DOCSLIB.ORG

Remote Video Astronomy Group MECATX Sky Tour June 2019

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Remote Video Astronomy Group MECATX Sky Tour June 2019 Remote Video Astronomy Group MECATX Sky Tour June 2019 1) Scorpius (SCOR-pee-us), the Scorpion - June 3 2) Serpens (SER-punz), the Serpent - June 6 3) Ara (AR-uh), the Altar - June 10 4) Ophiuchus (OFF-ee-YOO-kus), the Serpent Bearer - June 11 5) Hercules (HER-kyuh-leez), the Hercules - June 13 6) Corona Australis (cuh-ROE-nuh aw-STRAL-iss), the Southern Crown - June 30 MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkott Revised by: Samantha Salvador 05.26.2019 June 3 Scorpius (SCOR-pee-us), the Scorpion Sco, Scorpii (SCOR-pee-eye) MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 1 Scorpius Meaning: The Scorpion Pronunciation: skor' pee us Abbreviation: Sco Possessive form: Scorpii (skor' pee ee) Asterisms: The Fish Hook Bordering constellations: Ara, Corona Australis, Libra, Lupus, Norma, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius Overall brightness: 12.480 (10) Central point: RA = 16h49m Dec. = —27° Directional extremes: N = —8° 5= —46° E = 17h55m W = 15h44m Messier objects: M4, M6, M7, M80 Meteor showers: a Scorpiids (3 May) x Scorpiids (5 Jun) Midnight culmination date: 3 Jun Bright stars: a (15), X, (25), 0 (39), c (72), 8 (76), K (81), P. (93), D (111), t (129), n (146), a (147), 11 (176), µ1 (182) Named stars: Acrab (13), Al Niyat (a), Al Niyat (T), Antares (a), Dschubba (8), Graffias (c), Jabbah (v), Lesath (v), Sargas (0), Shaula (X), Vespertilio (a) Near stars: LFT 1358 (33), HD 156384 A-B-C (88), LFT 1266-1267 (102) Size: 496.78 square degrees (1.204% of the sky) Rank in size: 33 Solar conjunction date: 4 Dec Visibility: completely visible from latitudes: S of +44° completely invisible from latitudes: N of +82° Visible stars: (number of stars brighter than magnitude 5.5): 62 Interesting facts: (1) In ancient times, Scorpius also contained the stars of the present day constellation of Libra, the Scales. Libra represented the claws of the Scorpion. (2) a Sco, or Antares, is one of the four Royal Stars of the ancient Persians. The other three are Aldebaran (a Tau), Regulus (a Leo), and Fomalhaut (a PsA). (3) a Sco is a reddish star, and since it lies in the band of the zodiac, the planets are often seen nearby. It was because of the frequent proximity of Mars, that this star received its name, 'Antares.' This title is a literal combination of the terms 'anti' and 'Ares,' meaning, of course, 'the rival of Mars.' (4) About 5° NNE of v Sco lies the strongest x-ray source in the sky. Designated Scorpius X-1, this object is a close binary star with an apparent magnitude of 13. One of the stars is probably a neutron star of high density. As gas enveloping the system streams into the intense gravitational and magnetic fields near this star, it is accelerated to speeds near that of light. The result is the emission of x-rays called synchrotron radiation. MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 2 M4: Colorful Clouds Near Rho Ophiuchi Explanation: Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust illuminated from the front by starlight produces blue reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower center of the featured image. Rho Ophiuchi lies at the center of the blue nebula on the left. The distant globular cluster M4 is visible to the upper right of center. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum. M6: The Butterfly Cluster Explanation: To some, the outline of the open cluster of stars M6 resembles a butterfly. M6, also known as NGC 6405, spans about 20 light-years and lies about 2,000 light years distant. M6, pictured above, can best be seen in a dark sky with binoculars towards the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius), coving about as much of the sky as the full moon. Like other open clusters, M6 is composed predominantly of young blue stars, although the brightest star is nearly orange. M6 is estimated to be about 100 million years old. Determining the distance to clusters like M6 helps astronomers calibrate the distance scale of the universe. MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 3 M7: Open Star Cluster in Scorpius Explanation: M7 is one of the most prominent open clusters of stars on the sky. The cluster, dominated by bright blue stars, can be seen with the naked eye in a dark sky in the tail of the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). M7 contains about 100 stars in total, is about 200 million years old, spans 25 light-years across, and lies about 1000 light-years away. The above deep image, taken last June from Hungarythrough a small telescope, combines over 60 two- minute exposures. The M7 star cluster has been known since ancient times, being noted byPtolemy in the year 130 AD. Also visible are a dark dust cloud and literally millions of unrelated stars towards the Galactic center. M80: A Dense Globular Cluster Explanation: If our Sun were part of M80, the night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. M80, also known as NGC 6093, is one of about 250 globular clusters that survive in our Galaxy. Most of the stars in M80 are older and redder than our Sun, but some enigmatic stars appear to be