APOD 4.8: The Sky from Mauna Kea

Looking out over the volcano Mauna Kea, we see a blanket of white clouds, and on the far left, glow from a Hawaiian city. The volcanic lava lights up orange from an erupting Kilauea, just left of the center. The summit of a more distant volcano, Mauna Loa, is visible in dark silhouette near the middle of the horizon. Green airglow is visible above the clouds caused by air molecules excited during the day. The Milky Way galaxy also extends up straight through the middle. 

APOD 4.7: An Unexpected Aurora over Norway

On February 8, 2014 in Norway, an astrophotagrapher and his brother were packing up their equipment after a disappointing night of looking for auroras, when suddenly the sky exploded with them. This auroral flare lasted only a few minutes. 

APOD 4.6: Space Station over Lunar Terminator

Positioned to the side of the moon is the International Space Station. This picture was taken in front of a partially lit moon last year in Madrid, Spain, with and exposure time of only 1/1000 of a second. The duration of the transit of the ISS across the entire Moon was about half a second. The station is located on the dark side of the day/night line of the Moon called the terminator. 

APOD 4.5: Total Solar Eclipse over Svalbard

This photo was taken in Svalbard, Norway, last month. In this image, the eclipse was captured every three minutes and then digitally merged with a foreground frame taken from the same location. As the Moon and the Sun move together, an increasing fraction of the Sun appears covered by the Moon. The next total eclipse of the Sun will occur in 2016 March and be visible from Southeast Asia. 

APOD 4.4: Venus in the West

Recently, Venus has been shining near the western horizon at sunset. When this picture was taken, it was especially close to the Pleiades star cluster, dominating the sky near the town of Lich in central Germany. Also known as the Seven Sister, the Pleiades cluster appears right above Venus in this picture. Near the left side tree branches appears bright star Aldebaren, the eye of Taurus the bull, and the Hyades star cluster. 

APOD 4.3: A Golden Gate Eclipse 

This is a panoramic view of the lunar eclipse in San Francisco on April 4th, over the Golden Gate Bridge.  The shortest lunar eclipse of the century, this eclipse was also the third in a string of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, a series known as a tetrad. The previous two were April 15 and October 18. The next and final eclipse will be on September 28, this 2014-2015 tetrad is one of the 8 total lunar eclipse tetrads in the 21st century. 

APOD 4.2: Diamond Rings and Bailey's Beads

The New Moon's silhouette at stages just before and after the three minute long total phase seems to sprout glistening diamonds and bright beads in this time lapse composite of the celestial event. The last and first glimpses of the solar disk with the lunar limb surrounded by the glow of the Sun's inner corona give the impression of the diamond ring in the sky. 

APOD 4.1: Atlas V Launches MMS

Pictured above, an Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission into Earth orbit 10 days ago to study the magnetosphere that surrounds and protects the Earth. The 300,000 kilogram rockeship went to circle the Earth where the outside air is too thin to breathe. Rockets bound for space are now are launched somewhere on Earth about once a week. 

APOD 3.8: Return At Sunrise

          Thursday, shortly after the sunrise over Asia, the Soyuz Spacecraft floated over a sea of clouds while making its way towards Earth's dense atmosphere. On board were Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore of NASA and Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Sarova of the Russian Federal Space Agency. 

APOD 3.7: Lenticular Cloud, Moon, Mars, and Venus

           The original plan of this picture was to photograph a rare conjunction of Mars and Venus that occurred two and a half weeks ago, with the added bonus of a crescent moon and the International Space Station flying nearby. During day two of photographing, a lenticular cloud appeared, blocking the view from Madeira Island, Portugal. Mars and Venus will appear this close in the sky late August, but whether this photogenic cloud shows up again will be unknown. 

Class Research

Nova- A nova is a nuclear explosion on a white dwarf that results in the brightening of a star, sometimes confused with supernova or luminous red nova. Nova occur on the surfaces of white dwarfs in the binary system, when two stars are very close to one another and material can be pulled off one star onto the white dwarf.

Recurring Nova- A recurrent nova is a nova that has been observed to have multiple explosions. In the case of recurrent nova and classical nova, a shell ejected matter can be detected, while dwarf nova don’t exhibit this behavior. There are two types of recurrent nova: one type is an evolved secondary star which has lost most of its outer layers and is transferring onto a hot, massive white dwarf; the second type is a red giant secondary star and a white dwarf. This burst occurs inside the outer layers of the red giant and is caused by a thermonuclear runaway on the white dwarf, using material from the secondary star as fuel.

Supernova- A supernova is a stellar explosion that radiates as much energy as the Sun or any ordinary star is expected to emit over its entire life span, after several months or weeks it fades from view. This burst expels all of the stars material at a velocity of up to 30,000 km/s (10% the speed of light), and drives a shockwave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This shock wave sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust called a supernova remnant.

• ·         TYPE I- The type I supernova are subdivided on the basis of their spectra, with type 1a that shows an ionized silicon absorption line. Type I supernova without this strong line are classified as type 1b and 1c, with type 1c showing neutral helium lines and type 1c lacking them.

Fyodor Bredikhin

     Fyodor Aleksandrovich Bredikhin, a russian astronomer, was born on December 8, 1831 and died May 14, 1904. His surname is sometimes written as Bredichin in literature, and non-Russian sources sometimes call him Theodor. In 1857, he joined the observatory in Moscow University and became its director in 1873. In 1890 he became the director of Pulkovo Observatory, until 1894, and in the same year became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences where we studied mainly meteors, meteor showers and the theory of comet tails. The asteroid 786 Bredichina and the crater Bredikhin, on the Moon, are named after him. Bredikhin also took active part in launching systematic observations of our star's chromosphere with protuberance microscopes; taking pictures of sunspots and flares; studying planetary stars and variable nebulas.

