APOD 3.2

This picture "Mars Opposition 2010" is a very odd choice by me for my APOD blog, given my track record with picture selections. Usually I pick a picture based on the fact that it looks cool, intriguing, or just weird. But this picture of the planet Mars, is just a very bland one that would not stand out from a crowd at all. However it is the article that goes along with the picture, and events that have taken place recently that caused me to choose it for my blog subject. It just so happens that we were told by our teacher, Mr. Percival, to look out for Mars in the night sky, as it would be very bright and visible due to it being at opposition. Not only did I learn this, but also while reading the article and browsing the relevant links within, I learned a very interesting tidbit about this astronomical event. When Mars is at opposition, we as humans usually seize the opportunity and launch a probe or object to go and visit or observe Mars. However this is the first time since 1994 that we have not launched ANYTHING at this very opportune moment to observe Mars.

APOD 3.1

This picture "Millennium Solar Eclipse", is a very peculiar one when one first looks at it. It appears to be a giant golden ring in the sky, and a very eye-catching one at that. Upon further reading though I discovered that this is actually a picture of an annular solar eclipse. This might seem rather ordinary, but this specific eclipse lasted for 11 minutes and 8 seconds in its peak area, and will be the longest one for another 1,000 years. As I perused the relevant links within this article, I learned something as to why the edges of the 'ring' appear grainy and rough. This is because the image was taken through a filter that only transmits light from hydrogen atoms, which subsequently transmitted the convection in the Sun's atmosphere.

APOD 2.8

This picture, "A Spherule from the Earth's Moon" is one that is rather weird. It is abnormal due to the fact that it is not an astronomy picture that I would normally select to blog about. The picture itself is very dull and not interesting at all, just picturing a plain grey, pockmarked Moon. My true interest in the picture comes from what I DIDN'T know about the picture when I first viewed it. I had no clue what a 'spherule' might be, and why there would be one on the Moon. I now know that this is actually just a fancy word for 'sphere'. The sphere on the Moon that is of interes, is one made of glass that was formed when meteorite struck the Moon's surface. According to the links that I followed within the article, astronomers can actually use these spheres for a very valuable purpose. They can date and measure the age of craters that are present on the Moon.

APOD 2.7

This picture, "Scenes from Two Hemispheres" is one that interest me greatly for several reasons. First off, I am curious as to how the 'night sky' picture taken on the left, appears to actually occur during the day with a bright blue sky. I was also intrigued however by the fact that constellations when viewed from different (North or South) hemispheres will appear upside down or right side up, depending upon where one is viewing the sky from. And also it is pretty weird to think about the fact that even halfway around the world, two people can be looking at exactly the same night sky and astronomical objects. While perusing the embedded links, I learned a bit more about the constellation Orion, which is in the night sky pictured. I was surprised to find out that the stars in Orion's 'Belt' are stars which I have never heard of before. I was expecting them to be very widely known stars that I would know already.

APOD 2.6

This picture, "A Roll Cloud Over Uruguay" is incredibly interesting to me for one specific reason. This is that cylindrical shaped clouds like this, are very rare and unique to see in the sky. The conditions that are required to create such a phenomenon are quite rare, and those who have the privilege to witness their occurrence should count themselves lucky. While browsing this article I learned several things which I found particularly interesting. First and foremost is that roll clouds are very much like Morning Glory which are famous for their appearance over Australia, in that they are detached from their parent cumulonimbus formation. Also I learned that although these clouds do look a lot like stormy clouds, they are in no way related with the formation of tornadoes.

Astronomer Biography: Giovanni Amici

The life of Giovanni Amici may not be as glamorous or as widely publicized as such Astronomers as Coppernicus, Galileo, or Kepler, but rest assured that his impact on the realm of Astronomy was as significant and notable as any of the ‘Greats’. Born Giovanni Battista Amici in on March 25th of 1786, his life began in Modena, Italy. Once he was old enough, he had the opportunity to study at Bologna, which is one of the oldest universities in the entire world. He focused his studies mainly on mathematics at the time, and soon after finishing his tutelage at Bologna, he took up a job as a mathematics professor in Modena. This may sound like a rather humble job for one who would come to have such a great impact on the Astronomy world, but he soon was recruited to be the inspector general of studies for the Italian duchy. His studying here and later as the director of a Florence observatory would form that foundation for many of his most well-known contributions to Astronomy.
It is rather unfortunate that a man such as Giovanni Amici is so unheard of by most of the population when it comes to recognizing him for his achievements. Few would know it, but Amici was one of the leading contributors to the perfection and refinement of the mirrors and surfaces in reflecting telescopes. This also led him to become an expert on the construction and makeup of microscopes, and was another Astronomical tool which he lent his considerable knowledge and expertise to. Most interesting of his contributions though would have to be the dipleidoscope, which he created on his own in the early 19th century. This creation of his is used to determine when it is exactly noon time, and can perform this feat to a closeness of 10 seconds. The instrument itself is very simple, comprising only a prism and telescope that make two images of the Sun. When these images are directly on top of one another, the local time is precisely noon. Clearly Amici was a very clever man who deserves much more recognition for his accomplishments that he is credited with in this modern age. However on the bright side of this lack of recognition, there is a crater on the Moon that is named after him, which is fittingly called ‘Amici’. This recognition is most likely due to the fact that Amici was a very astute observer of the heavens, specifically double stars, Jupiter’s moons, and the Sun. Overall though, Mr. Amici is beyond due for more remuneration for his great contributions to the world of Astronomy.

Nightly Observations 2.2

In the past several weeks over Winter Break and this week, the celestial sphere has been surprisingly clear and good for observation. The cold weather and lack of rain or lots of cloud cover has created a situation that is quite ideal for astronomical observation. Even on nights when there are clouds and the light pollution is heavy though, there are two very distinctive celestial objects that I can see every night. First and most recognizable is the constellation Orion, whose belt is clearly visible away to the Southeast every night. There is also another very bright star in the Southeast, a bit further up and more South than Orion. I can not precisely identify what star this might be unfortunately, but it is a bright one. Also of note; over the Winter Break on New Year's Eve, I had the luck and privilege to glimpse a phenomenon that I have never before seen in my life. It appeared to be a very large halo ring around the full Moon that night. I later discovered from my all-knowing Astronomy teacher, that this was caused by atmospheric and light interactions with ice crystals in the sky that night. This is by far the coolest thing that I have ever seen in the sky, in my life I would have to say.