APOD 1.5

Equinox: The Sun from Solstice to Solstice

On September 22nd it was the Autumnal Equinox, a time when the Sun hasd completed a full cycle and the day and night are equal. This only happens twice a year, once now and then again for the Summer equinox. An Equinox occurs between two solstices, between the summer solstice and the winter solstice. These are both important days for the astronomical world because it only happens twice a year, and they can take advantage to study the Sun's patterns. If you take pictures and compare them to past years this is what happens, and one can see how the earth and sun are changing. This can also help predict the seasons, it is a very important day of the year.

James Bradley Biography sources

Connor Boles                                                                                                                       Boles 1

Mr. Percival

Astronomy

26 Sept. 2012

                                                                         Works Cited

Hawkins, Gerald S. "James Bradley (English Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia

 Britannica, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76818/James-

Bradley>.


"James Bradley." James Bradley. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.

 <http://www.nndb.com/people/130/000102821>.


Stratford, Joseph. Gloucestershire Biographical Notes. Gloucester: "Journal" Office, 1887. Print.

APOD 1.4

A Solar Filament Erupts:
In between sunspots the plasma flowing can either collapse or explode. Often the plasma collapses, but this is a rare event where it exploded. It is impossible to predict when one of these will occur and even if it will occur, due mainly to the ever changing magnetic field of the sun. As the filament exploded it sent ions and electrons outward, some of them hitting Earth approximately 3 days later. When they hit it impacted the Earth's magnetosphere, causing visible aurora, much more than the norm that we usually experience. There is an active region on the sun where these occur, although frequently changing. This is the beginning of a solar maximum that will impact us for the next two years.

APOD 1.3

When looking at the sky, just 2 degrees within the constellation Cygnus, the Cocoon Nebula is visible. The interstellar dust clouds stand out from the hundreds of thousands of stars visible, all bright, colorful, almost magical. The nebula is about 4,000 light years from ours, occupying about 15 light years across, the nebular glow from the middle still shines brightly. The clouds are comprised of hundreds of different colors, powered by all the stars residing in the nebula, making it quite a sight. The only hint of the molecular clouds are the dust clouds surrounding the edges of it. The stars hidden by these dust clouds are visible with infrared cameras, which shows how many stars really are in this mysterious nebula.

Copernican Revolution

Contributors and their contributions:

Nicolaus Copernicus: Proved Earth does not have to be the geometric center of the systrem for the heavens to move as they do. He initiated the revolution but was not able to contribute much more and submit irrefutable evidence to prove that his competition, Ptolemy, was incorrect. He had the heliocentric model which did later prove to be correct, although not proven in his lifetime.

Tycho Brache: He proposed a system, the Tychonic system, that was a compromise between the geocentric and heliocentric theories. It showed that the objects in the heavens were mathematical devices rather than just objects floating in space. He also made many observations that paved the way for Johannes Kepler to become successful with his laws of planetary motion. The great comet of 1577 was a big help to his work and helped proved his theories.

Johannes Kepler: This was a modern model of the heliocentric model proposed by Copernicus. Copernicus formulated the model making the orbits around the sun circles, which was inaccurate. Kepler made the orbits ellipses rather than circles, and his theory is mostly accurate today. He was greatly helped by Brahe's observations, they permitted his success.

Galileo Galilei: Being the first to use a telescope he backed up Kepler's model by observing the phases of Venus and also the moons of Jupiter. He also wrote a defense of the heliocentric model, leading to his trial. His use of telescopes made his observations possible and then backed up the valid theory. He was later put under house arrest for his work but continued supporting the model.

Isaac Newton: One to finish the Copernican Revolution, although that is argued by some. His "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" shows how gravity is able to keep all the planets in their orbits. This supported all the theories, it was the evidence needed to push the model foward and make it the scientifically recognized model of the solar system. He also expanded on Kepler's findings, using gravity to perfect the calculations of the orbits, and the model.

Observations for the week of 9/10

I have been able to see the moon every morning getting closer and closer to Venus this week. I have also seen Venus every morning at about 6:45 am. Jupiter is directly overhead every morning very bright in the sky, a few fists away from Venus. I also saw a 1st magnitude star approximately a fist away from Jupiter is the southwest direction. I was also able to see some micellaneous stars and objects in the sky. During the day I was also able to spot the moon and Venus at 11:20 am, despite the sunny conditions.

APOD 1.2

When conditions are right and people are in the right spot it is sometimes possible to see what is called an airglow. About 90 kilometers above the Earth's surface a faint glow is visible, seen frequently when pictures are taken from space. There can be many different colors, green however, was the color featured the other day. The glow comes from the excitation of ultraviolet rays, excited by the Sun and then emitting colors. They are excited when the bands fluctuate due to the atmospheric gravity waves. This can happen around the world and although it is easier to see with a camera or telescope most can still view the phenomenon with their naked eye.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1209/airglow_hackmann_1400.jpg

APOD 1.1

The Cats Eye Nebula is one of the most complex nebulae in the universe. Over three thousand light years away this beautiful nebula is surrounded about what is believed to be a binary star system. A binary star system is when two stars follow the same elliptic orbital path, there is a balance point when the two intersect as well. Surrounding the binary star are millions of other stars and cocoons of gas from the stellar evolution. The final product is something far off in the universe similar looking to a cats eye, although unimaginably larger and more mysterious.