APOD 2.4

November 17 2014

The Double Dust Disks of HD 95086

This picture appealed to me because it is unique compared to the others. This looks like a scene right out of Doctor Who, which is a particularly favorite show of mine. The picutre is of another star system. Astronomers are using infrared light to determine what other star systems look like. It states that the dust disk around the star system could be forming planets. Observations were made both by the Spitzer Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory. These observations have determined that this star system contains two dust rings, one of the outside, and one of the inside near the parent star. The post ends with stating that HD 95086 is a blue star that is roughly sixty percent larger than our Sun, and is visible in the constellation of Carina, despite being 300 light years away. These observations might help astronomers to better understand how our Earth and solar system formed. 

Observation Post 11/21

Observation Post

Week of 11/17

The majority of my observations were made at around 8:00 at night and at 5:30 in the morning. They were done in a moderate to cold temperature. The sky on some days was clear while other days were cloudy. I did my observations at home, and on my way to school. On the days with the cloudy sky no observations could have been made. On the days that were not cloudy I observed multiple things. On some nights, the night was either a fifth or sixth magnitude sky. I was also able to distinguish the directions based upon the constellations. I also observed the Winged Horse, Pegasus, via the Great Square. I also observed the Summer Triangle, and was able to distinguish between the three constellations: Aquila, Lyra, and Cygnus. Finally I observed Antares, which I located relevant to the Summer Triangle. 

APOD 2.3

November 13 2014

Descent to a Comet

This picture appealed to me because it is something that I have already viewed. On September 19th, I posted a a blog post titled APOD 1.4 that contained the details of a spacecraft that was expected to land on a comet sometime in November. That time has come and the spacecraft has released the probe that will descend onto the comet. It is unguided and unpropelled, but it is still descending. The only problem the probe has occured is that its harpoon landing system did not engage. It is expected to conduct a 2.5 day science experiment sending back images frequently of the comet. The image that is shown here is from the probe roughly around three kilometers away from the comet. 

Observation Post 11/14

Observation Post

Week of 11/8

The majority of my observations were made at around 8:00 at night and at 5:30 in the morning. They were done in a moderate to cold temperature. The sky on few days was clear while all other days were cloudy. I did my observations at home, and on my way to school. On the days with the cloudy sky no observations could have been made. On the days that were not cloudy I observed multiple things. I observed the Summer Triangle and what I believe is Polaris and Arcturus with the Big and Little Dipper. I observed the constellation Orion, but no other winter constellations. I observed multiple phases of the moon including a waning gibbous, third quarter, and a waning crescent. 

Observation Post 11/7

Observation Post

Week of 11/1

The majority of my observations were made at around 8:00 at night and at 5:30 in the morning. They were done in a moderate to cold temperature. The sky on some days was clear while other days were cloudy. I did my observations at home, and on my way to school. On the days with the cloudy sky no observations could have been made. On the days that were not cloudy I observed multiple things. I observed the Summer Triangle and what I believe is Polaris and Arcturus with the Big and Little Dipper. I observed the constellation Orion, but no other winter constellations. I observed a waning gibbous, full, and waxing gibbous moon. I also observed a strange phenomenon with the moon. It was a foggy morning and the moon was a waxing gibbous, but very close to full. There was a circle of light around the moon that was a good sized ring. Towards the outside of this light ring I observed mutiple colors, mainly red and green, but a little blue was also observed. 

APOD 2.2

November 3 2014

In Green Company: Aurora over Norway

This picture appealed to me because it is realistic, beautiful and majestic. It's amazing seeing the mountain with the person on top who is cheering that they reached the top. It seems very realistic due to the city that appears in the background. The picture is also majestic due to the green lights that appear over the mountains. The post under the picture states that two days the sky was filled with clouds, but the third night appeared with all these lights. It says that many people cheered because of these lights. It states the mountain is in a town in the islands in Norway. It finishes by saying that the Sun has been producing a lot of these lights within a eleven year cycle, and this is at that cycle's peak.