APOD 4.7 (belated)

On a trip to Northern Norway, two brothers hoped to snap some quality pictures of auroras after there was an increase in solar activity.  Luckily they waited around just the right amount of time and caught this brilliant photograph. The duration of the aurora's appearance was merely a few minutes long, but this photograph will help spread its beauty. 

Godspeed,

Melanie

APOD 4.8

The Sky From Mauna Kea

On top of Hawaii's volcano, Mauna Kea, clear skies enabled this astounding photograph to be captured.  In the bottom left hand corner, another volcano is visible as well as the dark and thin Mauna Loa in the center. The green air glow visible in the center is credited to the molecules that were excited from the Sun's energy during the day.

Goodbye

Observation Post!

This never happens but I'm making an observation post.

I have been to a few stargazes over the past few months and haven't documented any of it! Let's see what I can remember. 

At the PV Astronomy night, I observed galaxies (which just looked like fuzzy patches), the Moon, many many constellations that Mr. Percival (Astrochap) generously pointed out with his insane red laser pointer. Although it was a bit cloudy that night, the wind allowed for the clouds to pass over and did give us time to observe most of the sky.  

At the local astronomers' stargaze over the weekend, I was able to observe through about eight or nine different telescopes! Most of the astronomers had their telescopes pointed at Jupiter (and its four moons), Mars, and the Moon.  I love seeing Jupiter through telescopes - even when the image is really tiny because you can still make out the colored bands across its surface.  Astrochap caught Maddy and myself towards the end and we reviewed the constellations briefly before leaving.  It was a night well spent.

Gudspud,

Spug

APOD 4.6

Across the Sun

Coronal mass ejections, plasma towers, solar filaments, and iodized hydrogen atoms are all key components in this telescopic capture (April 27th, 2015).  The solar filament seen in this image is estimated to be the same distance from the Earth to the Moon.  In the upper left corner, the plasma towers spotted are approximately reaching the Sun's edge.  !!! Amazing stuff.

Gxdspxxd,

Mxlxnxx  

APOD 4.3 (belated)

Extended Gas in Active Galaxies

Images taken by the Hubble Telescope display the Hanny Voorwerpjes in a collection of images.  It is clear that the HV is similar in size to that of the Milky Way Galaxy.  The green colors derive from the ionized gas being released by the galaxy.

Godsp33d,

M31@n13

APOD 4.5

Total Solar Eclipse Over Svalbard

In Svalbard, Norway, a group of onlookers observe the total solar eclipse occurrence that happened on 4/20/15.  This photograph was created by taking an image of the sky every 3 minutes and afterwards combining them all into one image with the same foreground.  This allows the viewer to see the entire process of the eclipse in one photograph. Since the moon completely covered the sun during this process, it appears to be night time when it is actually day time! It was an event like this that had a huge impact on Mr. Percival's life - therefore I am looking forward to the 2017 eclipse that will be visible from the US. I can't wait.

Gudspeed,

Spugood

APOD 4.4

                                                   Milky Way over Erupting Volcano 

Near the top of the Guatemalan volcano, Santa Maria, on February 28th, 2015, this photographer was able to capture the Milky Way galaxy over the nearby volcanoes and mountains of Guatemala. The featured volcanoes are from the Central America Volcanic Arc. The volcano that's erupting in the picture is called Fuego.  

Gdspd,

Mln

APOD 4.20

A Flag Shaped Aurora Over Sweden

50 km tall, this astounding aurora displayed itself in the night sky of Sweden on March 30, 2015. (Image credit goes to Mia Stålnacke) Caused by coronal mass ejection, the aurora shows multiple different colors of light that happen to appear in the shape and pattern of a flag.  Completely random chances of getting a familiar shape or pattern!

Godspeed,

Melanie

APOD 4.1

Naked Eye Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 

This stellar explosion is the most visible nova from Earth.