Planetary Nebulae

This is NGC 6751, located in the constellation Aquila. It is estimated to be about 0.8 light years in diameter, with a surface temperature of about 140,000 K.It has been calculated that the distance away from Earth is about 6,500 light-years.

 This is nebula NGC 3242, more commonly known as the Ghost of Jupiter, located in the constellation Hydra. It is about 1400 light-years from Earth, with an apparent magnitude of 8.60.

This is NGC 2392, better known as the Eskimo Nebula. This nebula lies more than 2,870 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. It has a radius of 0.34 light-years. The Eskimo Nebula was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.

This is the Medusa Nebula, also known as Abell 21 and Sharpless 274. It is about 1,500 light-years away located in the constellation Gemini on the border of Canis Minor. 

The Owl Nebula is located almost 2,030 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. it is known to catalogue identifiers as M97 or NGC 3587. This nebula is approximately 8,000 years old but was discovered in 1781 by French astronomer Pierre Mechain. 

The Lemon Slice Nebula, also known as IC 3568, is 4500 light-years away from Earth located in the constellation Cameleopardalis. It is relatively young with a core diameter of 0.4 light-years.

The Spinograph Nebula, also known as IC 418, is located in constellation Lepus. It lies about 1100 light-years from earth and spans 0.3 light-years across. 

The Helix Nebula, is a large planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. the estimated distance is about 270 light-years. It has a radius of 2.87 light-years.

The Ant Nebula, or Menzel 3, is a young planetary nebula located in the constellation Norma. It is located about 8,000 light-years away from earth with a radius of 1.0 light-years.

The Little Ghost Nebula, or NGC 6369, is located in the constellation Ophiuchus, and was discovered by William Herschel in 1800. It has an apparent magnitude of 9.9. 

APOD 3.6: Love and War by Moonlight

Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love, and Mars, named after the god of war, came together by moonlight, recorded February 20, in Charleston, South Carolina. This three second exposure also includes the glow coming from Earth that is illuminating the dark side of the crescent moon. Since, Mars has been moving away from Venus but is still visible in the west.  

Astronomer Biography Quarter 3: Fyodor Bredikhin (Bredechin)

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/78678/Fyodor-A-Bredikhin

http://russia-ic.com/people/general/b/284

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Bredikhin

APOD 3.5: An Evening Sky Conjunction

Eight years ago, the sky held a crescent moon and Venus in close proximity. This image was captured in Bolu, Turkey on February 19, 2007. Since this picture was taken, Venus has orbited the sun 13 times. The February 20, 2015 version of this photo will include Mars. 

APOD 3.4: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy

M100 is appropriately named a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy with over 100 billion stars and it is much like our own Milky Way Galaxy. M100 is 56 million light years distant of the constellation Coma Bernices or "Bernice's Hair."

Stellar Nurseries and Star Formation Image Links

Articles about stellar nurseries and star formation:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150211-starstruck-multiple-star-birth-astronomy-science/

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stellar-nursery-gives-birth-quadruplets

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/uoma-iaf021015.php

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/baby-stars-are-ripping-their-stellar-nursery-to-shreds-140702.htm

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/yellowballs-new-view-star-formation-0202151/

http://www.faulkes-telescope.com/news/1211

Images of stellar nurseries and star formation:

http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/how-are-stars-formed-diagram.jpg

http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/images/star_propagation.jpg

http://www.faulkes-telescope.com/files/faulkes-telescope.com/image/N90.bmp

https://www.sciencenews.org/sites/default/files/main/blogposts/Eagle%20Nebula_free.jpg

APOD 3.3: M104 The Sombrero Galaxy

This spiral galaxy, M104 is famous for its spot on profile image and broad ring of dust lines. the picture, seen in a silhouette against a group of stars, the galaxy has clumps of cosmic dust that lend it its hat like shape, earning its nickname, the Sombrero galaxy. 

APOD 3.2: The Soap Bubble Nebula

Set in the star fields of the constellation Cygnus, this nebula was found only a few years ago and still does not appear in some astronomical catalogs. In fact, amateur astronomer Dave Jurasevich identified it as a nebula on 2008 July 6 in his images of the complex Cygnus region that included the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888). The nebula, appearing on the left of the featured image, is now known as the Soap Bubble Nebula.

APOD 3.1: Venus and Mercury at Sunset

There have been many sighting of Venus and Mercury in close proximity along the western shores. this picture was taken in the ruins of Szarvasko Castle in northwestern Hungary. Venus is the much brighter one, separated from Mercury by the width of about two full moons. 

APOD 2.8: Stars and Dust in Corona Australis

Cosmic dust clouds and young stars inhabit this region tat is less than 500-light-years away toward the Northern boundary of  Corona Australis. the dust clouds in the background are blocking some distant stars from the Milky Way. The blue color is light from the young stars reflecting off of the dust clouds.

James South

 The son of a pharmaceutical chemist, he had studied surgery, become a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and acquired an extensive practice when he was then married in 1816. He then became wealthy enough o retire and become an astronomer.  He established several observatories, in London and Paris, where he observed with some of the finest telescopes available. He served as the first president of the  Royal Astronomical Society in 1831. South, working with John Herschel during the years 1821–1823, re-observed the double stars charted originally by William Herschel, mainly for the purpose of detecting position changes. Their observations helped verify the newly recognized orbital motion of these neighboring stars.Their resulting catalog of 380 double stars, presented to the Royal Society in 1824, earned them the gold medal of the Astronomical Society and the grand prize of the Institute de France. For his second catalog of double stars, two years later, South was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society.