Observation: Impromptu Prom Stargaze

Location: The Chelsea Center, Gulf Gate, Sarasota
Time: Approximately 9:00-9:10 

Constellations: Auriga, Gemini, Ursa Major, Leo, Crater, Corvus, Bootes

Planets: Jupiter, Mars

Stars: Capella, Castor, Pollux, Regulus, Arcturus

Gerard Kuiper Biography

Born in 1905 in the Netherlands, Gerard Kuiper (original name Gerrit Pieter Kuiper) was a major contributor to astronomical science for his studies of the solar system. In fact, he's been deemed the father of modern planetary science. 

Kuiper was the first of four children, with his sister Augusta, and brothers Pieter and Nicolaas. His father was a tailor. 

Kuiper graduated from the University of Leiden in 1927, where he was certified to teach high school mathematics, and got his PhD from the same school in 1933. His interest in astronomy was first sparked when reading the philosophical musings of Descartes and was encouraged by the men in his family, who gave him his first telescope. While in college, he worked closely with double-star astronomer Robert Aitken.

The same year he graduated, he moved to the US, gained citizenship, and began working at Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago. Later he served as director from 1947-49 and 1957-60. He founded the Lunar and Planetary Observatory at the University of Arizona in 1960, where he remained director until his death. He was editor for two encyclopedias, The Solar System (4 vol., 1953-58) and Stars and Stellar Systems (9 vol., 1960-68).

His discoveries include: Saturn's satellite Titan (1944), the rings of Saturn are made of particles of ice (1947), the CO2 atmosphere of Mars (1948), Uranus's satellite Miranda (1948), Neptune's satellite Nereid (1949), the proposition of the origin of the solar system by condensation of a large gas cloud around the sun (1949), the disk region of minor planets that lies just outside of Neptune's orbit called the Kuiper Belt (1951), Mars' water-based polar ice caps (1956), and predicted what it would feel like to walk on the moon (like crunchy snow) which was confirmed by Neil Armstrong (1964).

In addition to his discoveries, he was the chief scientist on the Ranger lunar-probe program, and through that, was able to analyze photographs and identify sites for the Surveyor and Apollo programs. He worked closely with NASA on their airborne astronomy projects, observing things in space not yet viewed on earth, specifically spectroscopy of the Sun, stars, and planets, from the telescope placed on the jet Convair 990.

He died in Mexico City in December 1993 while on a trip with his wife and his friend Fred Whipple. Posthumously, he was honored for his infrared astronomy research when NASA named their airborne infrared telescope, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, craters on the Moon, Mercury, and Mars, were named after him. 

APOD 4.8

This cloud is what is actually known as a cometary globule which has, for some reason, ruptured. Typically cometary globules are known by their dusty heads, with lots of newborn stars, and long tails, very similar to comets themselves. Maybe there was just too much action happening in the head of this cometary globule that forced it apart. 

APOD 4.7

The Flame Nebula is part of the star forming region in Orion near the belt. This x-ray image allows viewers to see through the dust to newly formed stars and embedded cluster NGC 2024. Youngest stars are located in the center, which does not fall in step with most theories on star formation, as the younger stars would begin to move away from the center, leaving the older, dense stars in the middle. Perhaps this is the beginning of that process. 

MicroObservatory Image: Lagoon Nebula (M8)

APOD 4.6

An unusual dog shape appeared in a photo taken during an aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska. Mars and Arcturus are in the dog's hind legs and tail, Jupiter in the front legs and Procyon and Betelgeuse beneath, Capella above the head, and the Big Dipper floating above the body. I think it's pretty interesting that you can find shapes like this in auroras and not just in cloud watching. The lights have the ability to create a shape, not just floating water. 

