Biography 4

APOD 4.8

The following is a UV image of the sun. This ultraviolet image lets us see things that we normally can't, even if we did what we never should do, and looked at the sun directly. You can see both solar flares, and sunspots from this image. These flares are especially large, and may disrupt electronics on earth.

APOD 4.7

The following is a panoramic image, taken from earth. Despite the almost alien looking sky and terrain, this was taken in Iceland, as evidenced by the human in the photo.  This photo, which is the winner of the 2013 International Earth Sky Photo Contest, shows the arc of the Milky way, and the Andromedia galaxy. This shows that beautiful skies like this aren't only visible on low atmosphere alien planets.

Apod 4.6

The following is a moon time lapse image from western Australia  during an eclipse.  One should remember that for us, this is happening during our day time, as Australia is on the opposite side of the world.  As incredible as the eclipse is, while it was happening for them, it was night where we are.

Apod 4.5

The above image is the spiral galaxy M77. A whopping 47 million light years away, in the direction of the constellation Cetus, this galaxy reminds us of just how massive the universe is. Not only that, but when looking at this, we look back in time, 47 million years back in time to be specific. If this galaxy had life, and that life could look at earth from, they would see a planet completely devoid of civilization.  This shows just how massive, and insane the universe is.

APOD 4.4

The image shows the Orion constellation. This constellation gets this red hazy look from its nebulae.   For example, near Rigel, is the witch head nebula. As cosmic birthing grounds, these nebulae and cosmic wind slowly make new stars.

Apod 4.3

The following is an image taken from the space station, over North America. visible are several major cities, New York, Washington, etc. They are nicely sandwiched between two russian satellites docked to it.  This image shows how humans do have an impact of on the world. Even from space, you can view the lights and power of major population centers. T

APOD 4.2

The above is the black eye galaxy. The eye part is easy to see, it does indeed look like an eye, with its disk, and center pupil.  Black however, it is not, showing its stark contrast from the spotted blackness of space behind it.
About 17 million light years away, this galaxy is not alone. It is likely the result of two galaxies rotating in opposite directions, whom merged. Perhaps one of them got a black eye?

Apod 4.1

This image shows a comet flying over the night sky. At first glance, it might appear to be two comets, but in reality, it is one comet, that looks very similiar to M31, The andromedia galaxy, which it is nearby.
The image was taken at midnight, where all this was visible to the naked eye, in Sweden.

Edward Barnard Biography

     Edward was born in Nashville, Tennessee to a poor family. His father died, and he initially received no education. Eventually, he discovered two comets, began getting renown in his local town.

The astronomers of his local town saw this, and began to raise money. Collectively, they got enough money to send him to Vaunderbilt university. He never graduated, however, Vaunderbilt has awarded him an honorary degree.

     He has done asome significant work in astronomy, and with all types of astronomical objects. From the moons of Jupiter, to the spokes of Saturn, to the dark regions of the galaxy, Barnards work has spanned the spectrum. He started with just a small refractor telescope, and worked his way up. His community helped him, and got him the money to go to Vanderbilt University. Here he got access to better telescopes, along with a better education. Afterwards, he joined an observatory, and got access to his best telescopes, and made most of his discoveries. At Lick university, which he joined in 1887, he discovered, Saturns spokes, in 1889, spokes that run parallel to its rings. He discovered Jupiters fifth moon, and that the dark galaxy spots were gas, not empty. Later on, near the end of his life, he discovered a star, and cataloged nebula.

    Bernard discovered many things over his career, and has much named after him, from craters to stars. He had an honorary degree from Vaunderbilt, as despite his great discoveries later on, and obvious brilliance, he never graduated. Everything must come to an end however, and Bernard met his in 1923. He died in Wisconsin, but was brought back to his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, to be buried. However, his fame continued to grow after death, as his photos were published in very journals and texts.  

Wikipedia contributors. "Edward Emerson Barnard." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.

Darling, David. "Barnard, Edward Emerson." The Encyclopedia of Science..       <http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Barnard.html>.

