Weekly Observation Post 15

This week was a decent week for observing. I didn't really have observing on my mind during Monday and Tuesday. However, I observed Orion, as always, and the moon on Wednesday and Thursday. I could also see what I believe is Jupiter. I look forward to seeing the moon on Saturday. I image the whole event looking quite miraculous.

APOD 3.2 The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130122.html

This picture shows a large cloud of gas in the constellation of Cygnus. It is known as the "Cygnus Wall". It's actually just a massive amount of hot gas. It is part of what is known as the "North American Nebula". I don't really know why it is called that- to me it doesn't look like North America at all. But none the less, this is an amazing spectacle.

Weekly Observation Post 14

Early in this week I was watching Orion and how it's getting higher in the sky as we go through the year. It's my favorite constellation to look at because to be honest, it's the easiest to find. Now that we are entering the time of winter constellations, I look forward to viewing those along with some of the fall constellations if any are visible. It would also be cool if I could attend a star gaze. I've really wanted to all year but whenever there is one, I can't make it to it because I have other things to do at that time.

APOD 3.1 Cas A: Optical and X-ray

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130117.html\

 This image shows the remnants of a super nova, Cassiopeia A, or just Cas A. This super nova remnant is 11,000 light years away and is ever expanding in size. Right now, it's about 15 light years across and will continue to grow. The light from this super nova first reached Earth 330 years ago.This picture was taken with the NuSTAR X-ray telescope, which I have never heard of before. Because this was taken in the X-ray wavelength, these are not the super nova's true colors, but it still impressive looking none the less. The little hint of blue in the middle top of the explosion accents the super nova and gives is a little bit of uniqueness.

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre Biography

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Antonio Gasparoni

Mr. Percival

Astronomy

3 January, 2013

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre

            Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre is a truly amazing astronomer from the 1700’s. He was a French astronomer who was born on September 19^th, 1749 in Amiens, France. He eventually died on August 19^th, 1822. One of the most notable things that he did in his astronomical career was plot the location of Uranus. In 1788, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre received an observatory that was built especially for him. While he was using the observatory, he documented countless information on various planets and the sun. He eventually published his work into a few books, of which were called “Tables du Soleil, de Jupiter, de Saturne, d’Uranus et des satellites de Jupiter”. The titles of the books mean “The Tables of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter’s Satellites. Throughout the years of 1792-1799, he successfully measured the arc of the meridian that stretched from Dunkirk, which is in northern France, all the way to Barcelona. Delambre, after his extensive research into the planets and the sun, eventually became a college professor of astronomy.

            During the last remaining years of Delambre’s life, he devoted his days to researching the history of science. His research eventually led to his publication of yet another book entitled, “Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne”, which was only the first book in the two volume series. “Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne” was published in 1817 and the second book titled “Histoire de l'astronomie modern” which was published in 1819. These two books contained the history of the sciences according to Delambre, of which some were incredibly biased and prejudiced. A vast majority of the two books actually consist of various calculations that Delambre had made throughout his career in observation astronomy. Unfortunately in Paris, France of 1822, Jean

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Baptiste Joseph Delambre died due to unknown consequences. Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre will be forever known as one of the world’s most well-known astronomers and as the man who originally plotted the location of Uranus.

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Works Cited

"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.

APOD 2.8 The Dark Tower In Scorpius

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130106.html

This picture shows a large, dark figure in the constellation of Scorpius. This evil looking figure is nearly 40 light years long and is known as a cometary globule. Certain parts of this figure are shaped by the constant bombardment of UV rays against it. To me, this was really interesting because I did not know that UV rays could actually shape something. The majority of this gas cloud is made from Hydrogen; we can tell because of its reddish color. The bright, blue orbs inside of the picture are the stars that can be found in Scorpius.