Stargaze 4/26/14

Date: 4/26/14
Location: PV Service Road 
Time: 9:00 PM- 10:00 PM

Identified the ecliptic 

Planets: Jupiter (in Gemini), Mars (14 arc seconds), Saturn

Constellations: Orion, Gemini, Leo, Leo Minor, Virgo, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Carina, Coma Bernices, Corvus

Telescope (small): Castor's Double Star
Telescope (large): M104 (Sombrero Galaxy), Gamma Leonis, M58 (Virgo)

Gerard Kuiper Biography Sources

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/profile.cfm?Code=KuiperG

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Gerard_Peter_Kuiper.aspx#3-1E1:KuiperGer-full

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324484/Gerard-Peter-Kuiper

http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/kuiper-gerard.pdf

APOD 4.5

Pictured above is galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915 and is one of the largest objects known, spanning 7 million light years, dubbed El Gordo. The image is a composite image of dark matter (dark blue), visible light from an image from the Hubble telescope, and x-ray (pink) from the Chandra Observatory. Nearly all of the bright spots are different galaxies, which is in itself mind-blowing, let alone it's massive size. There are several interesting objects in the picture, such as two galaxies that are in the process of colliding. 

Zooniverse Project

Exploring the Surface of the Moon

APOD 4.4

During the night of the year's first total lunar eclipse (April 14-15), which was viewed by the entire western hemisphere, an astronomical photographer in Barbados captured a beautiful moment between the eclipsed moon, Spica, and Mars. 

APOD 4.3

As Mars nears its opposition, April 8th, through the constellation Virgo, it becomes the most clear for telescopic views. This image was taken on a digital camera in a 16" diameter telescope in Brazil. Pictured are some white orographic clouds, which are clouds that are forced to form by rising topography. Mars' cold atmosphere near its volcanoes are what forms these clouds. 

MicroObservatory: M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy

Contributors to the Nature and Structure of the Milky Way

Galileo - In using his telescope, he determined that the stars of the Universe were at different distances from the Earth. This disproved the theory that the Universe was similar to a glass bowl, which would have made the stars of equal distance. The stars are actually tightly packed together sporadically, rather than one nebulous universe. 

William Herschel - Using a large telescope, he determined that Earth is located in the Milky Way amongst other fuzzy patches of stars and gas. He also determined, by observing other fuzzy patches (nebulae), that the shape of the Milky Way was a flat spiral disk. He provided the observational evidence to prove that there were other nebulae in our Universe. 

Harlow Shapley -  Used RR Lyrids to estimate the size of the Milky Way galaxy and the Sun's position. He participated in the Great Debate with Heber Curtis, his own position being that the Milky Way was the entire Universe with other spiral galaxies contained inside. 

Edwin Hubble - Observed Cepheid variable stars and calculated their distance (the distance being to other nebulae) and determined that they were much too far away to be contained in the Milky Way. He also created a classification for for galactic types: elliptical, spirals and barred spirals, and irregulars. In deciding galactic types, Hubble thought that ellipticals eventually condensed to spirals.  

Immanuel Kant - Published two major theories, which determined star and planet formation and galaxies. The "Nebular Hypothesis" theorized that planets and stars are formed from gas and dust clouds condensing because of gravity to create larger, denser objects. The second theory differentiated between nebulae and galaxies, suggesting that there were other galaxies than our own. 

Henrietta Leavitt - Researched Cepheid Variables and determined that they had a longer periods, supporting her "Period-Luminosity Relationship" that was used to measure distances in the Universe. 

Heber Curtis - As part of the Great Debate, his stance was that we have a small galaxy among several others in the whole universe. 

APOD 4.2

Pictured above is how Jupiter's moon, Io, would appear to the human eye in true color. Its yellow color comes from sulfur and molten silicate rock, kept smooth and young due to its active volcanoes. The volcanoes erupt due to Jupiter's constant pull of tidal gravity, pulling and pushing the moon apart. It is said that the volcanoes are so active that the moon is basically being turned inside out, and it's lava is so hot that it glows in the dark. 

