APOD 3.2

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
January 21, 2011

I thought that this picture would be especially fitting because Orion is one of the constellations of the week. The picture shows the belt of Orion, housing the three stars Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. Alnitak is the hottest O class star in the sky, a hot blue super giant.  Alnilam is just as bright as the other two even though it is the farthest away. Alnilam is 18,000 times brighter than our Sun!!!! The surface temperature, color and mass are roughly even across the board though. Orion is probably one of the most commonly know constellations in the sky. It is easy to point out and find, and is relatively a large constellation. The constellation is packed full of interesting objects to observe and take pictures of. The horsehead nebula is also located in the Orion Nebula. It is an emission nebula so it is only visible if there is a source of light coming from behind it, in order to light up the dust clouds. Not only is the Horsehead nebula located within Orion, but also the flame nebula. This nebula is made mostly out of ionized Hydrogen. It's cool to see a constellation that you can recognize in the sky, and know that it is full of wonder and amazing celestial objects.

APOD 3.1

1-15-11
A Total Eclipse at the End of the World

I chose this picture because I love how the view looks. and how passionate some people are about astronomy. The picture is amazing. The way that the photographer was able to piece together photos in order to see the corona is really cool. Also, the the moon is perfectly in line with the sun and blocks out the transition and photoshpere regions of the sun, leaving behind the breath-takingly beautiful image of the corona. I also think the fact that people, who don't normally live there, ventured down to ANTARICA to see a total solar eclipse is awesome. I was reading the blog of one of the people that went down there, and they said it was worth it. Even though they had to eat cold and tasteless food, the view was perfect and it was magnificent. I know that the scene looks amazing but I'm not sure that I would go all the way down there to see one. Maybe I will one day..... Any who, I really hope to see a total solar eclipse. I think that one is coming up in a few years. I would really like to visit Tenn. and see it. Space acts in marvelous and mysterious ways, that sometimes just need to be experienced.

APOD 2.8

January 11, 2011
The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula

At first I picked this picture because I thought it was cool to look at. Then when I started to read into the information on the page, it was really interesting. The Tarantula Nebula as formed from the explosion of the Supernova next door. The star exploded and formed part of the Magellanic Cloud. The Tarantula Nebula was caused because the explosion was so huge. The supernova was a gigantic star that lived very quickly (for a star)and then decided to blow up. The result being a fantastic and beautiful nebula. The cloud is a whopping 1,000 light years across. The APOD website informs it's readers that if this cloud were to be placed at the distance of the Orion Nebula, it would span the distance of 60 full moons in the sky!

Observation 1-12-10

8:00 PM
1-12-10

Tonight I was outside my house and saw something very interesting when I looked up. Right now the moon is in the first quarter phase. The interesting thing is that around the moon tonight, it looked as though there was a halo made out of fog or something. It was a perfect circle around the moon and it didn't look like any sort of clouds, just a fuzzy ring around the moon. Orion as always is clear and I was able to make out that Betelgeuse is in fact red.  I also was able to clearly see Venus this morning. It was super bright like always. It was probably 6:30 AM when I saw it in the SE approx. 18-24 degrees high.

Pictures of the Sun

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/Fil_erupt_Jan.jpg

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/2010_12_28/
(this is the 2000th comet discovered by SOHO)

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/large/tricomp_prev.jpg
(sun approaching solar maximum)

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/large/spotcollage_prev.jpg

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/xmascomet.html
(comet and sun)

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/20031202c2eit304.html

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/large/solcycle_prev.jpg

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/large/c2panel00_prev.jpg

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/large/284cycle_prev.jpg
(solar cycle)

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/Movies/latest.html
(there are around 10 videos on this page, but I had a hard time playing them; had to keep restarting and pausing) (good luck though)

George Airy Biography

Hannah Clode

Percival

Astronomy P.1

9 Jan. 2011

George Airy Biography

On July 27, 1801 in Northumberland, England, George Airy was born. George was born to family of farmers, and was soon made the eldest child after his mother had 3 more children following himself. George seemed to be a bit of a brat when he was young and did not make many friends because of this. In the early years of his youth, Airy grew fond of his uncle Arthur Biddell, a renowned farmer of the time. Airy’s father had just lost his job so; he decided to move in with his well-educated uncle since his current surroundings looked hopeless.

George attended the Cambridge University and in 1823 Airy graduated, surpassing many of his fellow classmates. Airy continued to study at the Trinity College in 1824. Airy was a very organized person throughout his entire life. During his life, he never threw out anything, old checks, notes, and letters. Airy consonantly kept a diary of almost every thought, jotting down different ideas that came to him throughout the day. Airy is also a man of persistence. Airy fell in love with Ricarda Smith, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Richard Smith after two days of seeing her. He asked of he could marry her, but her father said no. After six years of asking, the Reverend accepted his offer and allowed his daughter to be married off.

 In 1828, Airy became a professor and director of observatory at the Cambridge University. As a professor, Airy was one of the first to analyze the diffraction around a point of light when using a refracting telescope. The name for this phenomenon is stilled called an Airy disk. In 1835, Airy accepted the position of Astronomer Royal and moved to Greenwich. At the Royal Observatory, Airy helped with the transmission of telegraphs for the Post Office and railroads. In the 1850’s Airy became a government scientist that helped the government on a variety of issues; for example, working on topic like harbors, railway gauges, sewers, coinage, ordnance surveys, sale of town gas, and meteorology.

Airy is also associated with the discovery of Neptune. There are controversies whether Airy helped to find Neptune or if Airy withheld information causing a delay in finding the eighth planet. Many side with the fact the Airy contributed many calculations that helped to discover Neptune, since the discovery was based on the effects Neptune had on other celestial bodies. As Airy aged, his body slowly told him that it was time to retire. At eighty-five Airy’s eyesight deteriorated. This actually allowed Airy to discover the cure for astigmatism, corrective lenses. Airy was now just working on calculations for a theory and observations. At the age of 91, George Airy died on January 2, 1892. A crater on Mars has been named of Airy in honor of his contributions to astronomy.

Observation 1-6-11

1-6-11
9:50 PM

I went outside with my father and my new telescope that I received for Christmas. I was planning to look at Jupiter and see if I would be able to see Jupiter's moons. Jupiter was far in the west and beginning to set. Orion was visible almost directly above near where the Pleiades were. The Pleiades looked almost like the Little Dipper. The moon was already set and was not able to be seen, but earlier in the night, the phase was waxing crescent. I never did find Jupiter because it set too quick.

APOD 2.7

1-7-11
Eclipsing the Sun

I chose to do this picture because I thought it was really cool how a photographer was able to capture both transits in the same shot. The ISS is located in the corner and the moon, beginning to eclipse the Sun. You can clearly see the detail adn the solar panels of the ISS which makes the picture truly astounding. The picture was taken with a 1/5000th second exposure. At this rate the ISS zooms by the sun in less than 1 second. The timing is impeccable. I also cjose this picture since I saw it very fitting since we are studying the Sun. The Sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace. It has sunspots too, which are clearly visible in this picture too. The combination of the ISS, moon, and the spots make this a truly remarkable picture.

Works Cited for George Airy

"Airy, George Biddell." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 1. Detroit: Charles Scribner's  
               Sons, 2008. 84-87. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Jan. 2011. Autobiography of Sir        George Biddell Airy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press,  1896. Print.
Waff, Craig B. "Airy, George Biddell." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 19.
              Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 24-26. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Jan. 2011.