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

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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.

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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.

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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.