Nebula Research: Cat's Eye and Boomerang Nebula

Cat's Eye Nebula located in the constellation of Draco.

The Cat's Eye Nebula is one of the most intricate nebulas that we know of. It has many overlapping layers that can be seen easily in the picture above that is in black and white. In that picture you can see the spiraling effect on the dust and gas. The star in the very middle of it is also very visible. The orange and black picture was not taken in visible light (to be honest I don't know what it was taken in), but it shows what the nebula looks like without any interference from background light or objects.

The Boomerang Nebula located in the constellation of Centaurus.

There are not as many pictures for the Boomerang Nebula, but it is still interesting none the less. The third picture gives you a better understanding of what it looks like. The last picture that is shown above gives you a look at the nebula from a distance instead of up close.

Weekly Observation Post 19

This week was not very good for observing the cosmos- again. For most of the nights of the week, except Tuesday, the sky above my house was primarily covered in clouds which is greatly dissapointing. All I really got to see was the moon and a few stars along with the constellation of Orion. But I guess seeing just those is better than seeing nothing. Hopefully next week will prove more fruitful.

APOD 3.6 A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071228.html
Yet another older picture on the APOD website, but one I still like. This is a picture of the Boomerang Nebula, which is now my new favorite nebula over the Rosette Nebula. This is a beautiful, almost symetrical nebula that is also the coldest place known to man. It is just over 1 degree Kelvin above Absolute Zero. This nebula was created by the winds of a aging star that blo at over 600,000 Km per hour. Because of this rapid expansion, the center is incredibly cold. This image was taken by Hubble in 2007 with polarized filters. This constellation spans about one light year across and is 5,000 light years away in the constellation of Centaurus.

Formation of a Star Pictures

http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/star_life/starlife_proto.html
This website shows a picture of a Protostar from the Eagle Nebula. Protostars are incredibly unstable and do not always form into stars.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Sirius_A_and_B_Hubble_photo.jpg/220px-Sirius_A_and_B_Hubble_photo.jpg
This is a picture of a non main-sequence star known as a White Dwarf. We know it's a non main-sequence star because White Dwarfs are not counted as a main-sequence star along with other things like Red Giants and Brown Dwarfs.

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00108/Images/sun-soho011905-1919z2.jpg
This is a picture of our Sun, which is a main-sequence star.

http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/text/molecularcollapse.htm
A cloud fragment is when interstellar clouds break up and can possibly form a star. This is a website that shows the procces step by step of how a star can form from a Cloud Fragment. This site details 15 different steps that a Nebula must go through to form a Cloud Frgament, Protostar, and a star.

http://www.tomaszrutstudio.com/nebula.html
This website shows a picture of an Interstellar Cloud. An Interstellar Cloud is a large formation of gas and dust. (Please note that the grammar and syntax of this website makes no sense at all... "Cocoon nebulacommand the hubble space telescope tonight, in astronomy to cats." is such an example of said terrible spelling/grammar/syntax). http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_405.html
This is a picture from the NASA website that details the Boomerang Nebula, my now new favorite nebula. Nebulas are interstellar clouds so it will have the same information as the last website. I'm just including it becase the Boomerang Nebula looks cool and to give some more credible information about Interstellar Clouds. An interesting fact about the Boomerang Nebula is that it's the coldest place in the universe found yet at one degree Kelvin above Absolute Zero, this equates to -460F.

Weekly Observation Post 18

This week wasn't that good for any kind of observations. I did get to see Jupiter high overhead and I also saw the moon each night. Besides that the only other thing I saw were clouds. Once the coldfront came in, it got real bad. I hope that next week will have better days for observing.

APOD 3.5 The Rosette Nebula

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120214.html
This is actually a 2012 picture but I has to use it anyway. Since we just learned about the constellation of Monoceros in class, I wanted to use a picture of this nebula. I have seen this nebula before when I was doing my Hubble project and this nebula caught my eye. It's definitley the most beautiful nebula I have ever seen and if I had to pick a favorite, this is it.
This nebula is 5,000 light years away and is shaped by the energy of young stars. These stars are only a few million years old which is very young for a star. It is 50 light years across and can be seen with a small telescope. If I ever am to get a telescope for myself, I will surely try to see this nebula.

Weekly Observation Post 17

This week was good for observing the stars, besides Thursday night. I was able to view the ISS just a little before 7 PM on Wednesday, which I was really looking forward to. I almost could not see it due to some trees, but it was still visible. I was going to look for it again on Thursday and show my sisters but it was very cloudy and we weren't able to see it which was very disappointing. I'm going to try to get them to look for it another time, though.

APOD 3.4 LL Ori and the Orion Nebula

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130203.html

This is a picture of some stellar gas from LL Ori interacting with the gases in the Orion Nebula. The winds in this nebula are even more powerful than the winds that our own sun puts out. The is a clear wave traveling though this nebula, and is traveling at supersonic speeds. This whole nebula just looks magical and is one of the most esthetically appealing nebulas I've ever seen.

Moon Atlas

Moon Atlas

Weekly Observation Post 16

This week's observations were good. Over the weekend I viewed the moon which when I viewed early enough looked slightly orangish or redish. As it got higher in the sky, the moon returned to its normal white color. I eventually learned from class this was due to it first rising. I could see Orion and Orion's Belt, as I do every week, and I believe I also so Casseiopia. This was a decent star gazing week and I wish I could go to the observation night on Saturday but I just can't due to my schedule for the day. Maybe next time.

APOD 3.3 In The Center of The Trifid Nebula

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130128.html

This picture shows the incredibly complex and brightly colored Trifid Nebula. The various clouds of colorful gas are in close proximity with the constellation Sagittarius. There are three promininces in this nebula which intersect at the middle, thus giving the nebula it's name. This nebula is also known as M20 and is only estimated to be about 300,000 years old- which compared to the length of time since the origin of the universe, is quite short. This beautiful nebula is 9,000 light years away and is 10 light years across. This is one of the most fascinating nebulas I have ever seen.