2.7 Apod Entry

The photo for this week is of the Eagle Nebula taken on December 9, 2007. The dark cloud-like figures are apparently evaporating. The light emitted by close and distant stars are eating away at these cosmic clouds. This particular cloud is known as the the gigantic alien fairy. The fairy is just one of many dust pillars that are in the Eagle Nebula or M16. The height is a staggering 10 light years and the radiation emitted by the Fairy is more hotter than radiation emitted by a fire. An open cluster is currently forming inside the cavity of this nebula.

Observation 12/6

Date: 12/6/07
Time:8:15-9:00pm
Location: Church off of Hawkins Road

Tools Used: Naked eye, laser pointer, binoculars, and two telescopes.
Light Pollution: Minimal, only a few lights visible in the northern direction.
Cloud Coverage: 5%-8%
Temperature: 58-65 degrees
Moon: The moon was not visible and it was at apogee, so it was the farthest from Earth in its orbit-406,235km

Constellations: Andromeda, Ursa Minor (Little Dipper), Lyra, Delphinus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Pegasus (Great Square), Persus, Pisces, Cetus, Cygnus (Northern Cross), and Aquarius.
Planets: Mars and Uranus
Stars: Polaris (and faint star at 1 o'clock), Vega, Gemini Twins, Deneb.
Miscellaneous: Gamma, Andromeda, M42 (Orion Nebula), and a shooting star in the northwest direction.

2.6 Apod Entry

The entry for this week is of the Double Cluster in the constellation of Persus or the Hero. This star field is not too far from the Comet Holmes which astronomers have been following closely.The Double Cluster is 7,000 light years and is visible with the naked eye on dark nights.Hipparchus was the first astronomer to identified this cluster in 130 BC.The cluster on the left is cataloged in as NGC 869 and the cluster on the right is NGC884.Inside the cluster are stars that are estimated to have temperatures that far exceed that of the Sun. These two clusters have a distance between them of about acouple hundred light years.