http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100114.html
This picture was very interesting to me. It depicts M94, a galaxy, that lies in the northern constellation, Canes Venatici. The galaxy is 30,000 light-years across. Newer investigative studies have shown that M94 has a faint broad ring of stars. The picture also shows three bright bluish stars which are in the Milkyway galaxy.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
APOD 2.7
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100109.html
This picture was interesting to me because it showed the Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31. The picture of the Andromeda Galaxy was in much higher quality than I am used to seeing. Usually, I can only see a whitish blob, but with this picture, it is much easier to see where the concentration of stars is and that the Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way.
This picture was interesting to me because it showed the Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31. The picture of the Andromeda Galaxy was in much higher quality than I am used to seeing. Usually, I can only see a whitish blob, but with this picture, it is much easier to see where the concentration of stars is and that the Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Research Paper-Johann Heinrich von Madler
Johann Madler was a German astronomer in the 19th century. When he was 19, he became an orphan due to an outbreak of typhus and he had to raise three younger sisters. He began teaching and privately tutoring. By doing this profession, he met Wilhelm Beer in 1924. Wilhelm Beer was a wealthy banker.
In 1926, Wilhelm Beer set up a private observatory and hired Johann Madler to work with him. Wilhelm Beer and Johann Madler produced the first true maps of Mars in 1830. They also made a preliminary determination for Mars’ rotational period which was off by almost 13 seconds. The exact figure for one earth day that Johann Madler got was 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 9.9 seconds. The map that he made of Mars showed the small dark feature on Mars but Johan neglected to give it, or any other features on Mars a name. To do this, he chose a small dark region and precisely timed its’ appearance night after night Beer and Madler also made the first exact map of the moon. This map of the moon was called Mappa Selenographica and was published into 4 volumes from 1834 to 1836. In 1837, another map of the moon was published and the two became the most descriptive of the moon for many decades. The two maps were finally surpassed in detail in the 1870s by Johann Schmidt. Beer and Madler also came to the conclusion while studying the moon that its features did not change and it did not have an atmosphere or water.
In 1836, Johann Madler was appointed by Johann Franz Encke as an observer at the Berlin Observatory. The telescope that he used at this observatory was a 240-mm refractor telescope while the one at the private observatory was a 95-mm refractor telescope. In 1840, he was appointed as the director position at an observatory in Estonia, called the Dorpat Observatory. At the observatory, he made both meteorological and astronomical observations. He continued the previous director’s observations of double stars. He remained at the observatory in Estonia until he retired in 1865, and then returned to Germany.
Johann Madler also came up with the “Central Sun Hypothesis” by examining the motions of the stars. According to his hypothesis, the center of the galaxy was located in the Pleiades and that the sun revolved around that point. This hypothesis was later proven to be wrong.
Along with his accomplishments of mapping mars and the moon, Johann Madler made calculations concerning the true time of the earth’s orbit around the sun. His calculations of the tropical year were with precision that had never been obtained prior to his calculations. Based upon his calculations, he proposed a new 128-year rule. This rule stated that every 128 years would also be a common year, as opposed to a leap year. The first year that this started, oddly, was 1900, which was not a multiple of 128. This new rule allowed for only .025 days of error for every 10,000 years.
Johann Madler had many accomplishments and had a few features on other bodies in space named after him. In 1958, Johann Madler had a crater on Mars named after him, by the International Astronomical Union. There was also a crater named after Johan Madler on the moon. He also published many scientific works, along with a two-volume book called History of Descriptive Astronomy in 1873.
Sources:
* Mapping Mars by Oliver Morton
* http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/mars/chap04.htm
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heinrich_von_M%C3%A4dler
In 1926, Wilhelm Beer set up a private observatory and hired Johann Madler to work with him. Wilhelm Beer and Johann Madler produced the first true maps of Mars in 1830. They also made a preliminary determination for Mars’ rotational period which was off by almost 13 seconds. The exact figure for one earth day that Johann Madler got was 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 9.9 seconds. The map that he made of Mars showed the small dark feature on Mars but Johan neglected to give it, or any other features on Mars a name. To do this, he chose a small dark region and precisely timed its’ appearance night after night Beer and Madler also made the first exact map of the moon. This map of the moon was called Mappa Selenographica and was published into 4 volumes from 1834 to 1836. In 1837, another map of the moon was published and the two became the most descriptive of the moon for many decades. The two maps were finally surpassed in detail in the 1870s by Johann Schmidt. Beer and Madler also came to the conclusion while studying the moon that its features did not change and it did not have an atmosphere or water.
