APOD 4.8

     Recently I was looking at the APOD titled "Two Worlds One Sun". This is amazing because the picture on the left shows the sunset from Earth while the picture on the right shows the sunset from Mars. Just by looking at it one can tell that the sun looks smaller from mars. However this is expected because Mars is 50% further away from the sun than Earth. Something surprising in the picture is the fact that the martian sunset appears blue. Although no one is entirely sure why this happens many speculate that it has to do with the Martian Dust. The rover Curiosity captured the sunset at Mars about a month ago near the Gale crater.

APOD 4.7

     This picture titled "Moonrise Through Mauna Kea's Shadow" makes it look like the moon is rising through a volcano. This is impossible actually and this picture was able to be taken because the moon is rising through the shadow of a volcano. This picture is taken in Hawaii and its location is arguably the best observing spot in the world. The refraction of the moonlight from earths atmosphere makes the moon appear slightly oval in shape. In this picture you can also see cinder cones from old volcanic eruptions near the ground.

APOD 4.6

     This week I was looking at the APOD titled "Massive Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841". This is a massive galaxy which is only about 46 light-years away. It is found in the constellation Ursa Major. This is called the island nebula and shows a bunch of star forming regions in its spiral arms. This galaxy is about 150,000 light-years long making it even bigger than the milky way galaxy. This picture is a composite taken by the Hubble Space telescope and the Subaru Telescope. The halo around the galaxy is the result of winds and stellar explosions that caused a gas to form near the outside.

APOD 4.5

     This week I looked at the APOD titled "Total Eclipse over Svalbard. This picture show a total eclipse as it progresses through the sky. each frame is taken about three minutes apart. The total eclipse only lasted for about 2.5 minutes, but just by looking at the picture you can tell that everyone was amazed by it. Also since there are so many cameras in this picture maybe another one of this eclipse will be in an APOD next week. Its also amazing how this picture was taken in the middle of the day but the the solar eclipse makes it appear as if it is night.

APOD 4.4

     This APOD is titled "Milky Way over Erupting Volcano". In order to get this picture the photographer had to endure high winds and low temperatures. The photographer had to also travel to the top of the near by volcano Santa Maria in Guatemala. All this work sure paid off because the astronomer got such a great picture.This picture captures the volcano Fuego erupting in the distance with the Milky Way over it.

APOD 4.3

     I was looking at the APOD titles Sun and Moon Halo and I thought that it looked pretty cool.This is a combination of two pictures, one taken at night, and the other during the day. The halo that surrounds the half moon half sun combination is an ice halo. above the moon to the right we can see the planet Jupiter. This picture is absolutely breath taking in the way it shows the day and night in one picture near exact same conditions.

APOD 4.2

     I was looking at the APOD titled "Corona from Svalbard". This is a picture that depicts a solar eclipse. The white outline seen in this picture is the crown of the sun or better known as its corona. What I find amazing about this picture is that it is actually a composite of 29 different pictures put in one. It looks just like it is made of only one picture. Something else I find interesting about this picture is that details of the new moon can be seen in this picture. Usually the new moon remains black but here one can see the craters of the moon.

APOD 4.1

     I was looking through the APODs when I saw this one. It is titled NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis. I picked this APOD because we learned about the constellation Camelopardalis in our astronomy class, and also because Mr. Percival says he makes fun of this constellation.. At the center of this picture is the island galaxy also known as NGC 2403.This is about 10,000 light-years away and about 50,000 light-years across.

Quarter 3 Observations

Recently I went to astronomy night. I stayed the whole time and observed many planets such as Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. I was also able to observe various constellations such as Orion, Canis Major, and Canis Minor. I learned the location of various stars such as Sirius and Canopus. I was also able to observe the Pleiades and many more objects of the night sky. 

     Over spring break I looked up and noticed that it was a waning crescent moon outside. I was also able to observe the constellation Orion and the star Sirius multiple times over the break.

APOD 3.8

     Imaging being able to see this just by looking out of your window. How cool will that be? In this picture the an aurora unfolded in the backyards of citizens in Vallentuna, Sweden. Auroras were sighted and photographed on the 17th and 18th of March, some could even be seen in the Midwestern U.S.! These Auroras occurred as a result of coronal mass ejections caused by solar activity. These coronal ejections struck earth's magnetosphere two days later and caused this view.

APOD 3.7

    I was recently looking at the APOD titled Cometary Globule CG4. This is a very faint globule in the southern sky positioned about 1,300 light years away. It is near the constellation Puppis and this nebula's tail is about 8 light year long with enough material in it to form several stars like the sun. It's amazing that something could appear so small but in reality be so big. Its still unknown how its form came into being but its  tail came from the remains of a Vela supernova.

