My Image: Whirlpool Galaxy

Observations

Date: 4/26/14
Location: PV Service Road 
Time: 9:00 PM- 10:00 PM

Identified the ecliptic 

Planets: Jupiter (in Gemini), Mars (14 arc seconds), Saturn

Constellations: Orion, Gemini, Leo, Leo Minor, Virgo, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Carina, Coma Bernices, Corvus

Telescope (small): Castor's Double Star
Telescope (large): M104 (Sombrero Galaxy), Gamma Leonis, M58 (Virgo)

Citizen Science

So far I have looked for planets near stars and classified galaxies. To find planets, you have to examine how the brightness of stars changes over time. You are presented with a graph of the star's brightness and any drastic variations of the brightness indicate a planet nearby. I did this on planethunters.org.

For the galaxy classification, galaxyzoo.org presents you with images of various galaxies and you are asked to identify the shape, the roundness and any features such as spiral arms, rings, merging of galaxies, dust lanes or irregular shapes.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Sources

"Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell." 2014. The Biography.com website. Apr 30 2014http://www.biography.com/people/jocelyn-bell-burnell-9206018.

"Jocelyn Bell Burnell." Jocelyn Bell Burnell. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~srw38/walks/tour/atoz/scientistdatabase.php?ppleid=4

http://www.biography.com/people/jocelyn-bell-burnell-9206018#synopsis&awesm=~oCVIMZCPeFzQbk

APOD 4.4

This is one of the largest galaxies we know of. It is a spiral galaxy called NGC 2841. It's located near Ursa Major, and is much larger than our own Milky Way. Millions of stars inhabit this galaxy and many are still being formed. We don't know much about galaxy formation, but we posit that galaxies go through life cycles and that each "type" of galaxy is actually at it's own stage. We believe this because the stars in elliptical galaxies are older and cooler than the stars in spiral galaxies. There is also much less star formation occurring.

APOD 4.1

Pictured above is the inside of the Orion nebula. Stars are being born here, and this is probably the most well known region in which that happens. This area of the nebula can be seen with the naked eye located near the three stars in a row that make Orion so easy to find in the sky. I chose this because of the colors. Magnifique.

APOD 4.5

The above photo is of two galaxies interacting. Many stars are in the process of forming, and the tidal tail stretches for over 200 thousand light years. NGC 6622 and NGC 6621 are the galaxies pictured above. The galaxies are located in the constellation Draco. This photo illustrates a concept we are currently addressing in class, which is why I chose it.

APOD 4.3

Pictured above is Mars near opposition. This occurs between April 8 and 14. The planet is opposite the sun near this time, which makes it the brightest to us on Earth and through telescopes. The exact dates of closest approach and opposition are different because orbits are elliptical, not circular. Mr. Percival is really excited about this. That's why I chose this picture.

Contributions to the Nature and Structure of the Milky Way

Galileo -Determined that various stars were also at various distances from the Earth. This disproved the theory that the Universe was similar to a glass bowl. The stars are sporadically placed, and not evenly. Galileo proved this observationally.

William Herschel -  determined that Earth is located in the Milky Way amongst other fuzzy patches of stars and gas. He also determined, by observing other fuzzy patches (nebulae), that the shape of the Milky Way was a flat spiral disk. Provided observational evidence to support his claim that there were other nebulae in our universe.

Harlow Shapley - estimated the size of the Milky Way using RR Lyrids. Also found the Sun's position. Partook in the Great Debate and proposed that the Milky Way was the entire universe with other spiral galaxies contained inside. 

Edwin Hubble -observed Cepheid variable stars and calculated their distance using the research done by Henrietta Leavitt. He concluded that they were too far away from the Earth to be in the Milky Way. He classified galaxies and thought that there was some level of progression between types, for example, that ellipticals eventually became spirals. 

Immanuel Kant-published "The Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens" which included two theories. The first is the "Nebular Hypothesis" which covers star and planet formation, and theorizes that it happens when gas and dust clouds spin and collapse due to gravity, forming larger, denser objects (planets,etc). His second theory distinguished nebulae from galaxies, and suggested that galaxies other than the Milky Way were in existence.

Henrietta Leavitt-confirmed in 1912 that the variable stars of greater intrinsic luminostiy (Cepheid Variables) had longer periods. This became known as the "Period-Luminosity relationship" which became a vital tool used to measure distances in the universe. Her research allowed Edwin Hubble to find Cepheids in other galaxies, which radically altered our view of the universe in it's entirety.

Heber Curtis- is famous for his role in "The Great Debate" with Harlow Shapley. He argued that spiral nebulae were actually spiral galaxies outside of our own.

APOD 4.2

The Veil nebula, located in Cygnus, is pictured above. This nebula is a large supernova remnant and is an expanding cloud. The red is hydrogen and the blue-green is oxygen. This nebula spans about 6 times the degrees that the full moon does. The brightest pieces of this nebula are recognized on their own as nebulae (The Witch's Broom and Pickering's Triangle).