APOD 2.8

Located in Orion, this grouping of reflection nebulae, NGC 1977, NGC 1975, and NGC 1973, is usually overlooked by astronomers. Lying along Orion's sword just north of the bright Orion Nebula complex, these reflection nebulaeare associated with Orion's large molecular cloud a mere 1500 light-years away. The blue color comes from the interstellar dust reflecting light from young, hot stars. North is at the bottom of the telescopic image from Australia, so the Orion Nebula is touching the top of the view. NGC 1977 spans across the field just above center, seperated from NGC 1973, at the botton left, and NGC 1975, at the bottom right, by dark regions f dust. Many people who have seen this from the northern hemisphere claim to see the shape of a man running, but they're looking at the upside down view. Its pretty interesting, to see the man running upside down, which you can see by looking here a running man. I also looked at the Orion Nebula, and I think that this set of reflection nebulae look much more interesting.

APOD 2.7

Inside the Eagle Nebula, dust sculptures are evaporating. As the cosmic mountains are whittled away by powerful starlight, "statuesque pillars" remain , which, by some, look like mythical beasts. In the picture, is one of the dust pillars within the Eagle Nebula, which looks like a giant alien fairy. Rising a mere 10 light-years tall, this fairy gives off radiation much hotter than a common fire. In actuality, M16, the Greater Eagle Nebula, is a large evaporating cover of gas and dust with an inside cavity filled with a stellar area currently forming an open star cluster. This picture is pretty interesting, especially since this cosmic dust fairy stands 10 light-years tall. The bright stars around the image look pretty amazing surrounded by the dust, and the bright light coming from the bottom of the cosmic dust fairy also look pretty amazing.

Observation 2.3

Date: December 6, 2007
Time: 7:00 to 9:00
Place: Church off Clark RD
Sky Conditions: Clear skies
Instruments: Naked Eye, Binoculars, Telescope

Planets: Mars, Uranus

Noted Stars: Vega, Deneb, Altair, Polaris, Mira, Fomalhaut, Algol, Betelguese, Capella, Aldebaran, Gamma Andromeda, Rigel, Albireo

Noted Constellations: Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cygnus, Lyra, Aquila, Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Pegasus, Auriga, Cetus, Eridanus, Orion, Piscis Austrinus, Delphinus, Draco, Ursa Minor

Binary Stars: Epsilon Lyrae, Polaris, stars within Pleiades and Hyades

Deep Sky Objects/ M-objects: M57, M45 (Pleiades), Hyades, M27, M31, M36, M37, M38, M103

Other: 17P/Holmes Comet, Milky Way stretched across sky from East to West, Double Cluster in Perseus

Holmes Comet still seems to be getting more faint, but is still relatively visible to the naked eye if you know where to look. The double cluster in Perseus was also pretty interesting to look at through the telescope. I found Mars by myself, and I am still able to find Pleiades by myself. I can also find the Great Square of Pegasus, Casseopeia and the "Worm Asterism," and the Circlet in Pisces. I am beginning to see that Astronomy is pretty amazing with all the stars in the sky and all the M objects, pretty cool.

APOD 2.6

Located in the constellation Perseus, the hero, at about 7,000 light-years away, these two open star clusters lie very close together. They are very easily visible with the use of binoculars, and if you know where to look in the sky, they are sometimes visible to the unaided eye. This double star cluster is so easily seen, that it was cataloged in 130 BC by Greek astronomer Hipparchus. The two clusters are also known as h Persei (NGC 869) on the left and chi Persei (NGC 884) on the right, and the clusters are a mere few hundred light-years away from each other and contain much younger and hotter than our sun. It also appears that these two star cluster were born of the same star-forming region, meaning they are very close in age. This pretty interesting to see, especially since we viewed these two star clusters during our recent class star gaze. Its amazing how close these two clusters are, and yet you can easily distinguish a difference or seperation between the two.

