APOD 2.6

December 16, 2011: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

The APOD for Decemeber 16th, 2011 is that of a composite picture recorded 10 days earlir as the moon rose behind the Zagros mountains of Iran. This led to a very strange phenomenon of a fait red light. A total lunar eclipse was already in progress. The image combines 500 successive frames taken in the twilight of the eclipse as it climbed over the rough landscape. THe eclipsed moon is red becasue the earth's Umbral Shadow is infused with a faint red light. Sunsets and sunrises are reddened because the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light more strongly than red light.

APOD 2.3

APOD 2.3: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111118.html

The apod entry for November 18, 2011 is a picture of a colored topographical picture of the moon. The side of the moon on the picture is the side that cannot be seen by people on the Earth. This picture was taken by the Lunar Orbital Reconaissance Orbiter. Stereo overlap allows the pictures to be mounted on top of one another, thus allowing for a proper topographical image to be produced. This picture is very high in resolution with a resolution of 300 meters. White, red and purple represent lower areas, and areasof different colors represent higher areas.

APOD 2.2

November 4th: Edge-on NGC 3628

Due to the great quality accquiered by shar telescopic views, the spiral galaxy NGC 3628 was spotted as a galactic disk that is divided by dark dust lanes. The other name for the NGC 3628, is the hamburger galaxy, due to its unique shape and ressemblance to that of a hamburger. NGC 3628 has some approximately close neighbors, like that of the constellation Leo that is 35 million light years away. These constellations in "close" proximity to NGC 3628 are the likely cause of its unique shape

APOD 2.1

October 28:  October Skylights
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111028.html

As the year passes, days in the Northern Hemisphere get significantly longer, thus making October a good month for spotting various auroras. On Octover 24th a solar coronal mass impacted the planet Earth's magnetosphere thus creating massive auroral displays. These create a massive display of bright Red and Green colors that gleamed in the night sky. Auroras were reported as far sotuh as Alabama, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The red color came from the excitation of Oxygen Atoms.

Observations with the class 10/23

On Sunday night, with the class, we had a stargaze on the pine view campus from 8pm until 10 pm. With the help of the binoculars and the multiple telescopes that were mounted, and with the favorable weather we were able to observe well. We looked at star clusters that Surrounded different constellations. Due to the favorable weather we were also able to see the international space station that passes over the stargaze at around 8:30 pm. This was very impressive especially due to it's sheer speed across the sky. We knew this was the iss because we had previously checked heavens-above.com and checked for telescopes that would orbit over our location, and at what time they would do so.

Observations 10/22

I went outside to the field behind my house in order to observe the sky, there I noticed many different constellations that I was able to name. I also noticed a fast moving lit-up object. I realized this was a satellite. Later that night I went to heavens above's website and found the name of the satellite. I also noticed many constellation clusters and first magnitude stars.

Observation 10/20

I went out behind my house into a big grass field to look at the sky around approximately 8:30pm.  Looking up at the sky I was able to identify Cepheus. It was astonishing that so few stars were visible. Due to this, I researched online at pictures of Cepheus, and the online pictures had much clearer resolution and were much easier to see than the observations I had made.

APOD 1.8

APOD 1.8: October 21, 2011. Clouds of Perseus
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111021.html

The October 21 APOD picture shows a Cosmic cloud consisting of dust and gas. This cosmic cloud spans 17 degrees near the southern edge of the heroic constallation Perseus. The Red cloud in the middle of the panaroma is the red NGC 1499 (common name: California Nebula). The striking red color is caused by the atomyc hydrogen gas that is powered by ultraviolet light coming from the lumious blue star called Xi Persei that is in direct proximity of the California Nebula. The various dust clouds in the image reflect starlight from the Miky way, and are hundreds of light years above the galactic plane.

APOD 1.7

Magic Star Trails; October 14 2011: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111014.html

By using a camera and creating a timelapse, this photographer was able to clearly show the color spectrum hidden in every star. This picture should how colorful the sky was when the timelapse was accelerated and the pictures combined.  The star trails are also reflected in one of a pair of 17 meter diameter multi-mirrored Magic telescopes. Gamma rays - photons with over 100 billion times the energy of visible light. The fast cameras see brief flashes also called Cherenkov light and can ultimately relate optical flashes to cosmic sources of extended gamma rays.

Tycho Brahe

                                                                                                                                               Oliver Corizzi

                                                                                                                                      Astronomy Period 3

                                                                                                                                          October 10 2011                             

                                                                           Tycho Brahe

          Brahe was born in Denmark (now a part Sweden) in 1546.  His father was a nobleman and he was always part of a higher class throughout his entire life which was necessary at the time in order to have the money and power to make his future discoveries.  At one point Brahe was said to have owned one percent of the entire wealth of Denmark. 

   

           Brahe was alive before the invention of the telescope and thus was never capable of observing the heavens through a telescopic eye piece.  Through his observation he invented the Tychonic System.  In this system the Earth was the center of the universe which is nowadays common knowledge as being not true.  Yet, the moon and the sun revolved around the Earth.  Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (the only observable planets without a telescope) revolved around the sun in a separate revolution. 

            In 1572 Brahe observed a change in the heavens with the unexpected appearance of a star in the constellation Cassiopeia.  Prior to this event the heavens were regarded as unchangeable.  Although this system was soon disregarded in Brahe's defense he was doing all of his experiments and observation with the naked eye.   He proved that the object was farther away than the moon because parallax could not be observed.  Thus, this was the appearance of a star in the distant heavens which proved that the heavens are always changing.  This caused a large problem with the church at the time because the heavens were thought to be perfect and unchanging.  Brahe figured out that this was not true.  This was one of many contributions to astronomy made by Brahe.   

