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.