bluer and younger. Young stars would contradict the hypothesis that all the stars in M80 formed at nearly the same time. These unusual stars are known as blue stragglers, and by analyzing pictures like the Hubble Space Telescope image above, astronomers have been able to find the largest population of blue stragglers yet. As blue stragglers are now thought to be due to stars coalescing, the collision and capture rate at the dense center of M80 must be very high. MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 4 June 6 Serpens (SER-punz), the Serpent Ser, Serpentis (ser-PEN-tiss) MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 5 Serpens Meaning: The Serpent Pronunciation: sir' pens Abbreviation: Ser Possessive form: Serpentis (sir pen' tiss) Asterisms: none Bordering constellations: Aquila, Bootes, Corona Borealis, Hercules, Libra, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Scutum, Virgo Overall brightness: 5.652 (67) Central point: RA = 16h55m Dec. = +5° Directional extremes: N = +26° S = —16° E = 18h56m W = 14h55m Messier objects: M5, M16 Meteor showers: none Midnight culmination date: 6 Jun Bright stars: a (104) Named stars: Alya (0), Cor Serpentis (a), Unuk al Hai (a) Near stars: BD-3°4233 (93) Size: 636.92 square degrees (1.544% of the sky) Rank in size: 23 Solar conjunction date: 5 Dec Visibility: completely visible from latitudes: +74° to —64° portions visible worldwide Visible stars: (number of stars brighter than magnitude 5.5): 36 Interesting facts: (1) Approximately 10° directly north of i3 Lib lies the magnificent globular cluster M5. Perhaps, in the entire northern sky, only M13 in Hercules is more wonderful. (2) In this constellation is another noteworthy object on Messier's list, M16, the famous Eagle Nebula. Somewhat disappointing in small and medium-sized instruments, on long-exposure photographs, a magnificent diffuse nebula is revealed. Robert Burnham, Jr., in his famous Celestial Handbook, Dover, 1978 christened this object the 'Star-Queen Nebula.' MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 6 Hubble's Messier 5 Explanation: "Beautiful Nebula discovered between the Balance [Libra] & the Serpent [Serpens] ..." begins the description of the 5th entryin 18th century astronomer Charles Messier's famous catalog of nebulae and star clusters. Though it appeared to Messier to be fuzzy and round and without stars, Messier 5 (M5) is now known to be a globular star cluster, 100,000 stars or more, bound by gravity and packed into a region around 165 light-years in diameter. It lies some 25,000 light- years away. Roaming the halo of our galaxy, globular star clusters are ancient members of the Milky Way. M5 is one of the oldest globulars, its stars estimated to be nearly 13 billion years old. The beautiful star cluster is a popular target for Earthbound telescopes. Of course, deployed in low Earth orbit on April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has also captured its own stunning close-up view that spans about 20 light-years near the central region of M5. Even close to its dense core at the left, the cluster's aging red and blue giant stars and rejuvenated blue stragglers stand out in yellow and blue hues in the sharp color image. MECATX RVA June 2019 - www.mecatx.ning.com – Youtube – MECATX – www.ustream.tv – dfkot 7 M16 and the Eagle Nebula Explanation: A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the region includes cosmic sculptures made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Messier Objects
    Messier Objects From the Stocker Astroscience Center at Florida International University Miami Florida The Messier Project Main contributors: • Daniel Puentes • Steven Revesz • Bobby Martinez Charles Messier • Gabriel Salazar • Riya Gandhi • Dr. James Webb – Director, Stocker Astroscience center • All images reduced and combined using MIRA image processing software. (Mirametrics) What are Messier Objects? • Messier objects are a list of astronomical sources compiled by Charles Messier, an 18th and early 19th century astronomer. He created a list of distracting objects to avoid while comet hunting. This list now contains over 110 objects, many of which are the most famous astronomical bodies known. The list contains planetary nebula, star clusters, and other galaxies. - Bobby Martinez The Telescope The telescope used to take these images is an Astronomical Consultants and Equipment (ACE) 24- inch (0.61-meter) Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope. It has a focal ratio of F6.2 and is supported on a structure independent of the building that houses it. It is equipped with a Finger Lakes 1kx1k CCD camera cooled to -30o C at the Cassegrain focus. It is equipped with dual filter wheels, the first containing UBVRI scientific filters and the second RGBL color filters. Messier 1 Found 6,500 light years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula (known as M1) is a supernova remnant. The original supernova that formed the crab nebula was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Arab astronomers in 1054 AD as an incredibly bright “Guest star” which was visible for over twenty-two months. The supernova that produced the Crab Nebula is thought to have been an evolved star roughly ten times more massive than the Sun.
