Brown Dwarf

This is my APOD project for Stellar Evolution.

Brown Dwarfs are a type of stars that do not share the spotlight of the red, yellow or blue stars. They are dismissed as a "failed" star. But be aware, there are as many "failed" stars as there are stars in our Galaxy.
Check it out:
Brown Stars

Week 7 and 8 Review

Busy two weeks, and unfortunately not very successful for real life observations, at least not planned observations. The other day I was driving to my mother in law’s place in Anacortes, north on Highway 5, just shortly after sunset. It was one of those stormy days we recently had with lots of cloud build up in the mountains, but the sky was a bit clearer in the West. Right away I observed Venus to the WNW, at about an altitude of 20 degrees, Just a bit higher up was the moon, waxing crescent, and then a bit further up and more to the west was Mars. OK, to be honest, I was not sure if it was Mars. After all I was driving, but based on the location of Jupiter, the Moon and the way the ecliptic arcs across the sky, it is where I would expect Mars to be. I also knew that the constellation of Gemini should be right there to the west, so if it gets a bit darker I should be able to see Polux and Castor. Below Gemini and a bit further west is Canis Minor with Procyon. I really like to be able to have a look at the sky and find my way around.

I watched Apollo 13, and I read, actually listen to, Contact. I will have a more detailed review of those two movies for my extra credit, but here is a preview. Apollo 13; I forgot what a great movie that is. I forgot when I saw the movie the first time, but it did not make the same impression then as it did now. As I was watching the movie, two thoughts went through my mind. David Bowie’s song, Space Oddity, especially the part when he says, “I am floating in my tin can…”. My other thought was, they were too eager to step onto the Moon, and overlooking too many little signs that should have forced aborting the mission. In accident prevention we learn accidents never happen because of one event. Accidents are a chain of events that lead to the crash site. The truth is it is very difficult to break that chain before the accident happens.

The second movie to watch is Contact. I have seen this movie several times, so I looked for an alternative. I am a big fan of listening to books. I have a huge library of audiobooks I listen to. Audible.com offers the audiobook Contact, it is an abridged version, read by Jodie Foster. I loved it! It was way better than the movie. I especially liked the ending of the book with Pi. What a cool idea, a message hidden somewhere in Pi. I don’t know why the movie did not use that, except that whoever wrote the screen play thought we are too dumb to understand the concept. You got to read (listen to) the book. 

 I will write up a more detailed review of those two topics, Apollo 13 and Contact.

The big idea over the past 2 weeks for me was, size and distance. There is this pyramid of ways to measure distance. Stellar Parallax, Luminosity and Apparent Brightness, Stellar Temperatures. Take each one of those procedures on how to measure the distance of a star individually, and it is not very convincing. It sounds too much like guessing. But somehow, together, one way of measuring confirming the other and vice versa, it works. It is really neat how astronomers do this. On the whole, there is no doubt in my mind, the distances they are calculating are accurate. Impressive!

Constellation of Gemini

This is just a quick update. I did a short review of the constellation Gemini. Interesting constellation, in real and in myth!

Constellation of Gemini

More updates are pending, a week 7 review and a short comment about some observations. Stay tuned.

Week 6 Reflection

Getting ready for the exam this week… not my strong suite. The chapter on the sun is fascinating. The point that was made over and over again, the sun is just average, not too hot, not too cold, not too big, not too small. The sun is so very average, but to us, the sun is anything but average. Without our average sun we would not have any life here on earth.

Solar winds, sun spot, solar flares it is scary how big of an influence those solar activity have on our way of life. Imagine if a sudden solar storm would wipe out our electric/electronic infrastructure. No communication, no satellites, black outs, not a pretty picture. I understand now why studying the sun, more importantly studying of the space weather driven by the sun is so important. The ability to predict solar activity is now just as important as predicting local weather system on earth.

Next week we are moving on to the stars. That will be interesting!

Talking about moving to the stars, this is an interesting bit of news. Follow this link to read more:

Hole in Space found by Orbiting Telescope

I love that title, Hole in Space... That must be a portal to the next dimension right?

Sky Observation Friday May 7.

