Biography

Cameron Johnson

Mr. Percival

Astronomy

23 May 2008

Vera Rubin

Vera Cooper Rubin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 23, 1928. At a young age she found a passion for astronomy and would go on to greatly contribute in the field. In 1948, she graduated from Vassar College in New York where she got her bachelors degree in Astronomy. Vera, upon receiving her degree, applied to Princeton, but was not allowed to enroll into their graduate astronomy program, so she looked elsewhere. She was accepted to Cornell where she would go onto to earn her Master’s degree there in 1951 along side her future husband Bob Rubin, a physicist. Early in Vera’s career, she obtained a negative reputation. The Big Bang Theory was widely accepted by the astronomical community during this time, but Vera’s thesis for her masters to the American Astronomical Society would find fault in it. Her thesis suggested that all of the galaxies in the universe are rotating around a center that is not known which would disprove the theory stating that the galaxies are expanding out. This put Rubin in an unenthusiastic view because of the lack of scientific theory to help back her bold findings.

In 1954, Vera Rubin received her doctorate at Georgetown University which furthered showed her theory that that galaxies in the universe were not uniformly distributed, but were quite randomly situated. Her theory would not prove correct until fifteen years after. After receiving her doctorate, she went on to teach at Georgetown for a couple of years and during this time she would have two more children, making it a total of four. Vera received a nice offer from the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism which is associated with the Carnegie Institution, in 1956. Her work for the department would lead to some of the most important astronomical findings to date. Vera’s research disproved Newtonian laws of gravity that predicted the orbiting speeds of stars in galaxies. In the early 1970s, she examined the spectra from galaxies that should stars on the outer edge of galaxies do not orbit slower than stars in the center. It showed that stars orbiting the outer edge of spiral galaxies are going just as fast as those that are located in the center. To this day, astronomers know that there is a huge mass which is invisible that exerts a force to keep out stars in orbit in galaxies. Thus, Vera’s findings and extensive research shows that this “dark matter” comprises of at least 90% of the universe which has left astronomers struggling to identifying it.

Vera Rubin’s accomplishments did not stop with the dark matter. She is an honorary member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as well as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences which its purpose is to promote the progress of mathematics, physical, and natural sciences. She was also published an astounding 114 co-authored research papers. Her passion for science was also passed down to her four children. All have earned Ph. D.s in either geology, cosmic-ray physics, astronomy, or mathematics. In 1992, Vera discovered a galaxy in which half the stars were orbiting one direction in the disk and the other half were orbiting in the other direction. Most recently, her colleagues and her discovered that more than half of the galaxies in the Virgo cluster exhibit disturbances due to the closeness of their gravitational fields. Most important to her is that “My numbers mean more to me than my name. If astronomers are still using my data years from now, that’s my greatest compliment.”

4.6 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of May 6 is of Galaxies Collide in NGC 3256. This galaxy is one of the few that look likes like this. The photo contains two galaxies that are currently in the process of slowly colliding. It is estimated that the process will last 100s of millions of years in which there will only be one. The center contains two galactic nuclei with unusual tidal tails and dark dust.

4.5 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of May 2 is titled Shaping NGC 6188. This large emission nebula is located on the periphery of the constellation of Ara which is located 4,000 light-years ago. The Ara constellation is known for its star formation which emits dust and winds that have helped shape this NGC. Astronomers have speculated that the star formation is triggered by a super nova explosion. The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image with a span of 300 light years.

4.4 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of April 22 is titled The Fox Fur Nebula from CFHT. This nebula is a gigantic mass of dust and gas with hot stars constantly projecting wind and energetic light. The shape of a fox can be easily seen in this gas cloud. The dust in the lower left corner is reflecting the light from the stars in the region which gives off the color blue. The ionized hydrogen give off red emissions and with the cosmic dust creates the pink and brown areas in the image.

4.3 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of April 17 is titled Messier 63: The Sunflower Galaxy. Messier 63 is a spiral galaxy located in the northern sky in the constellation of Canes Venatici. The diameter is measured at an amazing 100k light-years which is relatively the size of our Milky Way galaxy. The core is a bright yellow core with long, blue spiral arms. Stars are forming in the area that is pink in color.