    [Show full text]
  • Rules & Requirements for an SBAS Observing Certificate 1. You Must
    Rules & Requirements for an SBAS Observing Certificate 1. You must be a member of the SBAS in good standing to receive a certificate. 2. No Go To or Push To aided attempts will be accepted. Reading charts and star hopping are essential skills in our hobby. (You may use these methods to confirm your findings.) 3. Honor system is in full effect. These lists benefit your knowledge of the sky. Cheating only cheats yourself and the SBAS membership. Observations will be verified against digital planetarium charts. You may be required to answer questions about the objects you observed to verify your work. You may also be asked to show one of these objects at a star party. Once a list is completed, it is assumed you are familiar with every object on that list to the point where you can find it again and describe it to another person. 4. Upon completion of a list, submit the original paper version in person to Coy Wagoner at an SBAS meeting, public star party, or informal observing at the Worley. No digital submissions will be accepted at this time. 5. No observations may overlap. If one object is on two lists, your observations must be done on separate dates/times for credit. Copies of your observing logs will be saved and later compared to additional lists to make sure nothing overlaps. No observations prior to January 1, 2015 will be accepted for credit. 6. Observations should be done on your own. If you observe an object in someone else’s telescope or binoculars, the observation does not count unless you did the work to find it.
    [Show full text]
  • NGC -- IC Messier Type Constellation Mag Dimension Dist Al NGC
    NGC -- IC Messier Type Constellation Mag Dimension Dist al NGC 1952 M 001 Vestiges de Supernovæ - Crabe Taureau 8,4 6' x 4' 6300 NGC 7089 M 002 Amas globulaire Verseau 6,5 16' 37500 NGC 5272 M 003 Amas globulaire Chiens de Chasse 6,2 18' 33900 NGC 6121 M 004 Amas globulaire Scorpion 5,6 36' 7200 NGC 5904 M 005 Amas globulaire Serpent 5,6 23' 24500 NGC 6405 M 006 Amas ouvert - Papillon Scorpion 4,2 25' 1589 NGC 6475 M 007 Amas ouvert - Ptolémée Scorpion 3,3 80' 978 NGC 6523 M 008 Nébuleuse diffuse du Lagon Sagittaire 6 90' x 40' 5200 NGC 6333 M 009 Amas globulaire Ophiuchus 7,7 12' 25800 NGC 6234 M 010 Amas globulaire Ophiuchus 6,6 20' 14300 NGC 6705 M 011 Amas ouvert - Canard Sauvage Écu de sobieski 6,3 14' 6122 NGC 6218 M 012 Amas globulaire Ophiuchus 6,7 16' 16000 NGC 6205 M 013 Amas globulaire – Grand amas d'hercul Hercule 5,8 20' 25100 NGC 6402 M 014 Amas globulaire Ophiuchus 7,6 11' 30300 NGC 7078 M 015 Amas globulaire Pégase 6,2 1' 33600 NGC 6611 M 016 Amas ouvert + nébuleuse Serpent 6,4 7' 5607 NGC 6618 M 017 Nébuleuse diffuse - Oméga Sagittaire 6 46' x 36' 5916 NGC 6613 M 018 Amas ouvert Sagittaire 7,5 9' 4227 NGC 6273 M 019 Amas globulaire Ophiuchus 6,8 17' 28000 NGC 6514 M 020 Nébuleuse diffuse - Trifide Sagittaire 6,3 28' 2661 NGC 6531 M 021 Amas ouvert Sagittaire 6,5 13' 3930 NGC 6656 M 022 Amas globulaire Sagittaire 5,1 32' 10400 NGC 6494 M 023 Amas ouvert Sagittaire 6,9 27' 2048 IC 4715 M 024 Nuage galactique Sagittaire 4,6 90' 10000 IC 4725 M 025 Amas ouvert Sagittaire 4,6 32' 2000 NGC 6694 M 026 Amas ouvert Écu de sobieski
    [Show full text]
  • The Messier Catalog
    The Messier Catalog Messier 1 Messier 2 Messier 3 Messier 4 Messier 5 Crab Nebula globular cluster globular cluster globular cluster globular cluster Messier 6 Messier 7 Messier 8 Messier 9 Messier 10 open cluster open cluster Lagoon Nebula globular cluster globular cluster Butterfly Cluster Ptolemy's Cluster Messier 11 Messier 12 Messier 13 Messier 14 Messier 15 Wild Duck Cluster globular cluster Hercules glob luster globular cluster globular cluster Messier 16 Messier 17 Messier 18 Messier 19 Messier 20 Eagle Nebula The Omega, Swan, open cluster globular cluster Trifid Nebula or Horseshoe Nebula Messier 21 Messier 22 Messier 23 Messier 24 Messier 25 open cluster globular cluster open cluster Milky Way Patch open cluster Messier 26 Messier 27 Messier 28 Messier 29 Messier 30 open cluster Dumbbell Nebula globular cluster open cluster globular cluster Messier 31 