APOD 4.1

Pictured above is something that is certainly never seen often: a black hole. The gas surrounding GRO J1655-40 has been flickering an unusual 450 times per second, an attribute that may indicate that a black hole is present. It's central object has a projected mass to be about 7 times that of our sun, and the flickering explains an object that is spinning very rapidly. 

APOD 3.8

In Corvus, two galaxies are colliding, ripping apart each other's gravitational powers. The dust and gas will continue to collide, but the stars will not due to huge amounts of space between them. These two galaxies have been colliding for over a hundred million years. Throughout their collision, dust pillars and molecular clouds are being compressed, causing the birth of millions of stars, many of which will be contained in clusters. 

APOD 3.7

Pictured above is the Running Chicken Nebula, spanning 70 light-years at a 6,000 light year distance, and is of particular importance due to the "eggs" forming into stars. The dark globules in the center of the picture are known as Thackeray's Globules, the sites for gravitational star formation and are quickly being eroded away from the radiation of the young stars. The stars here form the open cluster Collinder 249. 

Quarter 3 Biography: Alvan G. Clark

     Alvan Graham Clark, born on July 10, 1832 in Fall River Massachusetts, was an American astronomer and telescope-maker. His father, Alvan Clark Sr., was the founder of an optical firm called Alvan Clark and Sons. He created a 40-inch lens (the largest in today's world), which is currently housed at Yerkes Observatory. Alvan G. was the first to make an observation of Sirius B in Massachusetts, the magnitude 8 companion of Sirius and the first known white dwarf. 
     Alvan, when compared to his brother, George, was described as unusually attractive and intelligent. He had an incredible love of literature and a very retentive memory. His wife was Mary Mitchell Willard, who was a member of a Cambridge-Harvard family, which surely only enhanced his sociability. At age 16, he enterd a machine shop, learning the trade before joining the family firm. 
     Alvan G. had the opportunity to follow in his father's footsteps and learn the trade of lens making, which allowed him to create high-quality telescopes for his own scoping of the sky. In his early life, he worked on a contract with the University of South Carolina to create two glass disks in 42-inch diameters. Clark was soon discovered by a man named George Ellery Hale, who was interested in purchasing lenses for the Yerkes Observatory. 
     Alvan G. first noticed Sirius B while testing a new 18.5 inch refractor telescope on January 31, 1862. With Sirius being such a bright star (the brightest star in the night sky, and located in Canis Major) and Sirius B much less in comparison, the naked eye only perceives Sirius as a single star, when it is in fact a binary. This binary system consists of a spectral type A1V, Sirius A, and spectral type DA2, Sirius B. His accidental observation allowed astronomers to make more sense of their universe with a new type of star to study. The telescope he used to make this observation is now at the Dearborn Observatory of the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. 
    Clark was awarded the Lalande Prize of the Paris Academie des Sciences for his discovery, an award given to someone demonstrating great feats in astronomical performance each year. He later joined the American Association fo rthe Advancement of Science in 1879 and was elected to fellowship. He became a resident fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1894 and was elected a member of the Societe Astronomique Dde France. 
     He died on June 9, 1897 at 64 years of age. 
     

Biography Sources

http://www.astrosurf.com/re/alvan_clark.pdf


http://www.nndb.com/people/702/000167201/


Deborah Jean Warner. Alvan Clark & Sons: Artists in Optics. Museum of History and Technology Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C. 1968. Print.

APOD 3.6

Pictured above is a cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages that make the cloud appear much like it's name, Thor's Helmet. The cloud spans about  30 light years and 15,000 light years from Canis Major. It is described as more of an interstellar bubble than a cloud, that surrounds the Wolf-Rayet star in its center. The star is thought to be in a stage of pre-supernova. The greenish color comes from emission of oxygen atoms. 

