APOD 3.3

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous and photographic nebulae in the sky. As you can see it is named the "Horsehead" Nebula because of the shape of a horse's head which is visible in the dark dust cloud at the center of the photo. It is located in the constellation Orion (the Hunter). The emission nebula's red color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. Also visible at the bottom left of the picture is a greenish reflection nebulae that reflects the blue light from nearby stars. This APOD is pertinent to the chapter we just finished which was focused on nebulae and the birthing of stars and we also just added Orion to the list of constellations we know.

APOD 3.2

This cosmic bubble is located toward the constellation Canis Major (the Big Dog), surrounds a Wolf-Rayet star. A Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are evolved, massive stars that lose mass rapidly by means of releasing very strong solar wind. This solar wind that is released is making this cosmic bubble, labeled Sharpless 308, expand. It is already larger than the full moon to a viewer, which corresponds to being 60 light-years in diameter. Emission lines captured from this massive image are dominated by ionized oxygen. This photo pertains to the chapters we are currently studying, chapters 17 and 18, which have to do with stars and identifying their stellar spectra.

APOD 3.1

This multi-wavelength photo of the sun was taken on December 21 of 2013 from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). It spans from visible to ultraviolet wavelengths (farthest left pink portion). You can see the many different parts of the photosphere, the "surface of the sun", in the photo. You can also see multiple sunspots, prominences, and even the whisp of the corona around the edge. I selected this picture because we just finished studying the Sun in astronomy so it only seemed appropriate to pay homage to the "mass of incandescent gas" that heats our Earth.

APOD 2.7

This beautiful, circular nebula is the Helix Nebula in the constellation Aquaris. This nebula is produced by a dying star, which is the faint white dot in the center. This image took just about 28.5 hours of exposure to compose, combining the emissions lines of hydrogen and oxygen. The Helix Nebula is 700 light years away and is only a mere 6 light years across. On one of the constellation quizzes that we had, one of the constellations was Aquaris. I knew everything about it, except for the fact that it has the Helix Nebula in it. Now that I know so much about the nebula, I do not think I will forget it again.

3 Jan. 2014 - Astronomy Night Observations

Weather conditions were not optimal because there was a sheath of clouds covering the entire sky. We were still able to see Venus and Jupiter through the cloud cover because of their immense magnitude. Right before everyone was about to leave, a couple of us did see a meteor shoot over the clouds. This meteor was part of the Quadrantids Meteor Shower, which we were hoping to see more of.

Hours spent observing: .5x2=1

22 Dec. 2013 - Observations

Waning Gibbous Moon near Orion. Three of the brightest stars of the night, Vega, Deneb, and Altair (the Summer Triangle) were visible near the western horizon. More along the horizon to my left was Piscis Austrinus and what I thought was the zodiac constellation Capricornus. I could not make out any more constellations along the horizon until Orion and Gemini. At zenith was Perseus and Cassiopeia. Zodiac constellations that I used to figure out where the ecliptic was, along with Gemini and Capricornus, were Taurus and Aquaris. Polaris and Thuban were visible to the north. Light pollution was at a minimum because the street lights did not turn on for some reason.

Hours spent observing: 2

14 Dec. 2013 - Observations

There was a very bright, non-twinkling star that ascended the night sky with the waxing gibbous Moon. I tracked this motion throughout the time observing, and the two celestial bodies never stayed more than three "fists" away from each other. I later found out that the star that was holding hands with out moon was not actually a star but the biggest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. Straight above I could see the King (Cepheus) and the Queen (Cassiopeia) domineering the night sky. Just south was the Great Square of Pegasus, but I could not make out the legs/head of Pegasus nor Andromeda. Marching along the horizon were the strongest of the constellations, Orion, Taurus, and Gemini. To the north I could see Polaris in Ursa Minor with the body of Draco wrapped around it. As time went on I was able to see what I think was Canis Minor. The bands of the Milky Way Galaxy were always apparent, running from east to west across the sky. The brightest stars that I know the names of the night that I know by memory were Rigel, Betelgeuse, Polaris, Algol, and  Fomalhaut.

Hours spent observing: 2.5