apod 3.8

This photo shows a double eclipse of the sun.  Last Friday was noteworthy because part of the Earth was treated to a rare total eclipse of the Sun. But also on Friday, from a part of the Earth that only saw part of the Sun eclipsed, a second object appeared simultaneously in front of the Sun (International Space Station). Which only occured for .6 seconds. It looks at if the moon has some sort of cool tattoo.

apod 3.7

This weeks APOD is titled The Heart and Soul Nebulas. There are two bright emission nebulas known as Heart and Soul. Both of these bright nebulas shine in the red light from the hydrogen. Light takes roughly 6,000 years to reach the nebulas. Stars and clusters such as these nebulas have been studied by their size and form. These nebulas also affect their environment. The heart nebulas specifically has a heart shape if you look close enough. 

apod 3.6

This weeks APOD is titled The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula. This star forming region is known as the largest in all of the galactic neighborhood. This can be found in the Large Magellanic Cloud. As you can see from the picture, it has a spidery image which is how it got the name of the Tarantula Nebula. It is roughly 1,000 light-years across and it's arms are actually surrounded by NGC 2070. This is a star cluster that has large stars that are extremely bright.

Asaph Hall Biography

Asaph Hall Biography

          Asaph Hall was born in Goshen, Connecticut. His family was poor and Hall attended local schools and was partly educated by his father. He seems to have enrolled in College in 1853 to study geometry and algebra, but is it unclear whether he completed his degree. He taught in a Wisconsin school for several years before entering Michigan University, where he only completed one trimester. After a brief teaching post in Ohio, Hall became a student at Harvard.

Hall married Angeline Stickney in 1656 and, one year later he took up the post of an assistant astronomer at Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hall made a name for himself as an expert in working out orbits. In 1862 he made the move to the US Naval Observatory at Foggy Bottom, on the banks of the Potomac River, near Washington D.C. Although he started as an assistant astronomer he was made a full professor within twelve months. He was awarded the rank of captain and taught mathematics at the Naval College.

         Hall led many astronomical expeditions over the next twelve years. He was based in the Bering Sea (1869) and in Sicily (1870) for the solar eclipses. He observed the transits of Venus from Vladivostok (1874) and San Antonio, Texas (1882). Back at the Naval Observatory, he was in charge of the largest refracting telescope in the World at the time. He noticed a “spot” on Saturn that allowed him to work out the planet’s rotation time. He also studied the orbit of Saturn’s moon, Hyperion, and recognised that it was a retrograde orbit.
          In 1877, Hall had been looking for satellites orbiting Mars for some time and he was ready to give up his quest. It was his wife who convinced him to keep looking. The very same night he saw what could have been taken to be a faint star near Mars. Hall realized that this was, in fact, a moon. One week later he discovered a second moon, closer to Mars but brighter than the other moonusing what was then the world's largest refracting telescope. At the suggestion of Henry Madan, the science master at Eton College in England, Hall named these moons Phobos and Demos (meaning literally, fear and terror), each about 18 miles in diameter. Hall received accolades from Nature and Scientific American, the Royal Astronomical Society's Gold Medal, and he was named the Naval Observatory's Professor of Mathematics by President Abraham Lincoln. He also traveled to Vladivostok, Russia in 1874 and San Antonio, Texas in 1882 to observe two transits of Venus. Though often asked, Hall refused to ever write a book.

Planetary Nebulae

the dumbell nebula m27, in the Vulpecula constellation.

this is the Saturn nebula located in the constellation Aquarius 

this is the stingray nebula located 18,000 light years away and is the youngest known nebula.

this is ring nebula m57 located in the constellation lyra.

this is the egg nebula located 3,000 light years away in the Cygnus nebula.


here we have the Cat's eye nebula located in the constellation Draco.


This is the planetary nebula NGC 6326 in the constellation Ara


Here we have the Eskimo Nebula located 2,870 light years away in the Gemini Constellation.


This is the Helix nebula located in the constellation Aquiarius. It is ~ 694.7 light years away.


This is the IC 289 planetary nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia.

Asaph Hall Biography Sources

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/252601/Asaph-Hall

http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/MARS/CHAP05.HTM

apod 3.5

This week's APOD is titled Mobius Arch Moonrise. February moons shine through the clouds in this picture. A night skyscape is visible towards the left of the sky. Orion is visible at the right of this picture, which is known as a famous northern constellation. Jupiter is towards to center at the top of this picture as well. Jupiter is also known as the solar system's top notch gas giant. Under Jupiter is Big Dog, Sirius, which is the alpha star in this constellation.