APOD 2.5

Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is a star cluster well known from its incredible blue reflection nebulae, located a mere 400 light-years away. The picture, spanning over 20 light-years, shows the famous star cluster on the right, but also shows lesser known dusty reflection nebulae nearby. However, these sister stars are not related, but rather are just passing through the same region of space. Using infrared detectors, a dusty disk belonging to a young Pleiades star, HD 23514, has recently been found, which is comparable in size to the terrestrial planet zone in our own solar system and could likely represent the debris from the process of rocky planet formation. I have looked up in the sky many a time and have seen Pleiades, but it is really amazing to see it in this view. Pleiades is a relatively large "object" and is easy to find, but when you look at it with your naked eye, it looks nothing like this. It's pretty interesting to see Pleiades like this after looking at so many times with my naked eye.

APOD 2.4

Located in Hercules, M13, the Great Globular Cluster contains hundreds of thousands of stars, and is one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. At approximately 25,000 light-years, the stars squeeze into a region about 150 light-years in diameter, but in the cluster core over 100 stars would fit into a cube only 3 light-years on a side. Which is very close, as the closest star to the Sun is about 4 light-years away. This picture of M13 includes recent telescopic images of the dense core and "digitized photographic plates" taken between 1987 and 1991 using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. This picture shows both the inner and outer areas of the star cluster in great detail. Also, to the upper left of M13, NGC 6207, a distant galaxy, is also visible. To think of the millions of stars located in this relatively small area of space is incredible. There are so many packed into such a small area. It's also pretty cool to see M13 in Hercules, since it is one of the many constellations we have learned about.

Observation 2.2

Date: November 7,9,10,11, 2007
Time: 6:30 to 9:00 (30 minutes total each night)
Place: 720 Ablee RD (27°07'32.72" N 82°27'53.95" W)
Sky Conditions: Clear Skies
Instruments: Naked Eye, Some Binoculars

Planets: Jupiter

Noted Stars: Deneb, Vega, Altair, Polaris

Noted Constellations: Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cygnus, Aquila, Lyra, Perseus, Peagasus, Ursa Minor, Draco

Deep Sky Objects/ M-objects: M45(Pleiades)

Other: 17P/Holmes Comet

It was pretty amazing that I could find these objects by myself. It's also pretty incredible how large M45 is, which makes it very easy to find. As of now, M45 is the easiest object for me to find. I could easily see 6 stars with my naked eyes, but when I used my binoculars I could see many, many more. It's also pretty cool that you can still see Holmes Comet, although it does seem that Holmes Comet has become more faint.

Observation 2.1

Date: November 6, 2007
Time: 7:00 to 9:00
Place: Church off Clark RD
Sky Conditions: Clear Skies
Instruments: Naked Eyes, Binoculars, Telescope

Planets: Jupiter

Noted Stars: Deneb, Vega, Altair, Arcturus, Fomalhaut, Aldebaran, Capella, Polaris, Albireo

Noted Constellations: Sagittarius, Sagitta, Ophiuchus, Aquila, Lyra, Capricornus, Pisces, Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Hercules, Perseus, Scorpius, Delphinus, Scutum, Pegasus, Vulpecula, Aquarius, Grus, Pisces Austrinus, Draco, Ursa Minor

Binary Stars: Epsilon Lyrae, Gamma Andromeda, Polaris, Alpha Capricorn

Deep Sky Objects/ M-objects: M57, M45 (Pleiades), Hyades, M27, M31

Other: 17P/Holmes Comet

I found this observation period even more helpful and interesting than the last. I saw an interesting cluster of stars in the sky, and, after asking my teacher, it turns out that I had found M45 (Pleiades) with my naked eye; when we looked at M45 through the telescope, it was quite large and could not fit in the view of the telescope. We also saw 17P/Holmes Comet, which only a few weeks ago, could not be seen, but now is visible to the naked eye. Even more recently, Holmes comet has developed a tail, but is only visible through a telescope. It was amazing seeing everything.