Messier 32 Messier 33 Messier 34 Messier 35 Andromeda dwarf Andromeda Galaxy Triangulum Galaxy open cluster open cluster elliptical galaxy Messier 36 Messier 37 Messier 38 Messier 39 Messier 40 open cluster open cluster open cluster open cluster double star Winecke 4 Messier 41 Messier 42/43 Messier 44 Messier 45 Messier 46 open cluster Orion Nebula Praesepe Pleiades open cluster Beehive Cluster Suburu Messier 47 Messier 48 Messier 49 Messier 50 Messier 51 open cluster open cluster elliptical galaxy open cluster Whirlpool Galaxy Messier 52 Messier 53 Messier 54 Messier 55 Messier 56 open cluster globular cluster globular cluster globular cluster globular cluster Messier 57 Messier
    [Show full text]
  • (Also Designated NGC 5904) Is a Globular Cluster in the Constellation Serpens
    MESSIER 5 GLOBULAR CLUSTER Messier 5 or M5 (also designated NGC 5904) is a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1702 when looking for comets. It should not be confused with the much fainter and more distant globular cluster Palomar 5, which is situated nearby in the sky. DISCOVERY AND VISIBILITY M5 is, under extremely good conditions, just visible to the naked eye as a faint "star" near the star 5 Serpentis. Binoculars or small telescopes will identify the object as non-stellar while larger telescopes will show some individual stars, of which the brightest are of apparent magnitude 12.2. Charles Messier also noted it in 1764, but thought it a nebula without any stars associated with it. William Herschel was the first to resolve individual stars in the cluster in 1791, counting roughly 200. (see below for Messier 5 by Hubble Space Telescope details on William Herschel). CHARACTERISTICS Spanning 165 light-years in diameter, M5 is one of the largest known globular clusters. The gravitational sphere of influence of M5, (i.e. the volume of space in which stars are gravitationally bound to it rather than being torn away by the Milky Way's gravitational pull) has a radius of some 200 light-years. At 13 billion years old, M5 is also one of the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. Its distance is about 24,500 light-years from Earth, and it contains more than 100,000 stars. NOTABLE STARS 105 stars in M5 are known to be variable in brightness, 97 of them belonging to the RR Lyrae type.
    [Show full text]
  • Summer Sp Target Information
    SUMMER SP TARGET INFORMATION ALGIEBA (g LEO) BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Binary Star CONSTELLATION: Leo BEST VIEW: Late April DISCOVERY: Known to Ancients DISTANCE: 131 ly BINARY SEPARATION: 4” (170 AU) ORBITAL PERIOD: ~500 yr. APPARENT MAGNITUDE: 1.98 DISTANCE DETERMINATION After measuring the shift in position of the star relative to background stars as Earth orbits the Sun, simple trigonometry can yield the distance. The Hipparcos satellite was launched in 1989 to create a comprehensive catalog of trigonometric parallax measurements from space. The distance quoted above is from this catalog. NOTABLE FEATURES/FACTS • William Herschel discovered Algieba’s binary nature in 1782. • Both components of Algieba have evolved beyond the main sequence. They began their lives as B-type stars, and they will end their lives as white dwarfs. • In 2010, a team including former UT astronomer Arte Hatzes discovered a planet orbiting Algieba A. The planet is nine times the mass of Jupiter and orbits the star in 1.2 years at an average distance of 1.2 AU. SUMMER SP TARGET INFORMATION MESSIER 97 (THE OWL NEBULA) BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Planetary Nebula CONSTELLATION: Ursa Major BEST VIEW: Early May DISCOVERY: Pierre Mechain, 1781 DISTANCE: ~2000 ly DIAMETER: 1.8 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +9.9 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 3.3’ DISTANCE DETERMINATION The distances to most planetary nebulae are very poorly known. A variety of methods can be used, providing mixed results. In many cases, astronomers resort to statistical methods to estimate the distances to planetary nebulae. Although we don’t have accurate distances for most of the planetary nebulae in the Milky Way, we do know exactly how far away the Large Magellanic Cloud is.