apod 3.4

This week's APOD is titled NGC 1333 Stardust. This NGC 1333 is also known as a reflection nebula.It is roughly 1,000 light years away away from the wonderfull constellation by the name of Perseus. It is covered by blue lines that are reflected from the dust. It is located in the molecular cloud that forms stars. This view shows roughly 2 entire full moons  and it is roughly 15 light years at NGC 1333. It specifically shows details in the dusty area with the redish light from the Herbig-Haro objects. NGC 1333 is actually known to contain millions of stars that are extremely old.

stellar nursery

http://www.startrekfreedom.com/wiki/images/thumb/1/1d/Beltanis_Stellar_Nursery.jpg/600px-Beltanis_Stellar_Nursery.jpg


http://images.wisegeek.com/image-of-galaxy-with-rainbow-colors.jpg


http://thesupremedesigner.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/N92-660x330.jpg

videos:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13049702

apod 3.3

This week's APOD is titled "Along the Western Veil". These filaments are in the Earth's sky near the constellation of Cygnus. This is what makes up the western part of the Veil Nebula. Is it by itself the largest supernova remnant ever. It not only has a cloud that is getting larger, but it has reached an explosion about 5,000 years ago. It zoomed through the interstellar shock and went straight to the explosion. The Veil Nebula is also named the Cygnus loop and it spans about 3 degrees which is also 6 times the diameter of the moon.

observation

This week I made many observations from Sarasota, FL between the time of 7:30-10 PM. I saw Jupiter and Venus many times throughout the week. I also spotted some constellations. I saw Hercules, Andromeda, Pegasus, Lynx, and Auriga.

apod 3.2

This week's APOD is titled Clouds and Crosses over Haleakala. This stunning skyscape was taken from Maui in Hawaii. This cloud layer that is seen in the picture is right above the volcanic caldera's edge. This starry night sky above is absolutely breathtaking. When you roll over the picture, you can see an outline of Northern cross appear. You can follow the arc of the Milky Way from the arc all the way to the Southern Cross.

observation

I observed around 10 pm from Sarasota, Florida. Tonight it was a little cloudy outside, however, I was able to make some limited observations. I pointed out certain constellations that I could see and I also saw a spot to the left of the moon. I later found this to be called Pleiades.

apod 3.1

This week's APOD is titled Aurora Dog over Alaska.This bright aurora seemed to be changing into the shape of a dog that jumps. It also seemed to ahve a curly tail. The astrophotographer John Chumack also captured the multitude of colors in this picture with a 15 second exposure through a wide- angle lens. If you scroll over the picture it reveals the different planets and constellations that are visible from this picture. You can see Mars, Betelgeuse, Big dipper, Jupiter, and much more.

Johann Mädler biography

 Johann Mädler

          Johann Mädler was born in 1794 in Berlin. Mädler realized he was first interested in astronomy when he was a child and he observed a fascinating comet. Since Mädler was an orphan as a child, he was in charge of keeping his younger sisters under his wing. Mädler went to the University of Berlin to study both mathematics and astronomy. Mädler had to support his family so he went ahead and took on the job of being a private tutor.
          Along the way, Mädler met Wihelm Beer, a prosperous banker and recent astronomer. When Wilhelm first met Mädler he saw potential in him and immediately offered him a different job at the observatory that he was constructing. This is where Mädler began to gather his countless observations and contributions to the world of astronomy. At Beer’s observatory, Johann Mädler completed a detailed map of the moon. In fact, his maps were thought to be the absolute most precise credentials out of the three different decades the maps were made in.
          Mädler was also the first person to divide the moon into four sections on paper. Beer and Mädler were both involved in the conclusion that the Moon’s features do not change. Not only did Mädler accomplish this, he also observed Mars for a period of time in 1830. Mädler and Beer were the first two human beings to create a map of the planet. Mädler and Beer were also the first to choose the “Sinus Meridiani” also known as the prime meridian for all Mars maps. They worked together to find out the rotational period of Mars by using Herschel’s calculations. However, calculations that were made in 1837 proved that their original calculation was off by roughly 1.1 seconds. Johann Encke saw how hard Mädler was working and decided to promote him to the Berlin Observatory.
          Mädler continued to study astronomy as well as meteorological studies as he was promoted once again to the director of the observatory. Mädler was well known for his observations of the moon and Mars, however, he also made many observations of Jupiter early on in his career as an astronomer. One of his first contributions included his sighting of two shadowy spots on the rings of Jupiter.
          In addition to completing all of these marvelous things, he also created the Central Sun Hypothesis. This hypothesis stated that the center of the universe is positioned in a specific star cluster. He formed this hypothesis by studying the motion of over 3,000 stars. Astronomers used these observations later on, however, it was proven to be false. Mädler retired from his stance as director of the observatory and died in 1847.

Johann Madler Sources

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/355890/Johann-Heinrich-von-Madler

http://www.ajaloomuuseum.ut.ee/vvebook/pages/4_5.html