4.2 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of April 8, 2008 is titled Southern Orion: From Belt to Witch. The photo contains the all too familiar photo of the three stars that comprise Orion's Belt located in the upper left of the image. The lower left stars that forms the beginning of the belt is named Alnitak. Located to the left of the star is the giant Flame Nebula. It contains giant, bright emission clouds of dust. Below that is the popular photographic Horsehead Nebula. The giant star Rigel illuminates the the massive Witch Head Nebula.

4.1 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of March 27 is titled, The N44 Complex. The false colored photo is of an enormous emission nebula named N44. It ranges from about 1,000 light-years across in diameter and is located in the southern sky. The young stars inside this nebula create the wind and radiation from inside that eventually helped shape the nebula to what it looks like in the photo. However, these stars are not the only thing that helped shape this cloud, a nearby supernovae has drastically helped form N44's shape.

3.10 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of March 13, 2008 is entitled Sculpting the South Pillar. These enormous pillars made from gas and dust are located in the nebula of Carina. They have been sculpted from the wind and radiation that is emitted from the nearby star Eta Carinae as well as other stars in the nebula. Eta Carinae Nebula is 10,000 light years away. This photo was taken from the Spitzer Space Telescope using infrared.

Planetary Nebula

http://www.astro.washington.edu/balick/
http://www.noao.edu/jacoby/pn_gallery.html
http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/planetary_nebulae.html
http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/WIYN/planetary_nebulae.html
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/gallery/images_pne.html
http://home.austarnet.com.au/mhorn/pneb.html
http://schmidling.com/planebs.htm
http://www.richweb.f9.co.uk/astro/pl_nebulae.htm

3rd Quarter Biography

Cameron Johnson
Mr. Percival
Astronomy
7 Mar. 2008
Nicolas Camille Flammarion
The French astronomer, Nicolas Camille Flammarion, was born in Montign le Roi, Franace in 1842. Little is known about his childhood except for the fact he had quite a fascination of the Moon and Mars as a young child. Camille's brother Ernest would soon become the founder of the Groupe Flammarion, a major publishing house in France that would help publish an upwards of seventy astronomical related books by Cammile. Camille's astronomical career officially began when he was hired to serve at the Paris Observatory, one of the most widely known observatories of the time. He took advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, getting on the telescope every chance he got. His observations changed that era's way of thinking from the detail and findings he accumulating on stars and nearby planets. He later found work at the Bureau of Longitudes which was short lived. Camille decided in 1833 that he would set up his own private observatory right outside Paris named Juvisy. This is where his notes on double stars and clusters would contradict previous theories. His studies also focused on the Moon and Mars and how their gravitational fields interacted with nearby objects which were his boyhood fascinations.
Nicolas Flammarion published his first astronomical book, entitled La Pluralitees Mondes Habite. It delved into the study of planets which was a hot topic in the mid 1800s. Remarkably, in the span of twenty years, Nicolas had published an amazing thirty-three editions. These editions would later be admired by astronomers into the twentieth century. Camille strongly believed in the idea of extraterrestrials. His pieces exemplified this notion by going into detail of life on planets other than that of Earth. He was strongly criticised by the Catholic community as this concept contradicts all that they teach. During this period of writing books, he never lost interest in the thing he was most obsessed about, the solar system. Camille would be the astronomer that would self appoint himself to naming the moons of Jupiter and Neptune, actions that most of the astronomical community disagreed with until acceptance years later.
In 1982, Nicolas published another set of books which focused on the concept of terrestrial life on other planets. He focused on Mars and believed the craters were once river which supplemented the life of communities that were no longer existent. However, he did argue that the life on Mars would have been less superior to the life of Earth, his basis for this idea had yet to be understood. In 1893, Flammarion his works moved toward the scientific romance ideas. They focused on reincarnation within the universe with the interaction alien life forms. Toward the end of Flammarion's career, he focused on psychical research. A countess who was dieing of tuberculosis, asked her doctor to cut a piece of her skin off and give it to Nicolas to bind his next book. During his work in the Juvisy, he took interest in a woman that he had hired which would marry in 1919, Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion. The two worked side by side in the observatory and traveled throughout France to promote astronomy. Nicolas died at the age of 63 in 1925, leaving his wife to manage their observatory which she accomplished. Nicolas made ground breaking discoveries in his career, revolutionizing the way astronomers in France and worldwide viewed the night time sky. After his death, a crater on the Moon and Mars were both named Flammarion to pay respects for his renowned achievements.