    [Show full text]
  • Sky at Night 55 Moore Marathon - Observing Guide
    The Sky at Night 55 Moore Marathon - Observing Guide... Thanks for taking part in the Sky at Night’s Moore Marathon - our 55th anniversary challenge. This guide has been designed to help you fi nd the 55 selected objects in the marathon. We would like you to tell us which of our 55 selected objects you’ve managed to fi nd. If you’ve managed to grab any images of them, then you can share them via our Flickr group at... www.fl ickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight Remember too that you can keep up with the programme itself at... www.bbc.co.uk/skyatnight The guide has been written for the month of April, when British Summer Time is in force. When we talk about time in the marathon, we mean British Summer Time (BST) - that’s the same time as shown on your clock or watch. BST comes into force during 2012 on March 25th. On this day the clocks go forward by one hour. Please remember that for programme inclusion, we need your completed QUICK or DETAILED forms back by April 24th. Object No. Guide Page Object No. Guide Page Object No. Guide Page 1 2 21 4 41 4 2 2 22 11 42 4 3 2 23 15 43 2 4 2 24 15 44 8 5 4 25 4 45 9 6 4 26 11 46 9 7 8 27 14 47 9 8 8 28 14 48 9 9 8 29 14 49 4 10 4 30 9 50 2 11 4 31 15 51 4 12 9 32 11 52 15 13 10 33 4 53 15 14 10 34 13 54 13 15 10 35 2 55 11 16 10 36 4 17 13 37 2 18 11 38 4 19 14 39 4 20 13 40 11 Page 1 1 The Moon Rating - Easy Best seen with - Naked Eye Visibility - 1-9 April before midnight, 10-17 early hours, 22-30 early evening (programme deadline 24th April) The fi rst object is our very own Moon.
    [Show full text]
  • Deep Sky Explorer Atlas
    Deep Sky Explorer Atlas Reference manual Star charts for the southern skies Compiled by Auke Slotegraaf and distributed under an Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Creative Commons license. Version 0.20, January 2009 Deep Sky Explorer Atlas Introduction Deep Sky Explorer Atlas Reference manual The Deep Sky Explorer’s Atlas consists of 30 wide-field star charts, from the south pole to declination +45°, showing all stars down to 8th magnitude and over 1 000 deep sky objects. The design philosophy of the Atlas was to depict the night sky as it is seen, without the clutter of constellation boundary lines, RA/Dec fiducial markings, or other labels. However, constellations are identified by their standard three-letter abbreviations as a minimal aid to orientation. Those wishing to use charts showing an array of invisible lines, numbers and letters will find elsewhere a wide selection of star charts; these include the Herald-Bobroff Astroatlas, the Cambridge Star Atlas, Uranometria 2000.0, and the Millenium Star Atlas. The Deep Sky Explorer Atlas is very much for the explorer. Special mention should be made of the excellent charts by Toshimi Taki and Andrew L. Johnson. Both are free to download and make ideal complements to this Atlas. Andrew Johnson’s wide-field charts include constellation figures and stellar designations and are highly recommended for learning the constellations. They can be downloaded from http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052 Toshimi Taki has produced the excellent “Taki’s 8.5 Magnitude Star Atlas” which is a serious competitor for the commercial Uranometria atlas. His atlas has 149 charts and is available from http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zs3t-tk/atlas_85/atlas_85.htm Suggestions on how to use the Atlas Because the Atlas is distributed in digital format, its pages can be printed on a standard laser printer as needed.