Henry N. Russell Biography

Henry N. Russell Biography

            Henry Norris Russell is an astronomer from the nineteenth century who is known for developing the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. He was born in 1877 in New York. Russell later went on to study at Princeton and earned his doctorate in astronomy in 1899 at age 22.  In 1903 Russell raveled to Cambridge and worked with Arthur Robert Hinks at the Cambridge observatory.  He did research at the Carnegie Institution and was strongly influenced by astronomer George Darwin. He later returned to Princeton in 1905 and became an astronomy instructor and professor. He married Lucy May Cole in 1908 and ended up having four children with her.  Henry Norris Russell died in Princeton at the age of 79 in 1957.

            Henry Norris Russell was known as one of the most influential astronomers of his time. He helped create the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram which is a graph that shows the relationship between a star’s intrinsic brightness and spectral type. This was used to further a theory on how stars evolved. While he was working at the Cambridge University Observatory he developed one of the first photographic parallax programs to determine the distance to certain stars.  At Princeton Russell realized that the future of astronomy was in problem-oriented research.  When he was head of the research department he was free to use his math skills to search out and solve many astronomically related problems using large-scale observing programs.  At Princeton Russell was always doing research.  He spent most of his time doing research and shunned much of his academic and administrative duties. Therefore the school grew little in its staff and equipment.

            Russell’s research was mainly focused on planetary and stellar astronomy and astrophysics. He managed to develop an efficient method to analyze the orbits of binary stars. He was even able to come up with a way to calculate the masses and dimensions of eclipsing variable stars. He could even measure distances, motions, and masses of groups of binary stars. Russell wanted to confirm the theory of stellar evolution. With his diagram he was able to illustrate why this theory was viable and described what would be later known as Russell’s theory of stellar evolution. This theory was very popular until disproved by Arthur Stanley Eddington.

            After 1920 Russell focused mainly on researching the spectrum. He realized that the physical state of a star could be analyzed through its spectrum. He later went on to form networks of laboratories and observatory groups to work on analyzing line structures of complex spectra. Though this he became one of the most influential astronomers of his time.

Planetary Nebulae

The Ghost of Jupiter is in the Constellation Hydra. It is about 1.4 kilo-Light-years away and was discovered in 1785.


The Cat's Eye Nebula is in the constellation Draco, and is about 3.3  kilo-light years away. This Nebulae has a diameter of about .4 light years.


The Eskimo Nebula is about 2.9 kilo-Light Years away in the constellation Gemini. This nebula is about .68 light years across.


The Lemon Slice Nebula is about 4.5 kilo-light years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. It's radius is about .8 light years across.


The Little Ghost Nebula is found in the constellation Ophiuchus about 2 to 5 kilo-light years away. This nebula was discovered prior to 1800.


The Retina Nebula is about 2 kilo-light years away in the constellation Lupus. This nebula is found in the Southern Hemisphere and was discovered around 1888.


The Spiral Planetary Nebula is found in the constellation Musca and about 2 kilo-light years away. this Nebula is about 2 light years across.


The Stingray Nebula is the youngest known planetary nebula. It is located in the constellation Ara and is about 10 kilo-light years away. This nebula is small with a diameter of about .16 light years across.


The Ant Nebula is found in the constellation Norma about 8,000 light years away. It's shape resembles an ant and it is about 2 light years across.


The Spirograph Nebula is located in the constellation Lepus. It is about 1.3 kilo-light years away and has a diameter of about .3 light years.

APOD 3.5

     Recently I was looking at the APOD titled "A Dark River to Antares". The dust in the picture makes the river look somewhat murky because it is obscuring the star light in the background. The star Antares creates a yellow reflection nebula even though it is actually a red super giant star. Above Antares is the star cluster M4 which is a actually located about 7,000 light years away. The entire dark river is actually areound 500 light years long.

Quarter 3 Bio Sources

Sciences, National Academy Of. 1877—1957 (n.d.): n. pag. Nasonline.org. Nasonline. Web.

"The Bruce Medalists: Henry Norris Russell." The Bruce Medalists: Henry Norris Russell. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

APOD 3.5

     This is a picture of Neptune taken two hours before the closest approach of Voyager 2 in 1989. I chose this APOD because Neptune is my favorite planet and I feel that this picture captures just how massive the planet is. Neptune is made of mostly helium and hydrogen. Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system and there are speculations that diamonds may be created in the dense hot conditions that are under the clouds of Neptune. 

APOD 3.4

     Recently I was looking at the APOD titled "M100: The Grand Design Spiral Galaxy". When you think of a galaxy what is the first picture that comes to mind? For me it would be a spiral galaxy just like this one shown. This Galaxy is one of the brightest Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. This picture was taken by the Hubble Space telescope in 2009 and it reveals clusters of blue stars and swirling dust lanes which are used to classify this as a spiral galaxy.

Stellar Nursery Links

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2409.html#.VNycTua-2m4


http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/baby-stars-are-ripping-their-stellar-nursery-to-shreds-140702.htm


http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_643.html


http://www.space.com/18988-stellar-nursery-ngc-3603.html


https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stellar-nursery-gives-birth-quadruplets

http://www.space.com/21142-orion-constellation-s-blazing-dust-band-holds-stellar-nurseries-video.html

Observation Post quarter 3.1

    On January 31st I was in Lake land and I happened to look up at the sky. The moon was at a waxing gibbous at the time so that I could not see many stars, however the clouds around the moon seemed to have formed a perfect circle around it. Also while observing this phenomena I happened to also see a shooting star. I also saw the full moon on February 3rd.