3.9 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of March 4, 2008 is NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula. The nebula is named for the shape that the gas clouds and dust have taken in the form of a cat's paw. This particular nebula can be seen in the constellation of Scorpius. This emission that contains a vast amount of ionized hydrogen atoms is located 5,500 light years from Earth. The Cat's Paw is also commonly known as the Bear Paw nebula where star formation had been going on for millions of years which has produced stars that are 10x the mass of the Sun.

Biographical Sources

Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Volume 5

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=iGYAAAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA12&dq=camille+flammarion+c-flammarion&ots=Na9Z2Q7fRg&sig=PyJ5E6ZFdehrel265VZDY3exg4U

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fDgLAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR19&dq=camille+flammarion+c-flammarion&ots=E1Oani_jHn&sig=QjGoOwhnLpOD5FRCXoRa90wVi7A#PPR7,M1

http://www.jstor.org/view/00368075/ap003834/00a00170/0?currentResult=00368075%2bap003834%2b00a00170%2b0%2c03&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26gw%3Djtx%26jtxsi%3D1%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3DCamille%2BFlammarion%253A%2BAstronomy%26wc%3Don

3.8 Apod Entry

The entry for the week of February 27, 2008 is titled, The Eagle Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur. This is one of the most photogenic nebula's which was first captured with stunning details by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is well known for the formation of stars that can be clearly viewed in the background of this image. The color that is perceived in the Eagle Nebula results from the the different gases that are emitted, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. The bright blue stars in the dark pillars give scientists excellent knowledge into star formation as they have been continually forming in M16 for the past five million years.

3.7 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of February 21, 2008 is of Orion's Horsehead Nebula. The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most well-known nebulas in our nighttime sky. Orion's belt is located just left of the so called horse head where the most luminous star in the Orion constellation exists. The horse head can be seen so clearly because of how it has the red emission nebula positioned behind its opaque cloud of dust. The shape that appears to be the head of a horse happened by coincidence from the internal and external forces that helped in the formation of its appearance.

Visual Magnitude Estimates Exercise

Name-Magnitude
--------------------
Aurigae-3.5
Eridani-4.1
Orionis-2.1
Tauri-3.1
Orionis-1.9
Orionis-2
Geminorum-3.1
Geminorum-3.6
Canis Majorum-4.2
Canis Majorum-2
Geminorum (Castor)-1.3

3.6 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of February 10, 2008 is of Abell 2218: A Galaxy Cluster Lens. This image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope viewing the cluster Abell 2218. The gravity in this cluster bends and focuses light from the surrounding galaxies that are located directly behind it. The cluster is located some 3 billion light-years in the in constellation known as Draco. The cluster is still quite young, distorting the galaxies and stars into long faint arcs.

Nebula Sites

http://www.space.com/nebulas/
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/nebula/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/nebulae.shtml
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/nebula_collection/
http://www.noao.edu/jacoby/pn_gallery.html
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-astro-nebula.html
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/nebula_worldbook.html
http://astro.nineplanets.org/twn/top.html
http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/emission_nebulae.html
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0052/movies.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/nebulae/

3.5 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of February 7, 2008 is titled NGC 4013 and the Tidal Stream. This so called isolated universe, NGC 4013, is located 50m light-years in the circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. Previously unknown, a dust loop around NGC 4013 has just been discovered. This universe was previously classified as flat with a central star bulging from it. The loop has a diameter of 160 thousand light-years. It appears that smaller stars are being gratitationally pulled toward this universe.

3.4 Apod Entry

The title of this photo is titled Young Star Cluster Westerlund 2 for the week of January 31. The Sptizer Space Telescope captured this brilliant image of Westerlund 2 using infrared cameras. The enormous dust cloud that encompasses W2 is given the name of RCW 49. The purple color being emitted from this cluster is actually false color coming from the star clusters. The Westerlund 2 cluster can be seen by looking in the direction of the constellation Centaurus. The distance to this cluster is calculated to be 20,000 light-years.

