Astronomy Observation Log 2 (Astronomy Podcast EP 133: Optical Astronomy)

Optical astronomy is essentially the branch of astronomy in which we use telescopes (commonly reflecting or refracting telescopes) to observe celestial bodies. It is still the most "cherished" branch of astronomy, and was essentially the only kind there was until the last century.

One of the interesting things discussed is how the eye collects photons, and can use up certain chemicals after having gazed at an overly bright object. Because optics and opthalmology fascinate me, I liked hearing from the podcast on optical astronomy all the information that related to these topics.

Everything absorbs some colors and reflects others. The color that an object glows depends on two main things. Its temperature, and the way the chemical sensitivities of our eyes take in various mixtures of photons.

A little over half the podcast was about optics, with some ties to the glow of distant planets and the color of the sun, but later on they began to bring about more discussion on these points relating to astronomy.

Oxygen is excited to a specific temperature in different areas of a nebula, which affects the color it gives off. The less collisions of the oxygen molecules that are happening the fuzzier the vision of these bodies will be. Specific elements with specific electron transmissions are also what send color. Honestly, all the different ways we receive color and the different effects of chemical happenings on our eyes confuses me very much.

The atmosphere presents the biggest challenge when we are observing bodies in space. Hot and cold pockets are like lenses changing the path of traveling temperatures which come off as light. That is only one of the ways our atmosphere poses a challenge, especially when the bulk of us use fairly amateur telescopes to capture light.

APOD 1.5- Over Corona Australis

NASA's featured astronomy picture for September 27, 2012 was a shot of giant wafts of cosmic dust, along with numerous tiny stars, over the constellation of Corona Australis. Normally I have great trouble in identifying the series of stars that compose a constellation, especially when there are so many other bright objects in the sky from the Milky Way galaxy, but I can easily distinguish those that outline the "Southern Crown." The dark, thick part of the dust cloud is presumed to stretch for about eight light-years. The stunning bright blue spots are actually reflection nebulae, the light coming from hot stars reflected onto the dust.

Francesco Grimaldi - Bibliography Listings

Resources for Francesco Grimaldi Biography:

Hall, A. R. "Beyond the Fringe: Diffraction as Seen by Grimaldi, Fabri, Hooke and Newton." Notes 

and Records of the Royal Society 44.1 (1990): 13-23. JSTOR. Web.

"Grimaldi, Francesco Maria." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 27 Sep. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com> Web.

"Francesco M. Grimaldi, S.J. (1613 to 1663) and His Diffraction of Light." Francesco M. Grimaldi, S.J. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/grimaldi.htm>.

O'Connor, J. J., and E. F. Robertson. "Francesco Maria Grimaldi." Grimaldi Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Grimaldi.html>.

APOD 1.4 - The Pencil Nebula

My favorite objects in space are nebulas, and through NASA's astronomy picture of the day I discovered yet another - the Pencil Nebula, which is included in the New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars as number 2736. It is 800 light-years away and a small part of the very large Vela supernova remnant. The nebula itself is from a star that exploded presumably about 11,000 years ago. Originally these visible, billowous salmon-colored ripples moved at very high speeds, but they have come to slow considerably, sweeping up interstellar gas in the process.

APOD 1.3- Ring Nebula

The featured picture is not actually a photograph of the Ring Nebula (found in the constellation Lyra), but a sketch done by Frédéric Burgeot. Though it was done beneath the eyepiece of an excellent 40-in. reflecting telescope.

The Ring Nebula, about one light-year across, consists of wavelike, intense ultraviolet layers radiating off of a dying star. The reddish color in the outer rings comes from the ionized hydrogen.

Astronomy Observation Log #1

Date: September 15, 2012
Time: 11:00 PM-12:00 AM
Place: Osprey, FL
Sky conditions: New moon; many scattered clouds but a fairly clear sky.

Instruments used: Naked eye, Starwalk Application

Planets: Found Venus

Bright stars noted: Formalhaut, in Piscis Austrinus. Altair of the Summer Triangle

Constellations noted: Corona Australis, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Aquarius, Capricornus, Pisces, Piscis Austrinus, Cetus, Microscopium

Coincidence or Intention?

I had been wondering what constellation might have served as inspiration for Vincent Van Gogh's immortal painting Starry Night. I found a website, that interestingly enough, reveals the very strong similarities between the constellation of the Ram, Aries, and the placement of the bright stars of Starry Night.
http://www.vggallery.com/forum/forum_18a.htm

APOD 1.2: Perseid Meteor over Albrechtsberg Castle

The picture, taken by SebastianVoltmer, shows a bright descending meteor from the yearly perseid meteor shower. Albrechtsberg Castle in Austria, located on the northern bank of the river Peilach and near the town of Melk, is an excellent location to view these annual meteor showers from, along with other night-sky beauties. On August 12, northern summer constellations such as Aquarius, Aquila, and Delphinus could be viewed. The trail of the meteor (entering Earth's atmosphere at 60 km per second as dust grains from the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet) gesticulates to the constellation Perseus.

Sept. 2 2012 NASA APOD 1.1 :RBSP Night Launch

The elegant stream of incandescent light in NASA's featured picture from September 2 denotes the path taken by an Atlas V rocket (an expendable launch system) last Thursday morning over Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The long camera exposure allows us to see this composite of two composures.

NASA's twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSPs) are currently in separate orbits within the forbidding Van Allen radiation belts, their mission being to explore the dynamic conditions of these belts. Most spacecraft vehicles avoid these fiery radiation belts.

Photo by Mike Killian

Once in a Blue Moon

Throughout my writings and texts and diary entries, the phrase "once in a blue moon" is commonly found, as it is an expression I used to be very fond of reiterating.

Last night, there was a blue moon. Sadly, it was not actually blue. Yet its appearance marked a night of importance for some, as it was the second full moon of August.

The phenomenon of two full moons in one month occurs about every three years - while it is not as rare an occurrence as the old proverb might have denoted, it is still something that many people take note of and something that various cultures have created names for.

Neil Armstrong's family asks that you appreciate the full moon and "give him a wink" the next time you walk out on a clear night and glance up at our very own natural satellite.

The information I attained, and the wonderful pictures from around the world of last night's moon come from:

 http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/31/13595968-blue-moon-shines-around-the-world?chromedomain=cosmiclog&lite