Observatin List

1. Jupiter
2. Deneb
3. Mercury
4. Venus
5. Spica
6. M1
7. M2
8. M31
9. Pleiades

Sorry! Saved as a draft ^_^;;;

Constellation Quizes

http://www.uni.edu/morgans/ajjar/Constellations/quiz/npole.html
(Requires a Java update on some computers)

http://www.factmonster.com/quizzes/constellation/2.html

(From Laura's Galactical Adventure)
http://www.astronomyquiz.info/constellations-quiz.html

http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/constellations

My Biography Project Sources

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/454669/Georg-von-Peuerbach

www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Georg_von_Peuerbach

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Peurbach.html

Observation 1.5

Astronomy Cast Ep. 212

"GPS Navigation"

GPS or Global Positioning  System, uses satellites to pinpoint the location of the receiver system and show it on a map. While they are very accurate, they aren't always perfect. The blue circle of error shown on many map applications, is the given area that you are determined to be located in by the satellites, because there aren't enough signals to pinpoint your exact location. But what's cool is that these errors aren't locational areas, but timing errors between satellite signals hitting the receiver! It's pretty amazing to think about how it isn't just location, but a simple timing error that causes such errors in our GPS systems!

Observation 1.4

Astronomy Cast Ep. 249

"Schrodinger's Cat"

Everyone's heard of it, but not many people understand it. What IS Schrodinger's Cat? Apparently, Schrodinger's Cat wasn't a cat, but a theory. The theory stated that if a cat was placed in a sealed box with available food and water, once sealed, we have no idea whether the cat was dead or alive. This theory is about probability and how we don't actually know certain things about the unknown, until we observe it.

The theory of the cat is then expanded, to include a substance that might decay releasing a radioactive molecule, adding a gieger counter, and connected to that device a vial of poison. If the molecule is formed, the gieger counter will activate, and then knock over the poison, killing the cat. Since the molecule might or might not be produced, we don't know whether the cat is alive or not, and is therefore BOTH dead AND alive! This is a puzzle that cannot be solved by any means in the end...

Observation 1.3

Astronomy Cast Ep. 264

"The Hazards of Spaceflight"

Unlike many Sci-fi shows, spaceflight isn't as easy as it looks, there are lots of factors that get in the way of travel through the final frontier. Many of these are mechanical such as the travel device exploding and all the stages they have to go through to make it to space, and others are human. The human obstacles are the fact that space has no air, and is either extremely hot, or extremely cold. We have to take precautions to insulate spacemen as well as physically possible, or they will die just from the temperatures fluctuating.

I never really realized until I listened to this episode though...but without the constant pressure exerted on the human body by the earth's gravity and atmosphere, we would expand and die...Which is what happens when air leaks from spacesuits...

Observation 1.2

Astronomy Cast Ep. 267

"Infinities"

The episode starts out by defining what infinity really is, with an example about counting grains of sand on a beach. While it is possible because there is a finite number of grains, it is still impossible  for one person to do because the number is so large. However there are things that are impossible to count, not because they are so large, but because they are not finite numbers. It then transitions into explaining that there's more than one kind of infinity! Some are smaller, some are larger, but there is no one infinity!

Infinite numbers exist right under our noses too, take for example all the numbers between 1 and 2...1.1,1.11,1.01...2 In truth, if you kept adding decimals, you could keep going forever!

We've discovered that the universe is still expanding, and is almost flat. So in the end, we don't know if it is infinite or not, but it is almost certainly infinite...just really really big...Kind of like how the Earth was seen in the 18th century. This all just blows my mind! There's so much to even simple numbers that we have yet to fully understand!

Observation 1.1

Astronomy Cast Ep. 271

This episode, entitled "Who Does What in Space?" discusses the many jobs held by scientists who study space, and what exactly they do. The first job they describe is a Fluxual Mechanic, which is a scientist that studies how stars pass one another and who perform equations relating to astronomy. They then transition over to describing Astromotritists, which are scientists that actually measure space. More specifically, they precisely measure where things are, and plan coordinate systems. Later on, they discuss Astro-biology, which is the study of life in space. While their field is still important, they are a branch of scientists who don't study known solid objects, but theoretical life forms that could exist in the cosmos. This taught me a lot about the different jobs that available related to the universe, I never knew the options were so varied, and so amazing!

APOD 1.8

September 24th 2012

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120924.html

This picture shows a Nebula in the shape of a "Pencil". What it is, is a shock wave traveling at over 500,000 Km/h. What look like filaments are actually ripples in a sheet of glowing gas. From the angel of the earth, it looks like it's a pencil because we can only see the edge of it. While it looks small in the picture, it's actually about 5 light years long! And if that sounds long, it's only a small remnant of a supernova that happened over 11,000 years ago! This supernova was from the star Vela (the shock wave is called the Vela remnant so I'm assuming we labeled the former star Vela).

