Nightly Observations: 4.1

The night sky of late, has been rather dismal for viewing the celestial objects above. For some reason, the weather has just been quite foggy and cloudy a lot, which makes viewing the sky very hard. This toughness in viewing the sky, is further exacerbated by the fact that this month we have not been given any Evening Sky Maps, which would aid me in identifying the celestial objects which I see overhead. Thus, the depth and intelligence of my observations is severely hindered. Nonetheless I shall make do! The Moon itself recently, has been extremely bright and clear, especially considering that it is approaching its fullest phase. The brightness is a sharp contrast to the number of rather dull stars that are currently visible. While I had heard that the Spring sky is the dullest of all the seasons, there are definitely still many stars to see and look at, and which would surely be of great interest, were I able to identify them. I will note that there are mostly stars that appear to be blue, while there is one overhead that is reddish. This may be a planet overhead, and just normal stars that are blue.

Astronomy Cast: Constellations

This Astronomy Cast discussed the 88 constellations identified so far. In astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. It is also known as a pattern formed by prominent stars within apparent close proximity to one another. A simple definition is a group of celestial bodies, usually stars, which form a pattern in the sky. A star pattern that is not officially classed as a constellation is an asterism. These are all things were are learning in our Astronomy class so it was interesting seeing how much I was familiar with. One of the most commonly known asterisms is the Big Dipper, which is part of the constellation Ursa Major, or Big Bear. Another famous constellation is Orion, the hunter. Most people can point out Orion's belt in the sky even if they aren't aware it's a constellation. The two major first magnitude stars of Orion are Rigel and Betelgeuse. The constellations are divided into four seasons -- Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn because certain constellations are only visible in the sky certain times of the year depending on the Earth's tilt on its axis and its location in orbit. However, there are some constellations which are circumpolar, meaning they are by the North Pole so are visible all year round. Some of these circumpolar constellations include Cepheus -- The King, Cassiopeia -- The Queen and Perseus -- The Hero. Also, all of the star signs we are familiar with in astrology (eg. Aquarius, Sagittarius) are all constellations under the category "zodiacal." It's so interesting to see how many modern words and names are derived from asterisms, stars, or constellations. One that stuck out to me the most were that Sirius and Bellatrix are both stars and are both characters in the Harry Potter series.

APOD 4.3

This picture, "Venus, Mercury, and Moon" are quite cool in the elements of these three celestial objects that they capture. They track the movement of the planets Venus, which is on the left, and Mercury, which is on the right. The pictures are really great, because often we forget that almost all of the celestial objects are in constant motion of some form, but it is too minuscule to observe with the naked eye. While perusing the relevant links in the article I also found several other APOD pictures that are of a similar content. They are a composition of pictures taken over several days, which track the movement of planets such as Venus and Mercury across the sky.

Astronomer Biography: Eugene Parker

Eugene Parker was born on June 10th, in 1927 and is still alive today, unlike most of the Astronomers we have studied this year!. He is an American solar astrophysicist who received his B.S. degree in physics from Michigan State University in 1948 and Ph.D., from Caltech in 1951. He developed, in the mid 1950s, the theory of the supersonic solar wind, and for predicting the Parker spiral shape of the solar magnetic field in the outer solar system. In 1987, Parker proposed that the solar corona might be heated by myriad tiny "micro-flares", miniature solar flares that occur all over the surface of the Sun.
Parker spent four years at the University of Utah and, since 1955, has been at the University of Chicago, where he has held positions in the physics department, the astronomy and astrophysics department, and the Enrico Fermi Institute. He is the leading authority on the solar wind and the effects of magnetic fields in the heliosphere. His work has greatly increased understanding of the solar corona, the solar wind, the magnetic fields of both earth and sun, and their complex electromagnetic interactions. The theoretical models which he developed in part by looking at comet tails have in recent years been confirmed by spacecraft. His books, especially Cosmical Magnetic Fields, have educated generations of investigators. His most recent book includes the effects of magnetic fields of planets, stars, and galaxies on X-ray emissions. He also wrote about the dangers of space radiation for future interplanetary missions.In 1967, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and as of early 2005 he is still engaged in active research at the University of Chicago. His daughter and son-in-law are both faculty members at Michigan State University.

APOD 4.2

This picture, "NGC:4561 The Umbrella Galaxy" is very pleasing to the eye when one first beholds it. It is particularly applicable to class of late, due to the fact that it is a galaxy, which we have been studying of late. We even did an exercise where we identified galaxies, and I would identify this galaxy as a tightly wound spiral galaxy with many arms. It is also quite interesting, because it deals with a constellation which we will be studying soon, Coma Bernices. It is interesting in that the galaxy,as the name would suggest, has an 'umbrella' around it which baffles many Astronomers. While perusing the relevant links, I learned that this umbrella is actually a collection of tidal star streams.

APOD 4.1

This picture, "Venus and Mercury in the West" is quite, 'picturesque' one might say. The picture depicts a perfect artistic composition of a windmill on the left hand side of the picture. The old style windmill stands in a sharp contrast to the far away and mysterious planets of Venus and Mercury. This picture specifically applies to what we have been doing in class lately, in that in class in the past weeks, we have been discussing the relative positions of several planets which are present in the morning sky lately. Also while perusing the relevant article here, I learned that the planet Mercury is quite rare in the sky, because it is often lost in the glare of the sun.