APOD 2.3

Comet Holmes can be seen from the unaided eye, but through the view of a telescope, it appears much larger and much more brilliant. The comet has slightly diminished in brightness, but now has a larger angular extent than stars and planets. It appears that the comet's coma has developed a distinct green appearance in the past week. As seen from Spain, Comet 17P/Holmes also now has a tail. This blue ion tail is created by solar winds that impact the ions in the coma of Comet Holmes and puch them away from the Sun. Starting only 2 weeks ago, Comet Holmes underwent a dramatic and very unexpected increase in brightness. The detail visible in Comet Holmes' tail shows that this dramatic increase in brightness can be related to the explosion of dust and gas, which is complex, ongoing process. During the next month, Comet Holmes' position will change only slightly, so it will be visible for a while. I really like this picture because I have seen Comet Holmes with my naked eye in the northern sky. It is also pretty interesting to know that it has recently developed this tail, and is even more interesting to learn how the tail is formed. This picture shows great detail and the colors are intense. When I looked at it with my naked eye view, it only appeared as a fuzzy spot in the sky, so seeing it this up close and detailed is pretty amazing.

APOD 2.2

Located in the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) spans over 300 million light-years, which is one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions. It is very easily visible to the naked eye, similar to the smaller Orion Nebula, but at a distance of over 7500 light-years, it is about 5 times farther away. As seen through a telescopic view, this picture shows details of the glowing filaments of interstellar gas and dark cosmic dust clouds. In this nebula, there are many young, very massive stars, including Eta Carniae, a star with a mass over 100 times that of the sun. Eta Carinae is the bright star located left of the central dark notch and just below the dusty Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324). Eta Carinae is also one of the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way Galaxy and perhaps even the universe. I find this picture very amazing, the bright colors and shapes of the interstellar gas regions are amazing. It appears to be like there are many bright stars intermixed with the interstellar gas, probably too many to count. Its incredible how this nebula is over 7500 light-years away, but is still visible to the naked eye.

APOD 2.1

I Zwicky 18, galaxy on the left which spans over 3,000 light-years, was thought to be one of the youngest galaxies that we know because its bright stars only seem to be 500 million years old. Astronomers were very intrigued by this galaxy because it resembles other early forming galaxies. The galaxy is only 59 million light-years away, relatively close, but is surrounded by other galaxies that are much older. Recent images by Hubble Space Telescope, reveal a population of old, bright stars intermixed with the bright stars within the I Zwicky 18 galaxy. So now, I Zwicky 18 is thought to be about 10 billion years old like its neighboring galaxies, but seemed to have an episode of new star formation. The possible reason for this new star development may be related to the changing gravtitational influence of I Zwicky 18's smaller companion galaxy, visible on the upper right. This is really interesting, especially because for so long, astronomers thought this galaxy was so young, but is actually relatively old. It is also interesting that it experienced this burst of new star formation, which makes the galaxy appear to be much younger than it really is.

Astronomer Biography

Danielle McCoy
Mr. Percival
Astronomy Honors
10 Oct. 2007
Johannes Hevelius

"The founder of lunar topography," Johannes Hevelius was born on the 28th of January 1611 in Danzig, Germany. In 1630, Hevelius studied jurisprudence at Leiden. Later, he traveled in England, France, and Switzerland. During his travels, he met many leading astronomers, including Pierre Gassendi. By 1634 he returned to and settled in his native town of Danzig. He worked as a brewer in the family business and later became town councillor. He married his first wife Katharina Rebeschke, who later died, and in 1663 he married Catherina Elisabetha Koopman, who could be considered one of the earliest recorded female astronomers.
By 1639, astronomy became his principle interest. In 1641, he built an observatory above his house, which included several excellent instruments. Included in his instruments was a tubeless telescope with 150 ft. focal length, which Hevelius constructed himself. His telescopes were described in detail in Machina coelestis, pars prior (1673), and was followed by Machina coelestis, para posterior (1679). On the 29th of January 1660, the King and Queen of Poland, John II and Maria Gonzaga, visited the observatory.