Stargaze Observations (February 16, 2014)

Location: PV Service Road
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Constellations Noted: Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, Gemini, Canis Minor, Canis Major, Taurus, Orion, Lepus, Columba, Monoceros, Eridanus, Fornax, Aries, Cancer 

M Objects (seen through telescopes): M41 in Canis Major, M 42 in Orion

Other (seen through telescopes): double star color differentiation, the "5th" star of the trapezium 

APOD 3.5

Located in Cassiopeia are two emission nebulas, fondly named Heart (right) and Soul. The red is reflective of energized hydrogen. Several open clusters are pictured in their bluish tint. Light from these nebulas takes about 6,000 years to reach planet Earth. By studying these nebulas, scientists have learned more about how massive stars form and how that effects the environment they are in.

Observations

February 10

This weekend, I went to Siesta Key beach at sunset and noted Andromeda, Pegasus, and Cassiopeia. Additionally, I saw Orion, Auriga, and Taurus. On Sunday at Disney, I saw Orion perfectly over the castle and noted the brightness of the stars on Big Thunder Mountain, which was surprising given Disney is pretty light-polluted. 

Observations

January 31

Over the past week, I have watch the moon return to the new phase. I have seen Orion in the East portion of the sky, as well as Gemini and Taurus. I've noted Sirius, even though we have not formally learned it. I watched Venus in the between the East and the South in the dawn. 

APOD 3.4

This picture, taken at Monument Valley in the US, picture Orion in the right and Mars in the left. Buttes are shown in the foreground, evidence of a river that used to run through the area. Orion's belt is seen vertical and Betelgeuse is the reddish star in the constellation. The bluish star above the rightmost butte is Rigel. The two buttes are known as Mittens and Merrick from left to right. 

APOD 3.3

Pictured above is a "bridge" that connects the Northern Cross, Cygnus, to the Southern Cross, Crux. The bridge connecting the two is the Milky Way. Also pictured are the Moon (middle of bridge), Saturn and Mercury (below the moon), Venus (above the moon), and the Small and Large Magellanic clouds, which are satellite galaxies. It would require being in a pretty specific place to be able to see both the Northern and Southern crosses, and the perfect place for that would be Chile, where this photo was made with 30 images to create this beautiful panorama. 

APOD 3.2

Pictured above are the two open star clusters of Perseus, h and Chi Persei. The two were possibly discovered in 130 B.C. by Greek astronomer Hipparcos, and was noted by Tycho Brahe. The entire photograph covers about 3.5 degrees of the sky. The clusters are about 7,000 light-years away and are about 13 million years old, likely from the same starting region. The reddish cloud cover comes from ionized hydrogen gas. There is another open cluster in the upper left corner of this photo and may be related to h and Chi Persei. 

APOD 3.1

This false-color image of the Orion nebula, otherwise known as M-object 42, located 1,500 light-years away, was taken from the Spitzer Space Telescope using infrared data and spans 40,000 light years. The brightest part of this nebula is located in the same place as the Trapezium Cluster, discovered by Galileo, Orion's three brightest stars. The red coloring in this image indicates the nebula's protostars. A close protostar, HOPS 68, is said to have crystalline silicate mineral olivine in it's protostellar envelope. 

More Observations

Date: December 14, 2013
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Colonial Oaks Park
Sky Conditions: Moon at waxing gibbous phase, passing clouds

Instuments used: phone application

Planets: Venus was out but not viewable over the trees in the park, Jupiter to the east

Bright Stars Noted: Aldebaren, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Castor, Sirius

Constellations Noted: Taurus, Orion, Gemini, Canis Major 

Other: The moon was in the constellation Taurus

Observations

Date: December 2, 2013
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Place: Siesta Key Beach
Sky Conditions: Sunset, waning cresent moon, clear skies

Instuments used: Phone application

Planets: Venus (viewed closely to the moon), Jupiter in the east

Bright Stars Noted: Gamma andromeda, Mira

Constellations Noted: Gemini, Orion (and belt), Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Andromeda, Cetus