APOD 1.7

September 25th 2012

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120925.html

This picture depicts lots of tiny rock bubbles located on the floor of a crater on mars. This picture was taken by the robotic rover Opportunity earlier in September. While scientists have seen them on rocks around the planet, they have not been as densely packed as these bubbles here are. They are believed to have been naturally formed, but it is still unknown how they would have been formed by natural means. This shows that we still have a lot to learn about the red planet. Who knows, maybe they were gas bubbles formed from some event when the surface of the crater was hot enough to be molten? Or maybe they were bubbles from an ancient pool of water, boiling and then hardened by clouds of molten gas and rock? Hopefully, we'll find out soon!

APOD 1.6

October 7th 2012

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121007.html

This picture isn't exactly astronomy, but it's still pretty cool and mind blowing. It shows a checkerboard with a cylinder in the top right hand corner, casting a shadow down diagonally on the board. Two squares are lettered, A, and B. A is outside the shadow, and B is directly in its path. At a glance, it appears that A is darker, but they are actually the same color! This is a clear showing that human observations are inadequate for drawing final true conclusions, because if our eyes can be fooled so easily just by colors based on surrounding influences, how can we say for certain that some things in the universe are as we believe at a quick glance? What's really cool though, is if you look for long enough at a single letter (B is faster I've found), then you start to see with your peripherals that they both are in fact the same color without having to see the solution to the puzzle!

APOD 1.5

The Horsehead Nebula (October 21 2012)

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

This APOD describes the Horsehead Nebula, located in the belt of Orion. The red glow of the Nebula is caused by hydrogen gas which is ionized by Sigma Orionis, a nearby bright star. The Horsehead itself is actually dust that has collected over time, and shadows cast by the dust giving the figure more form. Apparently, the bright spots in the Horsehead are actually stars that are in the process of forming, which was about 1,500 years ago taking into account the speed of light and the distance of the Nebula from the Earth. It's amazing that such a detailed picture could be taken with such a small telescope, just a tenth under a meter in diameter!

Chapter 5 Section 1,2,3 Outlines

Astronomy Chapter 5 Section 1,2,3 Outline

Section 1:

Optical Telescopes:

-          Telescope: Light bucket, captures as many photons as possible from a given region of the sky and concentrate them into a focused beam for analysis.

o   Optical telescopes are designed specifically to collect the wavelengths that are visible to the human eye.

-          Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes:

o   Refraction is the bending of a beam of light as it passes from one transparent medium into another.

o   Reflecting telescope uses a lens to gather and concentrate a beam of light.

o   Prime focus is the primary mirror in a reflection telescope.

-          Comparing Refractors and Reflectors:

o   Factors that tend to favor reflecting instruments over refractors:

§  Light must pass through the lens is a disadvantage of a refracting telescope.

§  As light passes through the lens, some of it is absorbed by the glass. This causes problems with visible radiation.

§  A large lens can be quite heavy, and tends to deform under its own weight.

§  A lens has two surfaces that must be accurately machined and polished.

-          Types of Reflecting Telescopes:

o   Newtonian Telescope:

§  Named after Isaac Newton, light is intercepted before it reaches the prime focus and then is deflected by 90^o, usually to an eye piece at the side of the instrument.

o   Cassegrain Telescope:

§  Named after Guillaume Cassegrain, the point behind the primary mirror where the light from the star finally converges is called the Cassegrain focus. Requires starlight to be reflected b several mirrors.

Section 2:

-          Light-Gathering Power:

o   Collecting area:

§  The total area capable of gathering radiation.

-          Resolving Power

o   Angular resolution:

§  The factor that determines our ability to see fine structure.

o   Diffraction:

§  The tendency for light to bend around corners

o   Diffraction-limited resolution:

§  The amount of diffraction increases in proportion to the wavelength used, and observations in the infrared or radio range are often limited by its effects.

Section 3:

-          Image Acquisition:

o   Charge-coupled devices (CCD’s):

§  Electronic detectors that aquire data of stars, they lead directly into computers.

o   Pixels:

§  Tiny picture elements, they make up an image.

-          Image Processing:

o   Background noise:

§  Anything that corrupts the integrity of a message, such as static on an AM radio or the “snow” on a TV screen.

-          Wide-angle Views:

o   Large reflectors are very good at forming images of narrow fields of view, wherein tall the light that strikes the mirror surface moves almost parallel to the axis of the instrument.

-          Photometry:

o   Telescopes act as high power cameras when a CCD is placed at their focus.

o   Photometry:

§  The measurement of brightness.

o   Photometer:

§  A device that records highly accurate and rapid measurements of light.

-          Spectroscopy:

o   Spectrometers:

§  Devices that read the spectrum of light given off by stars and light.

Georg Von Peurbach Biography

Thomas Pring

Mr. Percival

D.E. Astronomy, 2

12 Oct 2012

Georg Von Peurbach

            Georg Von Peurbach was born on May 30^th 1423, and died on April 8^th 1461. Unfortunately, not much is known about his life before he entered the University of Vienna. There, he received the degree of master of philosophy and the free arts around the year 1440. He also received Bachelor of the Arts in 1448, and later his Master of Arts in 1453. He spent much of his life in Vienna, and was both born and died there. He was offered many professorships while he traveled northern Italy, giving lectures on astronomy, but turned them all down and returned to Vienna.

