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.