APOD 3.3

 
     Even though it is called the sombrero galaxy I personally believe that it looks more like a UFO. M 104 the sombrero galaxy is famous for its ring that seems to be edge on. The picture above was taken by the Hubble Space telescope and was reprocessed so that the color would show up to make it seem natural. This galaxy can be seen across the spectrum and many believe that it has a black hole in its center which spans about 50,000 light years across. This galaxy is one of the largest galaxies that is located at the southern end of the Virgo galaxy cluster.

APOD 3.2

     This week I looked at the APOD titled Light From Cygnus A. This APOD reveals the galaxy Cygnus A and shows its light across the electromagnetic spectrum. This galaxy is a huge source of X-rays but is known for its low energy electromagnetic spectrum. This galaxy is actually the closest poweful galaxy to us. The red lights at the ends of the galaxy are radio emissions that are powered by high powered molecules.

APOD 3.1

     This week I was looking at the APOD titled "Huygens Lands on Titan". About ten years ago the probe Huygens touched down on one of the moons of Saturn. These pictures were taken by the probe during its descent to the planet. Once it had landed the probe delivered data back to Earth for more than an hour. We now know that Titan is a place where there are many organic compounds, lakes, seas, and the possibility of liquid water being present under its surface.

Observations 2

 On January 7th I went out at around 7 29 and witnessed the iridium flare in the night sky. On January 6th I observed the planets venus and mercury. I was also able to see constellations such as Orion and Gemini.   On January 5th I went out and witnessed the full moon. This made it very hard to observe any stars in the night sky. January 3rd I went out and was able to observe venus. On November 2nd I did the great world wide star count. I observed Cygnus but was barely able to do so as many of the stars were not visible where I lived.

APOD 2.8

     This week I decided to look at the APOD titled "Stars and Dust in the Corona Australis. The photo above is a scene almost 500 light years away near the northern end of the Corona Australis. The blue shade in the background comes off of a reflection from a nebula around that are. I mainly chose this APOD because the Southern Crown was one of the constellations that we had to memorize for our constellation quizzes. This nearest star to this photo would be about nine light years away. This picture also shows many new stars in the background.

Nevil Maskelyne

Nevil Maskelyne

            Nevil Maskelyne is a British astronomer who contributed to the science of navigation. He was born on October 6 1732 in London. When he was only twelve years old his father had passed away making it hard for his family to get by. He was attending Westminster School when two events changed his life forever. The first was that his mother had died in 1748. The second event was an eclipse that took place in July 1748, which enkindled his interest in astronomy. In 1749 Maskelyne attended St. Catherine’s College in Cambridge and was ordained a minister in 1755.

            During the eighteenth century one problem that many astronomers had was finding the longitude.  Without longitude many sailors would get into shipwrecks and get lost at sea. Maskelyne was the person who had test two theoretical solutions to the longitude problem. He tested the transport of a timekeeper technique, which required that he test chronometers. He however favored the lunar distance method that used lunar tables. This technique allowed him to create the Nautical almanac which was a publication of tables and computational techniques to help a navigator. The Almanac is what led to Greenwich having the zero point of longitude. He was soon appointed as an Astronomer Royal after two others had died in a short amount of time.  In 1772 Maskelyne also suggested performing the Schiehallion experiment. This would attempt to determine the density of the earth using a plumb line. He ended up performing the experiment in 1774 on the mountain Schiehallion as it had a naturally conical shape. He was then able to determine that the Earth had 4.5 times the density of the water. This was actually very close to the actual number of 5.515.  He is also known for his observations of Venus and its effects on tides at Saint Helena and Barbados. Maskelyne also introduced the concept of being able to measure time to the nearest tenth of a second and introduced several more practical improvements.

            In 1785 Maskelyne married Sophia Rose of Cotterstock. He had one child named Margaret in 1786 that would later go on to have children who became a professor of mineralogy at Oxford. Maskelyne’s sister who is also named Margaret would marry Robert Clive who was the military leader in charge of the East India Company.  Nevil Maskelyne would die on February 9 1811 in Greenwich England.

            Maskelyne had won many different kinds of awards such as the Royal Society’s Copley medal in 1755.  This is given to individuals who have done outstanding research in any scientific field. In 1778 He was elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He currently has a crater on the moon and a small chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean named after him.

Biographical References Quarter 2

Genuth, Sara Schechner. “Biography of Maskelyne. Review of Nevil Maskelyne: The Seaman's          Astronomer, by Derek Howse.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 21 (1990): 380-381.

 George A. Wilkins (1990). Review of Derek Howse 'Nevil Maskelyne: The Seaman's Astronomer'      Journal of Navigation, 43, pp 453-454.