispie, Charles Coulston. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Scribner, 2008. Print.


Frommert, Hartmut. "John Flamsteed." John Flamsteed. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://messier.seds.org/xtra/Bios/flamsteed.html>.

School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St. Andrews. "John Flamsteed." Flamsteed Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Flamsteed.html>.

Britannica. "John Flamsteed (British Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/209448/John-Flamsteed>.

Weekly Observation Post 3

This week was not an eventful one for me. Sadly, most of the days of the week were overcast and I couldn't see anything. The clouds were too dense, which severly obstructed my vision. Stars were also barely visible during the night. I did catch a glimpse at the moon, which was a Waxing Crescent. I also was very disapointed as I wanted to see Mars, however, I forgot to look for it. This week was not the best one for observations.

APOD 1.4 September Aurora

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120921.html

The green and red aurora depicted in this image will become more common because of the equinox seasons bringing more geomagnetic storms. No one is really sure why the equinox seasons increase the amount of geomagnetic storms, but what we do know is that the more geomagnetic storms that Earth suffers, then the more auroras will be visible. In this picture it happens to be an image of the Northern Lights, along with a tree directly in the middle. The lights are actually extremely high in the sky, around 100 kilometers. A few major stars are also visible in the picture, such as Polaris, Shedar, Kochab, and Altair.

APOD 1.3 M7 Open Star Cluster in Scorpius

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120912.html
In this image of the M7 open star cluster, you can see many stars, but mostly dominated by blue ones, in the tail of Scorpius. The M7 star cluster contains around 100 stars and there are about 30 or so very visible ones. It is apparent that this large open star cluster has been known since the year of 130 AD, which was first noted by Ptolemy. A few dark clouds are also visible in the image along with millions upon millions of other stars far out past the constellation of Scorpius. This open star cluster is 25 light years across, which is massive, and is around 100 light years away. Being that this star cluster is 200 million years old, it may be possible that one of the stars in this cluster could have died, and we wouldn't even know for another 100 years because it is so far away that the light takes so long to reach us.

Weekly Observation Post 2

Today, September 12th, the planet Venus was very visible in the early morning sky and was extremely close to the moon throughout most of the day. During the early morning when it was still dark outside, it was clearly visible and could be almost instantly recognized. However, throughout the day when the moon changed location in the sky and it getting brighter outside, it was a little more difficult to spot-yet still possible. Venus was extremely bright and was fun to observe. I could also see Juipter, which was very high up in the sky- almsot directly above me, much higher than Venus.

Weekly Observation Post 1

During this week, I observed the moon a few times. One of the times I looked at it at was about 6:50 in the morning and it looked exceptionally large. It was, of course, a full moon and was extremely bright. The sight of the large moon struck awe into me and I can't wait until the next time I get to see one. Also, on August 31st, there was what is referred to as a "Blue Moon". A Blue Moon is when a full moon appears twice in one month. Luckily enough for me, I got to see it. It was not blue, but it was certainly just as fascinating as any other full moon. I look forward to seeing future full moons and perhaps even more Blue Moons.

APOD 1.2 M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120903.html
I chose an image of the M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster. It is one of the closest and most open star clusters that we know of. It has around 3000 stars and is an astonishing 400 light years away. The picture strikes interest into me because of the few very notably bright stars, which are known as the "Seven Sisters". Apparently, some "light brown dwarfs" (a small star with not enough mass to shine by nuclear fission) have been found within Pleiades. This start cluster is a combination between large and smaller stars making it very diverse and interesting to me.

APOD 1.1 Colorful Clouds Near Rho Ophiuchi

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120828.html
The "Colorful Clouds Near Rho Ophiuchi" truly intrigued me. After studying the picture for a few minutes, it looks as though there are millions upon millions of other stars that are visible in the background behind the cosmic clouds. The fact that there are that many stars is really mind boggling. Not only did the gargantuan amount of stars interest me, but the vibrant colors of the image are fascinating. I believe that the place where one could find the most vast spectrum of colors in the universe would be in space, rather than somewhere in nature on Earth. Stars and galaxies and cosmic clouds all contain thousands of different colors that make them beautiful. Not only are minute stars visible in this image, but there are around thirty or so other stars that are more visible than others. Some of them are even different colors. This image really sparked my interest purely because of the colors and the massive amount of stars visible.