3.1 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of January 9, 2008 is Hidden Galaxy IC 342 from Kitt Peak. This so called island, known as IC 342 would be the most noticeable galaxy in the nighttime sky if it wasn't for the Milky Way galaxy with its enormous amount of celestial objects that hinder it from being seen from Earth. IC 342 is 7 million light years in distance It lies in the autumn constellation of Cameloparadalis, known as the Giraffe. However, the magnitude of dust clouds and stars that the Milky Way contains does not keep this brilliant galaxy from being captured by the Earth based telescopes. Its been recorded to have had several recent star formations and since the distance is so close to the Milky Way galaxy, its gravitational forces is believed to have played some part in the evolution of numerous galaxies in the Milky Way.

3.3 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of January 24, 2008 is named the Andromeda Island Universe. To the naked eye, M31 would be the farthest visible object. This M object, known as the Andromeda Galaxy is calculated to be 2.5 million LY from Earth. The naked eye sees M31 as a faint oval in the Autumn sky in the constellation Andromeda known as the Princess. The galaxy itself spans almost a quarter of a million light-years. This spiral looking gas cloud contains a yellowish core, stunning blue swirling arms, and millions of star clusters. Less that a century ago, astronomers would no doubt ably deny most of the research that has arisen from this amazing galaxy.

3.2 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of January 17, 2008 is titled Thor's Emerald Helmet. This brilliant cosmic cloud is known as Thor's Helmet. The name derives from the shape that the cloud takes which resembles a helmet in which the Norse god would wear. This gas cloud is measure to be 30 light-years wide. Located in the center of this interstellar bubble is a hot giant star which some have speculated to be in a pre-supernova stage. The closest constellation to this interstellar bubble is Canis Major about 15,000 light-years in distance. The green tint seen in the photo derives from emissions that come from oxygen atoms in the cloud.

1/13 Observation

Date:1-13-08
Location: Backyard
Time: 6:55 to 7:35 pm

Clouds: Partly cloudy
Light Pollution: Minimal
Moon: Waxing Crescent:
Tool: Naked Eye

Constellation: Cygnus, Delphinus, Aquarius, Pegasus, Andromeda, Perseus, Cepheus, Draco, Cassiopeia, Ursa Minor.
Planets/Stars: Mars, Thuban, Deneb, Polaris, Vega, Sirius, Capella, Algol.

1/12 Observation

Date: 1/12/08
Time: 8:25 - 9:20
Location: Backyard

Light Pollution: A couple of lights in the North/Northwest direction.
Temperature: 70 degrees
Moon: Waxing crescent.
Tools: Eyes and binoculars
Clouds: 15%

Constellation: Eridanus, Orion, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Ursa Minor, Gemini, Pegasus, Cepheus, Pisces.
Planets/Misc: Mars, great square, Andromeda, Capella, Algol, Polaris, Castor, Mira, M31, M42, Double Cluster.

1/10 Observation

Date: 1/10
Time: 7:15-9:00
Location: Field off of Hawkins Road

Clouds: 5% until 8:45 when the clouds started rolling in.
Temperature: 68 degrees
Moon: The moon was not visible from our location.
Light Pollution: At a minimal, could see the pollution from Venice reflecting from the clouds.
Tools: Green laser, binoculars, telescope, and eyes.

Constellations: Cygnus, Eridanus, Monoceros, Gemini, Orion, Perseus, Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Andromeda, Pisces, Aries, Cetus, and Taurus.

Planets/Stars: Mars, Deneb, Polaris, Castor, Pollux, Capella, Pleiades, Algol, and Mira.

M Objects:M1 (Crab Nebula), M42, M35, M31, M36, and M37.

Misc: Great Square, andcirclet.