Hevelius dedicated many years of his life to making many observations of different aspects of astronomy. He spent 3 years making detailed observations of sunspots, devoted over 4 years of his life to charting the lunar surface, and discovered the moon’s libration in longitude. Many of his results were published in Selenographia (1647); due to this work, Johannes Hevelius is often called the founder of lunar topography. The work he did in Selenographia became known for its accurate illustrations of the lunar surface. Although, his system for naming the moon’s features did not last, but were replaced by Riccioli’s system (which used the names of famous astronomers and mathematicians). The only surviving term was mare (meaning sea), which is given to large dark plains. In the years 1652, 1661, 1672, and 1677, he discovered four comets and from this, suggested the theory of the revolution of these bodies in parabolic patterns around the sun. This idea was published in Cometographia in 1668. He also introduced the use of the vernier scale.

In a malicious fire on the 26th of September 1679, all of his instruments, books, and his observatory were destroyed. Though, he quickly repaired the damages, and was able to view the great comet of December 1680. His health deteriorated, and he later died from the shock of the fire on the 28th of January 1687, the day of his 76th birthday. After his death in 1687, his wife continued to publish many of his works.

Other works published by Hevelius include his 1690 publication of Prodromus Astronomiae, a catalogue of 1564 stars which contains Firmamentum sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, a famous collection of 50 excellent pictures of constellations. Hevelius gave names to eleven constellations, seven of which are still in use. He measured atmospheric refraction and compiled important observations of the planets, the penumbra of sunspots, and the bright regions of the Sun’s surface, for which he gave the name faculae, which is still used today.

Works Cited
"Johannes Hevelius." Adler Planetarium. 08 Oct. 2007 .
Van Helden, Al. "Johannes Hevelius." The Galileo Project. 1995. Rice University. 08 Oct. 2007 .

APOD 1.7

Venus is now being enjoyed by early risers as the morning star near the eastern horizon. Venus can be seen in the upper right hand corner in this predawn skyview photograph. The moon, in the middle, is seen as a crescent, and in the bottom left hand corner is Saturn. If you were to hold your fist at arms length, both planets and the moon would easily be covered in this 5 degree wide field. Sunlight reflected from Earth's dayside, Earthshine, shows many features on the lunar nightside. If you were to look closely, Titan, Saturn's largest moon, can be seen as a pinpoint near Saturn. The tight triangle between Venus, Saturn, and Regulus (the alpha star in the constellation Leo (top)) look very impressive. This picture is truely impressive, especially because you can see so much. The moon itself also looked very incredible, with the Earthshine.

Observation 1.3

Date: October 11, 2007
Time: 7:30 to 9:00
Place: Church off Clark RD
Sky Conditions: Clear skies
Instruments: Binoculars, Telescope

Planets: Jupiter, Venus

Noted Stars: Deneb, Vega, Altair, Antares, Arcturus, and Fomalhaut

Noted Constellations: Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, Serpens Cauda, Serpens Caput, Aquila, Lyra, Capricornus, Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Pegasus, Scutum, Corona Borealis, Scorpius, Sagitta, Delphinus, Andromeda, and Hercules

Binary Stars: Epsilon Lyrae (noted 2 different colors of 2 stars), Albireo

Deep Sky Objects/ M-objects: M8, M57, M27, M11, M13

Other: Four moon's of Jupiter (noted differnet colors of 2 moons)

I found this observation period very helpful and interesting. I enjoyed being able to see some of the M objects that we have been learning about in class. Also, seeing the different colors of Jupiters moons, and the apparent different colorings of 2 stars of the binary star Epsilon Lyrae(?). It helped to see all of these objects because I feel like they mean more by seeing them with my own eyes rather than just on paper and I can better commit them to memory.

APOD 1.6

About 20,000 light-years away from the sun lies NGC 3603, part of the nearby Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. To many astronomers, NGC 3603 is known as one of the Milky Way's largest star-forming regions. The open star cluster in the center contains thousands of stars, which likely formed only one or two million years ago, and are much more massive than our Sun. It is believed that NGC 3603 contains a good example of massive star clusters that may populate very distant starburst galaxies. Natal clouds, sculpted by energetic stellar radiation and winds, of glowing interstellar gas and obscuring dust surround the cluster. The image, which spans 17 light-years, was recorded by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. This picture is very amazing, the intensity and the color are incredible. Its hard to believe that this picture spans over 17 light-years, and that this picture of NGC 3603 is over 20,000 away from the sun.