APOD 3.7

Aurora in the Backyard

Taken on the night of March 17th in a town in Sweden, these auroral lights became visible to the Swedish people from their very own backyards.  It has been decided that these lights were visible due to the strong geomagnetic storm of the solar cycle.  This is the Carpe Noctem Observatory.

Godspeed,

Melanie

research

Neutronization - The process, such as within a collapsing star, in which protons and electrons fuse to form neutrons and release neutrinos

Chandrasekhar mass - The Chandrasekhar limit is the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf star.

Stellar nucleosynthesis is the process by which the natural abundances of the chemical elements within stars vary due to nuclear fusion reactions in the cores and overlying mantles of stars. Stars are said to evolve (age) with changes in the abundances of the elements within.

Neutron capture - is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus.

Nova- explosion of a white dwarf, causes a brightening of the star, occur on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system, companion star can pull mass if they are in close proximity; recurring nova has multiple outbursts

Supernova- stellar explosion that outshines the entire galaxy; radiates as much energy as the entire Sun’s lifespan; expels the stars material; triggered by re-ignition of nuclear fusion in a degenerate star or by gravitational collapse of the core of a massive star

Photodisintegration- high energy gamma ray is absorbed by an atomic nucleus resulting in an excited nucleus that immediately decays by emitting a subatomic particle; reverse of nuclear fusion; endothermic for elements lighter than iron and exothermic for heavier ones

APOD 3.7

Cometary Globule CG4

Floating at around 1300 light years from Earth, near the constellation Puppis, cometary globule CG4 is estimated to be much larger than our solar system,  This area in space is capable of forming multiple stars like our sun.  The dusty cloud formation, CG4, is typically described as "unusually menacing" but still appealing in my opinion. 

Godspeed,

Melanie

Maria Mitchell Biography

Maria Mitchell

Maria Mitchell, born in Nantucket, Massachusetts in 1818, was one of the first US born and female astronomers in history.  Living in an area composed mostly of Quakers and independent individuals, Mitchell grew up in an environment where gender equality was strongly encouraged.  Her parents insisted she received the same education as her siblings, which in the long run resulted in her name going down in history.  

Mitchell grew up in essentially the perfect environment to raise her as the astronomer she became.  Her father was the principal of a school he founded when Mitchell was about eleven years old.  This proved to become very convenient for Mitchell's education since she was his teaching assistant in addition to having an intellectual father.  Her father taught her astronomy with the help of his own telescope and even taught her how to calculate the moment of an annular eclipse. On October 1, 1847 at 10:30 PM, Mitchell discovered Miss Mitchell's Comet by using a telescope.

In turn of her comet discovery, Mitchell received a reward from the King of Denmark.  Telescopic comets such as Miss Mitchell's Comet were almost never discovered independently, which made her discovery even more impressive.  Additionally, she was the first female chosen for Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1848) and for the American Association for the Advancement of (1850).  Later on, she worked to calculate a table of the positions of Venus.  

In the year of 1865, Mitchell was the first person to be appointed to the staff of Vassar College when she was declared to be the astronomy professor and was put in charge of the observatory there.

     

The Maria Mitchell observatory in Nantucket's primary goal is to maintain the sciences in the area around it.  It not only operates as the observatory, but also as a Natural History Museum and Maria Mitchell's Home Museum.  Another honor she received was being placed in the US' Women's Hall of Fame.  Additionally, in honor of her 195th birthday, Google's home page displayed an image (a doodle for google) of Mitchell observing the sky and advertised her as the first female pro-astronomer in the US.  

Mitchell has without a doubt impacted history, especially due to her unique societal views keeping in mind the time period she lived in. Not only was she an outstanding and intelligent astronomer, but she deviated from the social norm at the time by being a female intellectual and boycotted slavery.  Mitchell was way ahead of her time, and that certainly isn't a negative characteristic in this case.