In 1836, Johann Madler was appointed by Johann Franz Encke as an observer at the Berlin Observatory. The telescope that he used at this observatory was a 240-mm refractor telescope while the one at the private observatory was a 95-mm refractor telescope. In 1840, he was appointed as the director position at an observatory in Estonia, called the Dorpat Observatory. At the observatory, he made both meteorological and astronomical observations. He continued the previous director’s observations of double stars. He remained at the observatory in Estonia until he retired in 1865, and then returned to Germany.
Johann Madler also came up with the “Central Sun Hypothesis” by examining the motions of the stars. According to his hypothesis, the center of the galaxy was located in the Pleiades and that the sun revolved around that point. This hypothesis was later proven to be wrong.
Along with his accomplishments of mapping mars and the moon, Johann Madler made calculations concerning the true time of the earth’s orbit around the sun. His calculations of the tropical year were with precision that had never been obtained prior to his calculations. Based upon his calculations, he proposed a new 128-year rule. This rule stated that every 128 years would also be a common year, as opposed to a leap year. The first year that this started, oddly, was 1900, which was not a multiple of 128. This new rule allowed for only .025 days of error for every 10,000 years.
Johann Madler had many accomplishments and had a few features on other bodies in space named after him. In 1958, Johann Madler had a crater on Mars named after him, by the International Astronomical Union. There was also a crater named after Johan Madler on the moon. He also published many scientific works, along with a two-volume book called History of Descriptive Astronomy in 1873.
Sources:
* Mapping Mars by Oliver Morton
* http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/mars/chap04.htm
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heinrich_von_M%C3%A4dler
APOD 2.6
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091214.html
This picture was very interesting to me because it shows the peculiar pattern at Saturn's north pole. The picture shows a hexagonal pattern made up of clouds. The article also has a link to a video of pictures from the Cassini satellite which orbits Saturn. The video is a time-lapse video of the north pole of Saturn. Astronomers still do not know what causes the hexagonal pattern on Saturn's north pole to form.
This picture was very interesting to me because it shows the peculiar pattern at Saturn's north pole. The picture shows a hexagonal pattern made up of clouds. The article also has a link to a video of pictures from the Cassini satellite which orbits Saturn. The video is a time-lapse video of the north pole of Saturn. Astronomers still do not know what causes the hexagonal pattern on Saturn's north pole to form.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Observations 2.2
Highlands, North Carolina (4 hours)
During my vacation to North Carolina which was from Dec. 23 to Dec. 29, I viewed the sky using my December sky chart for 4 hours. I started by using the compass in my phone to get the correct directions so that i could use my sky chart to observe the sky. I started by locating the great square of pegasus and located other objects in the sky from there. I saw polaris and ursa minor, casseopia, the Pleiades, andromeda, Capella, Aries, the milky way, Cygnus and the northern cross, Jupiter, Cetus, Taurus, Orion, and pisce. The weather throughout the week was varied. The first couple of days had lots of rain, so i could not observe the sky at all, but as the week went on, the weather cleared up and i was able to view the sky although it was quite chilly outside.
During my vacation to North Carolina which was from Dec. 23 to Dec. 29, I viewed the sky using my December sky chart for 4 hours. I started by using the compass in my phone to get the correct directions so that i could use my sky chart to observe the sky. I started by locating the great square of pegasus and located other objects in the sky from there. I saw polaris and ursa minor, casseopia, the Pleiades, andromeda, Capella, Aries, the milky way, Cygnus and the northern cross, Jupiter, Cetus, Taurus, Orion, and pisce. The weather throughout the week was varied. The first couple of days had lots of rain, so i could not observe the sky at all, but as the week went on, the weather cleared up and i was able to view the sky although it was quite chilly outside.
APOD 2.5
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091212.html
This APOD entry interested me because of the picture's high quality and of the view of the sky. The picture is of a meteor from the Geminid meteor shower. Also in the picture is an amazing rocky terrain partially covered in snow. The picture was taken at the Monument Valley region in the southwestern portion of the US. The meteor points back to the center point of the meteor shower, the geminid constellation.
This APOD entry interested me because of the picture's high quality and of the view of the sky. The picture is of a meteor from the Geminid meteor shower. Also in the picture is an amazing rocky terrain partially covered in snow. The picture was taken at the Monument Valley region in the southwestern portion of the US. The meteor points back to the center point of the meteor shower, the geminid constellation.
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