Other: observed the stars that appeared as the sun set

Giuseppe Piazza

Giuseppe Piazza was an astronomer from Italy known as both a mathematician and as priest and for founding the Palermo Astronomical Observatory (PlanetFacts). He was also known for naming the first minor planet, Ceres (Britannica). He was born July 16, 1746 in Ponte di Valtellina, Lombardy, Italy (Britannica). In his younger years, he joined the Theatine Order of Milan, a Catholic religious order of men (Encyclopedia). Piazza moved to Andrea Del Valle, Rome and learned from Giovan Battista Beccaria, an Italian physicist (PlanetFacts). When he finished his schooling, he graduated with a doctorate in mathematics and philosophy (Encyclopedia). In 1770, he became Chairman of Mathematics at the University of Malta for two years, after which he decided to move to Ravenna to teach at the "Collegio Dei Nobili"  (PlanetFacts). In 1780, he moved to Palermo to teach at the Univeristy of Palermo, where he also became a professor of Astronomy as per summon of the Prince of Caramancio, Bourbon, the viceroy of Sicily. This prince wanted to have an astronomical observatory in Palermo, Piazza was encouraged to go to England to gain the best tools he could. While in England, he met Maskelyne, with whom he observed the solar eclipse of June 3, 1788 at Greenwich, William Herschel, with whom he observed Herschel's large telescopes, and Ramsden. His first work in astronomy was studying the precise difference in longitude between various observatories. His most notable work while in England, though, was the greate 5 foot vertical circle that he commissioned from Ramsden, which wsa then installed in the new observatory at Santa Ninfa tower of the royal palace in Palermo in 1789. This observatory opened in 1790 and Piazza was named director. Upon returning to Palermo, he began studying the precise determination of astronomical coordinates of principal stars. The location of the observatory was the southernmost European observatory with favorable climate that allowed him to observe more stars than had been catalogued before, with much accuracy (Encyclopedia).
The first night of 1801, he planned to observe a 7th magnitude star in Taurus that was once catalogued by Lacaille. But instead of seeing the star, he noticed a fainter object that was not catalogued for the first time on  (Bond).  He thought it was either a planet or comet, and continued to observe the object until February 11th, where the object stopped retrograde motion and began moving towards the sun until it could not be seen. Piazzi easily calculated the orbit of the object in order to find it again. He continued observations for forty one days and published his results in 1801, and named it Ceres, after the patron goddess of Sicily, after recognizing that it was actually a planet.
In March 1817, Piazzi was summoned to Naples to complete the observatory in construction under King Ferdinand I. He died in Naples of an acute disease in 1824 (Encyclopedia).

Astronomer Biography Sources

Bond, Peter. Distant Worlds: Milestones in Planetary Exploration. New York, NY: Praxis, 2007. Print.

"Giuseppe Piazzi (Italian Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/459224/Giuseppe-Piazzi>.

"Piazzi, Giuseppe." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 27 Dec. 2013. <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Who is Giuseppe Piazzi? Life, Biography & Discoveries of Giuseppe Piazzi." Who is Giuseppe Piazzi? Life, Biography & Discoveries of Giuseppe Piazzi. Web. 27 Dec. 2013. <http://planetfacts.org/giuseppe-piazzi/>.

APOD #7

This photo shows the progression of the Sun's movement in our sky over a year. A picture was taken every day while the sun was out, highlighting the figure-8 movement called the analemma. The last day in the photoset included a total eclipse of the sun on the Winter Solstice analemma, called a Tutulemma. Each analemma looks different depending to the latitude at which the photo is being taken. Venus is also visible in the bottom right region of the photo.

This figure-8 movement gives us clues about how the earth moves incomparison with the Earth's movement. While the Earth moves in an ellipse about the sun, the sun appears to create an analemma to viewers on Earth.

APOD #6

This photo, which was taken the 19th of December, shows the surface of the moon in different colors due to false color imaging. The different colors show chemical composition differences: the blue showing titanium, and the orange and purple indicate the lack thereof.

This method of false color imaging could help to determine the composition of other moons and distant planets without having to send probes into space.