2nd Quarter Bibliography

Cameron Johnson
Mr. Percival
1/11/08
Period 0

Charles Messier

Born in the quaint town of Badonvillier Lorraine, France, Charles Messier has just one out of the twelve sons and daughters of his parents in June 26, 1730. He was enrolled in school at an early age and by the age of fourteen; his interest in astronomy took off. One night he saw a six-tailed comet which spiked his interest and would be the beginning of his career in astronomy. A solar eclipse not long after only fueled his interest and would help him determine that his passion would be astronomy. Messier decided to travel to Paris in October of 1751 where he found employment with the navy mainly because of his penmanship. While at sea, he kept detailed drawings of the nighttime sky as well as mapped the coast line of China. Messier later found habitual employment in the navy as a Depot Clerk in 1754.

In 1758, Messier spotted Halley’s Comet that was expected to appear again during sometime that year. However, a couple months previous to this spotting, a German farmer discovered that comet which only fueled Messier to discover additional comets. In 1764, he discovered the comet again and for fifteen years, he would be credited with the most comet discoveries during that time period. His observations did not solely focus on comets during this time as eclipses, sun spots on the Sun, and nebulae greatly interested him. One of his most important discoveries came in 1758 where he discovered M1, the Crab nebula. This would be the first in hundreds of nebulae that would be discovered and observed by him throughout his lifetime. Four years later, he discovered the globular cluster located in the constellation of Aquarius. Messier was determined to catalog as many M objects as possible in his lifetime. As 1764 approached its final few months, Messier discovered the Dumbbell, Hercules, Andromeda, Omega, and Trifid nebula's and galaxies. This was quite an accomplishment and allowed him the recognition he wanted while in France’s Navy. His goal was to make his catalog as complete and well detailed as possible so he would be known for his crucial contributions in astronomy.

By 1769, Messier’s astronomical list reached an impressive forty-five objects some of them including the Pleiades, Praesepe, Sirius, and the position of the previously discovered Orion nebula. During the next year, Messier was accepted to the Royal Academy of Sciences. Most of these object’s discovery was the result of following and observing the paths of comets that intrigued Messier. As these comets passed across the sky, it would give him the ability to spot galaxies and nebulae that could not have been previously observed which is why cataloging the comets during the year was so crucial to his work. The year 1880 brought the list to sixty-eight objects which were published in the French almanac. His work quickly spread and he finally got him recognized as a top researcher in his field. The telescope of his choice was the Gregorian reflector which was one of the most accurate telescopes of his time. In 1781, Messier’s rival, Pierre Mechain, observed thirty-two objects that have never been recorded so Messier pinpointed their location and added them to his list. Charles Messier’s list reached an amazing one hundred with detailed descriptions and locations by 1790. During that same year, Messier took a nasty fall, leaving him with several broken bones and the inability to do anymore observations until a year had passed. Two years after he resumed observations, his complete list was published and was the reference book to many future astronomers who had the same passion he had. However, the early 1790s brought about rough times for Messier with the economy in shambles as well as a revolution underway. Messier found himself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. In 1793, he made his last discovery of a comet and was finally nominated into the Academy of Sciences and then received a very prestigious award from Napoleon Bonaparte named the Legion of Honor. On April 12, 1817, Charles Messier passed away at the age of 86 leaving amazing accomplishments in the field of astronomy that would helped the world understand space and the objects that occupy it.

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/xtra/history/CMessier.html
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1902AnHar..38....1B
http://seds.org/~spider/
http://www.hawastsoc.org/messier/index.html

2.9 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of January 5 is of M51: Cosmic Whirlpool. This stunning photo is of the M51 which Charles Messier cataloged. It is believed that is the the oldest spiral nebula which is quite apparent when you look at the shape and figure. Off in the top right of this photo is the neighboring galaxy NGC 5195. The distance between the two is a calculated 31 million light-years and are situated in the constellation Canes Venatici. The photo was taken from the Hubble Space Telescope.

2.8 Apod Entry

The photo for the week of December 15 is the Mountain of Creation. The Spitzer Space Telescope took this infrared photo of this sky scape located in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This about about 7,000 light-years from Earth. Distant stars have been emitted radiation and winds that have shaped these clouds into what they currently look like. The telescope also captured newly formed stars which result from nearby gigantic stars. This region is also classified as part of the Heart and Soul Nebulae.