Observation 1.2

The whole week of August 22nd thru 28th, the moon was clearly visible in the mornings and at night. Also, the first magnitude star Antares was visible. Jupiter was visible, low on the sky and close to the horizon. The moon was also visible; throughout the week, the moon seemed to progress from waning gibbous to full moon.

APOD 1.5

The dark area below the equator of the sun is a coronal hole- areas in the corona that are less dense and cooler than the surrounding areas, the solar magnetic field opens into interplanetary space. The picture, shown in false color, was taken on September 19th in ultravioletlight by the EIT instrument on board the space-based SOHO observatory. Coronal holes, studied in ultarviolet and x-ray light, are the source of high-speed solar winds. The solar winds streaming from this coronal hole caused colorful auroras on our planet, as seen by spaceweather watchers and astronomers from high altitudes.

Observation 1.1

Date- August 20th thru 25th

Planets- I was able to see Jupiter each night. Its location from the moon seemed to range anywhere from 5 degrees to 15 degrees away.

Stars- I was able to see Antares, which was located about 4 degrees South of Jupiter.

Other- I was also able to see Scorpius, which contains the star Antares. The moon seemed to shift each night, crossing the ecliptic in ceratin areas of the sky.

APOD 1.4

In this skyscape picture, the bright, hot, white supergiant star Deneb lies near the top. The picture spans 12 degrees across the northern end of Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is full of stars and vivid gas clouds along the Milky Way Galaxy. Extending from Deneb to the bottom center of the picture, the Northern Coal Sack Nebula is very dark. The North America Nebula, NGC 7000, and the Pelican Nebula, IC 5070, located in the upper left, produce a red glow. Deneb is the alpha star of Cygnus and is also known for its presence in two seperate asterisms- identifying the top of the Northern Cross and a vertex of of the Summer Triangle. I really liked this picture because could understand where it is located in the sky. We recently learned about the asterism Summer Triangle, which is located in the constellation Aquila meaning Eagle and contains the alpha star Altair.

APOD 1.3

Cepheus is a constellation which is in the middle of this telescopic image taken by Tony Hallas. NGC 7129, a reflection nebula (left) and NGC 7142, an open star cluster can also be seen. Both appear very close, but actually lie at very different distance. The dusty nebula NGC 7129 is is about 3000 light-years away, while the open cluster NGC 7142 is is about 6000 light-years away. The clumpy dust clouds in the foreground redden the light from NGC 7142, which makes astronomical studies of this cluster much more complicated. NGC 7142 is thought to be an older open star cluster, while NGC 7129 is only about 1 million years young. Despite all the dust, far off background galaxies can be seen in this colorful cosmic view. I really liked this picture because you can see the distinct degrees of difference between the nebula and cluster. You can also distincly see the appearance of red light coming from NGC 7142.

APOD 1.2

As seen from the South Pole, the moon was up for a continuous 14 days in August. During the lunar eclipse which occurred on August 28th, the moon circled a mere 10 degrees above the horizon. While taking this picture, Robert Schwarz encountered 2 problems. The minor problem was the blurred atmosphere, but the major problem was the air temperature of -90F. Due to this extreme temperature, the long exposure picture had to be taken through a slit in a window in a heated room. And even with the heat producing convection and further blurring, this incredible picture of the 4-hour long lunar eclipse sequence provided a different view from a unique location on Earth.

APOD 1.1

Robert Stephan took this picture of M33, a big spiral galaxy about 3 million light-years away. The streaks in the picture are of interferring satellite trails, which are usually cut out of the final picture. He chose not to cut this out because he realized that it was also a relatively rare sight. His picture shows the tail of an aircraft passing through his telescope's view. A navigational strobe light flashed across the tail at the perfect moment. It produced a brilliant and incredibly sharp image.