            He was an Austrian astronomer and mathematician, and is considered to be a founder of observational and mathematical astronomy in the West. He was a believer in a Helio-Centric solar system, as shown by his best known work, Theoricae Novae Planetarum. This work influenced famous astronomers in the future such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler. His work combined the “homocentric spheres” believed by philosophers such as Aristotle to be the organization and orbital explanations of the solar system, with Ptolemy’s epicycle trains belief.

            Georg worked with his student and colleague Johannes Muler von Konigsberg (also known by his pseudonym Regiomontanus), for years on countless projects. They made observations on what we call Halley’s Comet in 1456, but are still not acclaimed as the first to discover it. They also were witness to a lunar eclipse on September 3^rd 1457. While he made observations on astronomical objects and events, he also is credited as the inventor of many scientific instruments. Some of these instruments include the regula, the geometrical square.

            He brought the Hindu-Arabic numeral system into play with astronomy, by having his pupil create a shortened version of Ptolemy’s Almagest, and replaced all of the “Chords” with sines. He calculated the sines for every minute of arc for a radius of 600,000 units, putting them all into a table. This was the first known transition for scientists from the duodecimal, to the decimal system.

            Georg did not have many tools or sensitive instruments at his disposal, so many of his observations were made with simple ones that were common in his time period. He used things such as a plumb-line to measure the angles of elevation of the stars. This most likely prompted him to design and invent new instruments that would help his studies.

            Before his death, he was invited into Rome to study Ptolemy’s works in their original Greek form, instead of having to continue reading the Latin Translation he had access to. This translation would be incorrect in many ways, as the translation process would be skewed without direct translations between words in the two languages. Having taken up the offer, he set off to Rome, with the condition that his pupil be brought along. While he was studying however, he died, leaving Regiomontanus to complete his studies on his own.

APOD 1.3

August 26 2012

      The Cat's Eye Nebula is labeled as a planetary nebula, but is in fact a binary star nebula. The term planetary nebula misleads the reader, because they think the center or subject of the nebula is a planet or a system of such. A binary star nebula however, is a nebula that has formed from stars throwing off their outer shells. This process creates a fantastic display of color and light, known as a nebula. A binary star system however is not a normal star, it's actually stars in orbit around a central object. So it's almost like a solar system with stars as planets! Pic found here!

APOD 1.2

September 12 2012

     Though we learned about Scorpius and it's only trait of note being that it's Zodiacal, we did not learn about the M object that resides within its tail. M7 is a large cluster of stars, so large in fact that it's the largest cluster of stars in the sky that we have found. This cluster contains around 100 stars, all brightly lit with a blue hue. After a bit of research, I found that these stars are known as "Blue Stragglers", and are were formed around the same time as the Milky Way. They spin 2-3 times faster than larger stars, and are formed in groups such as This (also picture). I had no idea such a cluster could be hidden away right in one of the first 2 constellations that we learned about!

APOD 1.4

June 29th 2012

Dark Clouds in Aquila

 We've learned about the constellation Aquila, but we haven't learned that through and by Aquila, lies the Aquila Rift. The Aquila Rift is a formation of dusty molecular clouds, behind the Milky Way Galaxy. Scientists are searching for signs of star birth within these clouds, which are believed to contain molecules and remains from hundreds of thousands of dead stars. The search is looking up, because of energetic outflows that have been associated with young stars are being spotted within the clouds. These energetic outflows are massive shots of energy shooting out in space, believed to be signs of star birth like how our sun was created. One has been recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope, but not at once. Since we are so far away from the outflows, they hardly move at all to the eye. But from 1994 to 2008, the Hubble Space Telescope has taken pictures, which have been combined into a video located here, showing what these outflows look like. I had no idea that such massive changes could take place over such a great period of time, even given the speed at which light travels through space. I also didn't know that the constellation Aquila had the rift passing through it. In the picture, the bright star Altair, located in the constellation Aquila, can be located in the top right hand corner.

Picture Time!

Copernican Revolution

Nicolaus Copernicus:
- Showed that the movement of the stars and celestial objects can be explained without having Earth be Geocentric.

Tycho Brahe:
-  Showed that celestial objects and events could be predicted and followed a math system.

Johannes Kepler:
- Proposed Elliptical orbit, over circular orbit.

Galileo Galilei:
- Observed the phases of Venus and the moons of Jupiter.

Giordano Bruno:
- Argued for the theory of an infinite universe with other celestial objects such as stars and star systems.

Isaac Newton:
- Proved that planets are kept in their orbit by forces of gravity.

APOD 1.1

Amazing picture! The scientists have taken the paths hurricanes have followed for the last 161 years, and put them all on one map. It shows the locations most affected by hurricanes, and others where hurricanes either barely affect them, or don't touch at all. The summary also talks about the Coroilis effect, which is when hurricanes curve away from the equator.  Hey Mr. Percival!

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html