     Brahe's biggest legacy was his precise and accurate way of measuring the heavens.  He made a major contribution to the scientific method and set a standard for scientific review and observation. An interesting fact about Tycho's first published piece of work was a Latin writing that he wrote for his brother who died before being baptized, was not a astronomical discovery or hypothesis

Even though his theories about the composition of the universe were incorrect, he still did a lot for the scientific community.  In his own time he was not just known for his astronomical observation but also for his contributions to medicine and his creation of a higher education institution in Denmark.    

APOD 1.5

APOD 1.5: October 7, 2011.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111007.html


The picture for October 7, 2011 is a visually clear picture of the universe. In November 2010, the active Comet Hartley 2 became the 5th comet to be photographed by a spacecraft on the planet-Earth. Hartley 2 originated in the far-away Kuiper Belt. The surrounding planets are mainly icy cometary bodies and dwarf planets. Past research have shown that a good portion of the water in Earth's ocean is likely to have come from the Kuiper Belt. In the image, also portrayed, are open star clusters M47 and M46.

Astronomy Biography Sources. Tycho Brahe

Tycho Brahe Biography sources.


1.) Fowlerg, Michael. "Tycho Brahe." Galileo. Galileo.phys, 01 Apr. 1996. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. <http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/1995/lectures/tychob.html>.


2.) Helden, Al Van. "Science | Tycho Brahe." The Galileo Project. The Galileo Project, Nov.-Dec. 1995. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. <http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/brahe.html>. 

APOD 1.5

APOD 1.5: September 30, 2011

Cloudy night of the northern lights: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

This amazing phenomenon occurred on Septmeber 26,2011 in the norern regions of Norway. The bright light and glow are the cause of an massive explosion in the sky caused mainly by a large coronal mass injection that led to the explosion in Earth's magnetosphere. Producing a severe geomagnetic storm and magnificent widespread auroras. These lights were mainly visible in northern Europe, notably in Norway. These auroras spread over the length of 100 kilometers in the sky.

APOD 1.4

September 23,2011: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

As the sun crosses the celestial equator heading south, that is the defining factor of the autumnal season. Spring begins in the southern hemisphere, and autum begins in the northern hemisphere. During this time, the northern lights grow much bigger, thus making them much easier to see in the sky. The shimmering green light glows high above earth in the dark sky. Spring and autumn bring an increase in magnetic storms.

Observation 1.2

Two nights ago ( September 21 ) at 9:30pm I went out on turtle beach to observe the stars. I made several different observations. Firstly, the sky was very clean, and since the beach was very dark, many stars were visible. I was able to observe Jupiter in its current retrograde motion, and made different colonies including the Corona Australis and the Archer. The moon was also out that night, and the brightness of the moon made it difficult to see more stars. The clouds slowly rolled in and covered up the sky, making it incredibly difficult to continue observations of the stars.

Astronomy Cast Observation 1.2

Ice in Space Astronomy cast. Episode 225.

Ice is present in space. In 2015 the new Horizon Mission will travel through the Pluto system. The Horizon Mission's flight plan is to land on unknown objects. And before 2016 and 2020 they must discover which objects they will land on by taking thousands of pictures of the region of the solar system. After passing the Asteroid belt, some of the moons of the planets behind the belt are entirely made of ice. The ice is more than just water, it is ammonia, methane and many different chemicals. The ice comes from the same elements that created our solar system. The moon also contains H20, yet the problem is that the water is mixed with the soil and would require massive amounts of energy to extract out of it.

Observation 1.1

Observation 1.1. September 12, 2011
I went to Turtle beach around 8:30pm to observe the stars. I noticed multiple pattern in the constellations. I was able to identify multiple constellations including the teapot. The moon was also out that night. It was somewhat cloudy, and thus I was unable to recall the exactphaseof the moon. While observing constellations, I also had an encounter with a shooting star that I dashing up above.

APOD 1.3

APOD 1.3
September 16, 2011: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

The link above is of a full moon rising above the horizon. Full moons can be impressive especially due to their massive size. Monday's full moon was nearest to the Autumnal equinox.
In the northern hemisphere it is traditionally called a harvest moon because farmers would work late at night and see the moon rise.Despite the night, the sun continues illuminating the moon giving it an orange color.

APOD 1.2

September 8 2011: Apollo 17 Landing Site
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110908.html

The entry for September 8 2011 is a picture of the Apollo 17 landing site on the moon. This picture is very informative because it clearly shows the distances between the ALSEP Equipment, and the challenger descent stage. It also shows the path that astronauts followed as they walked on the moon from one location to another. The most incredible part about this picture is that it was taken from the Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter as it was flying 22Km above Apollo's landing sites. This picture is also signficant because it is the sharpest image to ever be taken from such an close distance to the moon.

Apod 1.1

August 26, 2011: Timelapse of the formation of hurricane Irene.
I watched the August 26th post which contained a video of the formation of hurricane Irene. From the video, I learned how hurricanes form and the way in which they travel. I also learned why they travel in certain directions. The video showed how the hurricane clearly expands in size as it reaches areas with a warmer climate and warmer waters. The video also shows how hurricane Irene's beginning was simply a slight differential pressure system.