Friday night I went out observing the sky on my favorite spot. The sky was clear, but it was still cold, perfect to see how good I am in getting my way around the sky. Rather than just go out and look what’s out there, I made a plan of what I wanted to see. This is relatively easy to do with some of the programs available such as Microsoft World Wide telescope. My plan was to find two planets, Venus and Mars. Next I wanted to find the Gemini constellation. Next to Gemini I should be able to find Canis Minor, two stars that make a horizontal line. Going South, I should be able to see the constellation of Cancer, the upside down Y. Planet Mars should be right in the constellation of Cancer. Right next to Cancer but higher up in the sky will be Leo. I also marked down two stars, Arcturus in the S.W. and Alpha Virgins in the SSE. No problem, I know exactly where to look, piece of cake.
I noticed Venus earlier on my way home just after sunset in the NW, really can’t miss it. It is really cool to look at the sky and point to an object and say with confidence, this is Venus. This of course built my confidence to be able to recognize all the other stars and constellations. At shortly after 10pm I was at my favorite spot and ready to do my observing. It was cooler than I thought it would be, quiet and dark, well sort of dark. It just does not get completely dark that close to the city. First thing I did I looked for Venus, but Venus was already below my observable horizon. That’s OK, I discovered Venus earlier, so next I looked for Gemini. Directly W, at an altitude of about 20o and there it is, the constellation Gemini… or is it? I am not sure! I think I observed Pollux and Alpha Geminhorum, the two stars defining the upper limit of the constellation, the rest, I am not sure. Looking at the star wheel did not help, it only confused me more. Next to Gemini is Canis Minor, a very simple constellation, a horizontal line, two stars about 4o apart at an altitude of about 20o. I think I got this one right on. Next I was looking for the constellation Cancer which should be about 10o above Canis Minor and looks like an upside down Y. Not a chance, I did not see that constellation. I did see the planet Mars that was right in the constellation, so I knew where to look, but I did not see the upside down Y. Next to cancer is Leo, just a bit further S and higher up in the sky. All I can say, I think I did see part of Leo. I think I did identify the brightest star, Regulus in the constellation. Leo is a big constellation, from the head of the Lion to the tale it is close to 30o, easy to get confused. I wonder how the ancient made a Lion out of all those stars. I think there was more involved than just looking at the stars. Straight above Leo was the familiar Big Dipper, or Ursa Major.

From the big dipper I always find my way to the North Star. The two stars I was looking for, Arcturus in the SW and at an altitude of 50o and Alpha Virgins in the SSE at an altitude of just a bit more than 25o, I am sure I identified Arcturus, but not Alpha Virgins. Looking to the S is looking towards Seattle, and the light pollution from the city is just too great to make a positive identification.
This was a great evening of looking at the stars, but I must admit, finding constellations, especially big constellations such as Leo is not easy. It is easy to get confuse which star belongs to which constellation. What really helped me was to plan out what to look at. For next time I will improve my planning, in addition to the general direction and the altitude, I will add how big the constellations are. That should help me to better define the boundaries of a given constellation. Looking forward to the next clear night.

If we cold see the stars during the day...

Ever wondered what the sky looks like during the day if we could see the stars? The other evening as I was watching the sunset and I asked myself this question. There is a way to find out. Check this out:
Here is the sunset:

And this is what it would look like if we could see the stars:

(Click on the picture to get a better look)

You can see the constellation Taurus and right next to it to the left is Orion  setting. On the lower right, right at the edge, is the sun, just going below the horizon. So if you look at the original sunset picture, to the left of the Sun is the constellation Taurus and right next to it is Orion. You see, constellation do not go away, they are still there, just the light of the sun makes them invisible.

Week 5 Review

Week 5 and the weather continues to be very challenging. It has been wet and windy, but we might get a chance to look at the sky tonight.

This week we discussed the moon, craters and satellites, manmade or natural. The movie, If we had No Moon fascinated me the most. The most current view of how the Moon became is the theory that the Earth was impacted by a Mars size planet referred to as Orpheous or Theia. I wish the Greeks would get their story straight. Apperently Orpheus is the son of Calliope and either Oeagrus or Apollo… common you guys, this is a myth, one would think you could get it straight – use DNA to figure it out. Anyway, Orpheus slammed into Earth more than 4 billion years ago when things still were hot and soft. The trajectory of Orpheus was shallow enough so Orpheus kind of ricochet off the Earth's surface flew back into space re-coalesced and fell back onto Earth. According to Dr. Robin Canup this and only this scenario puts sufficient stuff into an orbit outside the Roche radius to form the Moon. Well, if that is what they say, I guess they know what they are talking about. I certainly do not have a better theory but… Whenever there is a scenario that indicates to be unique and inimitable I get suspicious. Orpheus had to come in on a precise angle, bounce off the Earth, enough to get stuff back into space but not so far so as to be outside the Rosh radius, other ways it would not fall back onto Earth but some of the stuff had the be outside the Rosh radius to form the Moon… But what the heck, they know what they talk about. Watch the movie, and decide for yourself. (By the way, click on the Pictures to see full size)

I just discovered the coolest web site in respect to astronomy. You got to check this out: Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There is so much stuff there, you will get lost for days. The best part I discovered so far is a Java aplet that shows an interactive model of the planetary system plus many of comets and asteroids. The best way to get to that page, follow this link to Solar System Bodies. From here, click on an option, either Comets, Asteroids or Meteor Streams. From here start exploring. Just in case you get lost, here is a direct link to the 1P/Halley Comet.
Enjoy the journey, don't get lost!

Last but not least, this pictures is not necessarily a astronomy picture, but it was captured by NASA's Terra spacecraft so it is kind of space related. This is awful! This oil leak disaster 50 miles off the Louisiana coast is now bigger than the Exxon Valdez eco disaster in Alaska in 1989. Look at the size of this oil slick. To learn more, follow this link.  If there is something I have learned so far in this astronomy class, we won't be leaving this planet any time soon, so let's take care of it and let's stop messing it up!