Weekly Observation Post 23

This week was good for observing. I was able to see the moon, which was giant on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday it appeared to have a yelowish-orangish hue to it. However, on Thursday it reverted back to being pure white. It was a great spectacle. I was also able to see a few constellations such as Orion and Cepheus. I look forward to more observations in the future. I also wish I could go to the astronomy night observation, but on weekdays and Saturdays I work from 5-9 p.m and can't make it.

APOD 4.1 A Horizon Rainbow in Paris

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130327.html
This is an absolutley beautiful picture that was taken in Paris that has a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower along with a rainbow horizon. This rainbow is formed from when the sun's rays hit rain. So where you're seeing the rainbow, it's actually raining. Rainbows like this only occur for a few minutes, so it's extremely lcky to get a picture like this.

Weekly Observation Post 22

This week was really good for observing the cosmos. Last Saturday, I was visiting UF for a campus tour, I had to leav early in the morning so it was dark outside. On the way there, I noted many constellations. The constellations I saw were Cepheus, Andromeda, Pegasus, Orion and Scorpius. I haven't seen some of those in a while so I was happy that I got to see them on the way there. The rest of the week was unfortunatley cloudy, so no other observations could be made.

Weekly Observation Post 21

This week wasn't very good for observations. It was incredibly cloudy where I lived so I wasn't able to see anything else besides the moon and a few miscellaneous stars that I couldn't identify. There is really nothing to report this week, so I can only hope that next week will be better.

APOD 3.8 Thor's Helmet

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130307.html

This is a picture of the famous cosmic cloud "Thor's Helmet". I can see why it is called such, as it does look like a helmet with some kind of wings on the side that poke out of the top. This cloud is an outstanding 30 light years across. It was formed from the massive winds of the star in this nebula's core. The star is thought to be in a pre-super nova stage. This nebula is 15,000 light years away from Canis Major. This nebula is a bluish-green because of the mass presence of oxygen.

Henry Draper Biography

Gasparoni 1

Antonio Gasparoni

Mr. Percival

Astronomy Honors

5 March, 2013

Henry Draper Biography

            Henry Draper, born in March 7, 1837 in Prince Edward County, was an American doctor and a novice astronomer. He is most well known for his groundbreaking work in astrophotography. Henry Draper’s father, John Williams Draper, was a well known doctor, chemist, botanist, and professor at New York University. In 1867, John Draper married Anna Mary Palmer, who was a well known and rather wealthy socialite.

            What got Henry interested in astronomy was when he took a stellar spectrum photo in 1872. This was one of the first of its kinds and was the beginning of an awesome new study of astronomy. Henry Draper was also the first person ever to photograph the Orion Nebula, one of the most well known nebulas today, on September 30, 1880. Also, in 1874, he directed a crew of astronomers who took a photograph of the Transit of Venus. In 1880, he also took a picture of Jupiter’s spectrum. Nearly all of his observations and photos were taken at his favorite observatory in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Throughout his career, Draper received numerous awards for his pioneering work and observations. One of such awards was a medal for directing the observations of the Transit of Venus.

            Unfortunately, on November 20, 1882, Henry Draper died due to Double Pleurisy. Double Pleurisy is when a membrane around your lungs becomes inflamed and badly damages your lungs. After his death, his wife announced a new award that could be given to astronomers called the “Henry Draper Medal” if you showed outstanding efforts in astrophysics. A telescope was created to create the Henry Draper Catalog of stellar spectrums. Henry Draper was invaluable in the pioneering of astrophotography and is one of the most well-known astronomers of all time.

Henry Draper Sources

Gibson, Steven J. "DRAPER, HENRY." Henry Draper Biography. University of Calgary, 2001. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.

 

Soylent. "Henry Draper." Nndb.com. Soylent Communications, 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.

 

Weekly Observation Post 20

This week was a good one for observing. I saw many constelaltions. Such constellations I saw were Orion, Gemini (I'm pretty sure that's what I saw), Casseopia, and I could clearly see Rigel and Betelgeuse. I also looked at the moon since it was so big on Wedensday night. I hope that next week will be as good as this past week has been.

APOD 3.7 Colors of Mercury

This picture is shown in the Visible Light spectrum. It shows the true colors of Mercury. I had no idea that Mercury was actually so colorful. I always pictured it as plain orange with no other colors. Come to find out it has blue, white, grey, orange and many others. The large crater in the top right is known as the "Caloris Basin". It is massive and was caused by a collision from either a metiorite or comet.