    [Show full text]
  • Meeting Announcement Upcoming Star Parties the President's Corner
    CVAS Executive Committee Pres – Dell Vance - (435) 938-8328 Loaner Scope Coordinator/NSN Coordinator – [email protected] Garrett Smith – [email protected] Vice Pres- Bruce Horrocks Past President, Webmaster, Librarian – [email protected] Tom Westre – (435) 787-6380 [email protected] Treasurer- Brad Kropp - (435) 755-0877 Public Relations – Lyle Johnson - [email protected] [email protected] Secretary – Wendell Waters (435) 213-9230 [email protected] Vol. 6 Number 11 July 2019 www.cvas-utahskies.org The President’s Corner Meeting Announcement By Dell Vance, CVAS President There is no general meeting this month. Upcoming Star Parties August 2 – Beaver Mountain Parking Lot August 8 – Logan City Library 8 pm August 30 – Location TBD June has been a very active month for CVAS. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate for the first two star parties planned this month at USU Brigham City and Cache County Library in Providence. The next star party was a public star party at Lee’s Market Place in Logan. That star party was also overcast but we were able to see Jupiter and the Moon very clearly most of the night. There were several people that stopped by and “took a look”. We had seven telescopes there. About 10:30 PM we were able to finally see a couple of stars and everyone was able get their alignment for the other objects. June 18th was a very busy day. Wendell Waters made a presentation to Summer Science School Students that afternoon. Lyle Johnson made a presentation at the Logan Library that evening. We also presented Logan Library a second telescope that evening.
    [Show full text]
  • Charles Messier (1730-1817) Was an Observational Astronomer Working
    Charles Messier (1730-1817) was an observational Catalogue (NGC) which was being compiled at the same astronomer working from Paris in the eighteenth century. time as Messier's observations but using much larger tele­ He discovered between 15 and 21 comets and observed scopes, probably explains its modern popularity. It is a many more. During his observations he encountered neb­ challenging but achievable task for most amateur astron­ ulous objects that were not comets. Some of these objects omers to observe all the Messier objects. At «star parties" were his own discoveries, while others had been known and within astronomy clubs, going for the maximum before. In 1774 he published a list of 45 of these nebulous number of Messier objects observed is a popular competi­ objects. His purpose in publishing the list was so that tion. Indeed at some times of the year it is just about poss­ other comet-hunters should not confuse the nebulae with ible to observe most of them in a single night. comets. Over the following decades he published supple­ Messier observed from Paris and therefore the most ments which increased the number of objects in his cata­ southerly object in his list is M7 in Scorpius with a decli­ logue to 103 though objects M101 and M102 were in fact nation of -35°. He also missed several objects from his list the same. Later other astronomers added a replacement such as h and X Per and the Hyades which most observers for M102 and objects 104 to 110. It is now thought proba­ would feel should have been included.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the First Three Catalogues of Southern Star Clusters and Nebulae
    ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Cozens, Glendyn John (2008) An analysis of the first three catalogues of southern star clusters and nebulae. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/24051/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/24051/ Nicolas-Louis de La Caille, James Dunlop and John Herschel – An analysis of the First Three Catalogues of Southern Star Clusters and Nebulae Thesis submitted by Glendyn John COZENS BSc London, DipEd Adelaide in June 2008 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Information Technology James Cook University STATEMENT OF ACCESS I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Australian Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act and; I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work. ____________________ Signature Date ii STATEMENT OF SOURCES DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given.
    [Show full text]
  • Distances and Ages of Star Clusters Lab Worksheet
    Student Name: Lab TA Name: Lab Partner Name: A1101, Lab 8: Distances and Ages of Star Clusters Lab Worksheet Background Here are a few important things to remember about stellar evolution and star clusters for this Lab: • A star spends most of its lifetime on the main sequence, fusing hydrogen into helium in its core. • After exhausting its core hydrogen, a star expands and becomes a luminous, cool, red giant. • After the end of the red giant phase, the envelope of the star expands out into space, and the core remains behind as a white dwarf, slowly cooling off over time. (Massive stars explode as supernovae and leave behind neutron stars or black holes.) • On the main sequence, higher mass stars are hotter and much more luminous. As a result, they use up their hydrogen fuel more quickly than lower mass stars, even though they have more fuel to begin with. Massive stars live fast and die young. • The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old, roughly halfway through its lifetime as a main sequence star. • The stars we see over the sky with the naked eye or a small telescope have a wide range of masses, luminosities, distances, and ages. • The stars in a star cluster appear close together on the sky, and they are all at nearly the same distance from the Earth. • The stars in a star cluster were all born at nearly the same time, so the stars in a given cluster are all nearly the same age today. However, different star clusters may have very different ages.
    [Show full text]