Nebulae Mass Post

Cat's Eye Nebula

-bright planetary nebula

-found in constellation Draco

-magnitude of 8.1

-3000 light years from earth

-diameter of about 1000 light years

Helix Nebula

-Aquarius

-700 light years from earth

-"the eye of the god"

-diameter is undetermined

Eskimo Nebula

-aka clownface nebula/caldwell 39

-bipolar

-double shell

-2870 light years away

-Gemini

-radius of .34 light years

Necklace Nebula

-2 light years diameter

-15,000 light years from earth

-Sagitta

Ring Nebula

-M57

-Lyra

-Formed when a red giant released ionized gas

-2,300 light years from earth

-radius of 1.3 light years

Lemon Slice Nebula

-4500 light years from earth

-camelopardalis

-relatively young and small

-diameter of .4 light years

Dumbbell Nebula

-discovered by charles messier

-vulpecula

-1360 light years from earth

-diameter of 8 arcminutes

-contains knots (central region contains dark patterns)

Butterfly Nebula

-twin jet nebula

-butterfly wings nebula

-discovered in 1947

-2100 light years away

-ophiuchus

-radius of .7 light years

Owl Nebula

-2030 light years away

-ursa major

-M97

-radius .91 light years

-8000 years old

Red Spider Nebula

-near the heart of the milky way

-Sagittarius

-between 3000 and 8000 miles from earth

-unknown radius/diameter

APOD 3.6

The Milky Way Over Arizona Toadstools

The introduction posed by APOD to the summary regarding this photograph really caught my interest.  In this photograph, taken in Arizona, what is older: the rock formations or the sky above? In most instances rocks are far more ancient, but by merely even seeing the galaxy and the stars from the Milky Way, you are looking directly into history.  The light that you see is millions of years old but just now reaching us due to the insane distance between them and us.  

Godspeed,

Melanie

Maria Mitchell - Sources

"About Maria Mitchell." Maria Mitchell Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.

"Maria Mitchell." Maria Mitchell. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.

"This Month in Physics History." : Maria Mitchell Discovers a Comet. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.

APOD 3.5

Galaxy M106

At the center of this complex galaxy one can find swirling gases, stars, and dust.  It is thought to be that the matter at the center is falling into a black hole.  The core's bright and endearing colors originate from the radio waves and X-rays that are emitted.  Estimated to be about 23.5 million light years away, the M106 galaxy's 60 thousand light year wide appearance can be spotted through a telescope when looking at the constellation Hunting Dogs. 

Until next time,

Mela-knee

APOD 3.4

Aurora on Ice

Taken from a beach in southeast Iceland, this photograph (fisheye style) displays glacial chunks of ice underneath the aurora-filled sky above,  Also visible in this image is Jupiter - the bright object to the left of the moon.  I will be seeing the Aurora - northern lights - hopefully from Alaska on February 6, 2023 and preferably many more times! 

Godspeed,

Sunflower

Links!

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-stellar-nursery.htm

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2409.html#.VNzRZebF-So

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

APOD 3.3

Stars, Sprites, Clouds, Auroras 

This photograph (taken in May of 2013) is astounding to look at by itself and even more astounding when you are aware of what the photograph consists of.  This image features stars from the Milky Way galaxy, an aurora, red lightning sprites, and thunderclouds in addition to the aesthetically pleasing horizon line and simple landscape (the composition of the photo is also exceptional).  It's amazing that the photo captures lightning sprites and an aurora in the same image - this is very rare.  This is thought to potentially be the first colored photograph of lightning sprites and an aurora in the same image.  

Godspeed,

Spaghetti

APOD 3.2

Part I: Comet Lovejoy

January 21st, a shot of the complex ion tail of Comet Lovejoy

From recent observations of the now-visible Comet Lovejoy, we now know that the tail is composed of ionized gas (energized by UV light from the Sun).  The green tint at the head of the comet and the blue tint in other regions are caused by the recombining of the carbon molecules in the comet. 

