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.