"Barnard, Edward Emerson." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Apr. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Carey, Bill. "Astronomer Barnard was among Vanderbilt's first academic superstars."Vaunderbilt University Register [Nashville] 29 Oct 01, n. pag. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. <http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News/register/Oct29_01/story5.html>.

Apod 3.8

Comets are something that many people often hope to glimpse.  This shows a comet over Castle Hohenzollern, during sunset. The comet shown is comet PANSTARRS, known for its wide trail of dust. The comet fades initially, but will go higher after sunset.
Together, the comet, castle, and sunset form a fantastic image, that shows the wonder of the universe and astronomy.

Sources for Biography Edward Emerson Barnard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Emerson_Barnard

www.answers.com/topic/edward-emerson-barnard

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Barnard.html

www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Edward_Emerson_Barnard.aspx

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News/register/Oct29_01/story5.html

APOD 3.7

The above is a computer enhanced image of Mercury. The color differences would not normally be viewable with the human eye, but thanks to computer intervention separating the colors out, we can see them.  This image was taken by a satellite orbiting Mercury.  These colors indicate a lot about Mercury. Some of it, such as the dark area at the bottom, shows a ancient volcanic basin, that had long since dried up.  Others show minerals, chemicals, and topology. Overall, the fact that we can see all this from a mere photo is very cool.

Nebulas

Cats Eye Nebula

M2-9

APOD 3.5

The above is a self taken panorama of the mars rover curiosity. The picture was made by combining images from the Mahli and masthand, both cameras mounted on the rovers tall arm.  The MAHLI, designed for close shots, took the rover itself, while the normal masthand camera took the in the landscape. As such, neither the MAHLI nor Mastcam are visible in this image.  Despite this, the image is very impressive, albeit heavily fish eyed.
One can see how rocky mars is, and how it looks similar to a desert on earth.

APOD 3.4

The following shows Jupiter, with its moons. The moons cast shadows on the planets surface, visible as the two dots. Were you on Jupiter, it would appear as if an eclipse was occurring if you were in the shadows.
Additionally, the famous red spot is slowly moving around the planet to the right, and is just visible in this image.

Apod 3.2

Often, people focus on the big galaxies, with their vast spiral images. However, the small galaxies, like this one, NGC 68822, are also quite beautiful.  It is about 1.5 million light years away, in our local galaxy cluster, and just 7000 light years across.

It is full of young blue stars, hence its color.

Apod 3.1

The above is a long exposure photograph of a rocket launch. This shows off two very important tools for exploring space, a rocket, behind the trees, with the bright trail, and radio telescopes, in the foreground.

The rocket contains a data and tracking satellite.

APOD 3.3

The above image is a panorama taken on mars by the Opportunity. This rover has managed to survive for much longer than expected, it landed in 2004, with a life of three months, but is still functioning.

The image is a digital panorama, and thus, rather than ultra wide screen lense, is taken by getting multiple pictures and stitching them together, like many cell phone do, albeit, by professionals with much higher quality.

Additionally, the image has also been recolored to appear how a normal human would perceive it.

Apod 3.6

The image above is from the martian moon Phobos. It is the crater called Stickney Crater, and is a whole 9 kilometers across. That's half of the diameter of the moon, so the impact most likely came close to shattering the small moon.  While the gravity of this moon is very low, it does slowly pull rocks, gravel, and other debris down. However, raw material from the inner moon is still visible.  Named after Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall.

Observation December 9th

Time: 6-8

Location: Pineview

Sky: Clear

Instruments: Binoculars,  Telescopes, and Star book

Saw

Constellations: Summer Triangle, Pegasus, 

Planets: Jupiter, Venus

Other: The moon, a satellite

Observation November 18th

Time: 6-8

Location: Pineview

Sky: Clear

Instruments: Binoculars and Telescopes

Saw

Constellations: Summer Triangle, Pegasus, 

Planets: Jupiter, Venus

Other: The moon, a shooting star, a satellite 

2.8

This image was taken by the Hubble. About 200 thousand light years away, is this star cluster, NGC 602.

It is about 5 million year old star cluster, which is quite young is astronomical senses.

Many other galaxies are visible in the background.