January 22, Launch to Lovejoy

On January 20th an Atlas V rocket carrying a US satellite heads toward the visible and shining green comet.  Among the stars in this image, one can identify the star Sirius, Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, the Pleiades star cluster, and much much more.  

January 28th, Comet Lovejoy in the night sky

The image you see above was taken near Paulau village in Spain about two weeks ago.  Featured in this image one can find numerous constellations (ex: Orion), bright stars (Rigel, Betelgeuse, the Pleides star cluster), and countless other astronomical objects (the Rosette Nebula, Orion Nebula, M35, Barnard's Loop, etc,). A truly amazing photograph that captures a good chunk of the night sky.  

Part II: The Milky Way Galaxy Over Seven Strong Men Rock Formation

APOD 3.1

The Hunter, the Bull, and Lovejoy

This image, taken on January 12, 2015, displays Comet Lovejoy sweeping across the starry sky - specifically the constellation Taurus (the Bull). You can spot Lovejoy on the right hand side, it almost looks like it was shot from Orion's bow.  Note the greenish tint that is possesses. 

Here's a highlighted view of the comet:

Hoping to spot this comet within the next few days! 

Godspeed,

M'lonie

APOD 2.8

100 Million Stars in the Andromeda Galaxy

(Image credit goes to NASA)

The image you see above is considered the largest image ever taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.  It features the spiral of the Andromeda Galaxy and the millions of stars within.  Despite the enormity of what is pictured, only one third of the galaxy is shown(!). Additionally, the estimated 100 million stars that are visible in the picture are only foreground stars! And although it's deceiving, most of the bright stars that you see in this image are actually from the Milky Way.  

Something on my bucket list is to view galaxies like this someday. 

Godspeed,

Melanie

Charles Messier Biography

Born in Badonviller, France in June of 1730, Charles Messier grew up to become one of the most noted French astronomers for his publication of a catalogue for nebulae and star clusters (aka the Messier Objects). This catalogue served an important role for others who studied comets - "comet hunters"-, nebulae, or star clusters.  Since Messier himself was a comet hunter, this catalogue was composed along his journey.  While searching for comets, he would come across these nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, and other objects in the night sky.  But these objects were just in the way of the comets he was truly in search of.  Unfortunately he would often mistake the initial sight of these objects as comets and he was growing tired of it, so he began the list to avoid wasting any future time.  Messier did not compile this list entirely on his own, but along with the help of a friend of his, Pierre Mechain, who is credited for around twenty of the Messier Objects.  Most observations for the Messier Objects catalogue took place in Paris, France, as this is where Messier spent the majority of his life.  He observed the night sky with a four inch refracting telescope.  The first publication of his list in 1774 contained only fourty five objects (Messier is only credited for discovering seventeen of these).  The final edition of the list was published seven years later in 1781 and it was comprised of 103 objects.  After the final publication, Messier/Mechain had discovered a few more objects (up until M110) which are currently accepted by modern astronomers as official Messier Objects.  As a tribute for Messier's outstanding work, a crater on the Moon has been named after him in addition to asteroid 7359 Messier being named after him.  

Messier's interest and admiration for astronomy began when he was only fourteen.  He witnessed the Great Comet of 1744 (a six tailed comet) and when he was eighteen he witnessed a solar eclipse that was visible from his area.  The Great Comet was so apalling because of it's insane apparent magnitude of -7.  

In 1751 Messier began his studies under another French astronomer, Joseph Nicolas Delisle, who taught Messier to keep careful documentation of his observations.  Messier's first documented observation was at the age o 23 in 1753 when he recorded the transit of Mercury (when Mercury is between the Sun and the Earth and appears to be a little black dot in front of the Sun).  

Examples of the Messier Object system include the "M(essier) Object" column in our constellation quizzes.  Vulpecula the Fox has M27 which is the Dumbbell Nebula.  Cassiopea has M103, a cluster of stars.  With 110 M objects out there, there are so many constellations that contain them.  

Messier's contributions to astronomy have no doubt been phenomenal.