Godspeed: March 2015

Friday, March 27, 2015

APOD 4.1

Naked Eye Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download
the highest resolution version available.

This stellar explosion is the most visible nova from Earth.

Friday, March 20, 2015

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

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

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

Friday, March 6, 2015

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

Thursday, March 5, 2015

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 Association's Loines Observatory.

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.
Maria Mitchell Google doodle

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.