APOD 3.2 Eclipses in the Shade

On January 15th, the longest annular solar eclipse that will occur for the next 1,00o years appeared over Africa and Asia. This particular image was taken in Ellaidhoo, Maldives, which is an atoll island in the Indian Ocean. Annular eclipses occur when the sun and moon are exactly in line but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the Sun. This particular eclipse lasted 10 minutes and 55 seconds. The image displays little images of the eclipse scattered across the sand. The crossed leaves of palm trees created gaps that acted like pinhole cameras. Pinhole cameras consist of a hole that creates an image of the outside space on the opposite side of the box. Because of this effect, you can see lots of tiny images of the eclipse all over the background of the sand.

APOD 3.1 Dark Sand Cascades on Mars

This photograph taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows what appears to be small trees on the surface of Mars. The features in the picture were captured near the North Pole of Mars, which is covered in frozen carbon dioxide. As Spring approached, the carbon dioxide ice started to melt, which made the dark sand on the interior of the Martian sand dunes more visible. When the sand is near the top of the dune, it is common for the sand to streak down the side of the dune and leave dark streaks. These streaks are what many people confuse with trees. The streaks appear to be trees in front of the lighter regions of sand that cast no shadows. When the image was enlarged, it was discovered that the sand slides were occurring while the picture was being taken.

Observations

Date: 1/14/10

Location: Venice, Fl

Conditions: cloudy

Time: 8:30-9:00

Observations:

Mars: about 15 degrees ENE

Sirius: about 25 degrees high in the S, blue, extremely bright, twinkling

Procyon: about 25 degrees high in the East, twinkling a lot

Castor and Pollux: about 35 degrees high ENE

Capella: about 60 degrees NE

Algol: 75 degrees N

Mira: about 55 degrees SW

Orion: SE, about 50 degrees high, Betelgeuse and Rigel very bright

Aldebaran: about 70 degrees ESE

Great Square of Pegasus: 35 degrees high in the West, very bright,

Cassiopeia: could see the M of the constellation, a few other stars of the constellation, about 45 degrees NNW

Pleiades: straight up, very blue

Polaris: North, about 30 degrees, could see bottom stars of little dipper at about 10 degrees N

Could see tip of Phoenix in SSW

Cepheus: 30 degrees NNW

Perseus: about 70 degrees NNW, double cluster could be easily seen

Could see heads of Pisces and Cetus next to Great Square of Pegasus

Observations

Date: 1/13/10

Location: Venice, Fl

Conditions: clear

Time: 8:15-8:45

Observations:

Mars: about 10 degrees ENE, very red

Jupiter: not visible

Sirius: about 25 degrees high in the S, blue, extremely bright

Procyon: about 25 degrees high in the East, no bright stars surrounding it

Castor and Pollux: about 35 degrees high ENE

Capella: about 60 degrees NNE

Algol: 80 degrees N

Orion: SE, about 45 degrees high, all main stars visible except those of the sword

Aldebaran: about 70 degrees ESE

Great Square of Pegasus: 45 degrees high in the West, very bright, used as guide to find andromeda galaxy at about 50 degrees WNW

Cassiopeia: could see the M of the constellation, a few other stars of the constellation at about 50 degrees NNW

Pleiades: about 80 degrees ESE, very blue and bright

Deneb: about 10 degrees NW, no other stars of summer triangle or northern cross visible Polaris: North, about 30 degrees, could see bottom stars of little dipper at about 10 degrees N

Observations

Date: 1/12/10

Location: Venice, Fl

Conditions: partly cloudy

Time: 8:00-8:30

Observations:

Mars: not visible

Jupiter: about 10 degrees WSW

Sirius: about 20 degrees high in the S, blue, extremely bright, twinkling a lot

Procyon: about 20 degrees high in the East

Castor and Pollux: about 30 degrees high ENE

Capella: about 55 degrees NNE

Algol: 75 degrees N

Fomalhaut: about 10 degrees SW

Orion: SE, about 40 degrees high, all main stars visible

Aldebaran: about 65 degrees ESE

Great Square of Pegasus: 40 degrees high in the West, very bright, could not find andromeda galaxy

Cassiopeia: WorM looked like an M

Deneb: about 15 degrees NW, dim

Polaris: North, about 30 degrees, could see bottom stars of little dipper at about 10 degrees N

Observations

Date: 1/11/10

Location: Venice, Fl

Conditions: clear

time: 8:00-8:30

observations:

Mars: not visible

Jupiter: about 10 degrees WSW

Sirius: about 20 degrees high in the S, blue, extremely bright

Procyon: about 20 degrees high in the East, twinkling a lot

Castor and Pollux: about 30 degrees high ENE

Capella: about 55 degrees NNE

Algol: 75 degrees N

Fomalhaut: about 10 degrees SW

Orion: SE, about 40 degrees high, all main stars visible

Aldebaran: about 65 degrees ESE

Great Square of Pegasus: 40 degrees high in the West, very bright, used as guide to find andromeda galaxy

Cassiopeia: could see the M of the constellation, a few other stars of the constellation

Pleiades: about 75 degrees ESE

Deneb: about 15 degrees NW, no other stars of summer triangle or northern cross visible

Polaris: North, about 30 degrees, could see bottom stars of little dipper at about 10 degrees N

Observations

Date: 1/10/10

Location: Venice, Fl

Conditions: clear

time: 9:00-9:30

observations:

Mars: about 15 degrees high ene, very red

Sirius: about 30 degrees high in the S, blue, extremely bright

Procyon: about 30 degrees high in the East

Castor and Pollux: about 40 degrees high ENE

Capella: about 65 degrees NNE

Algol: 75 degrees NNW, not very bright

Orion: SE, about 50 degrees high, all main stars visible

Great Square of Pegasus: 30 degrees high in the West, very bright, could not find andromeda galaxy

Cassiopeia: could see the M of the constellation, no other stars

Pleiades: straight up, very blue, bright

APOD 2.8 New Year Sungrazer

The SOHO satellite. which stands for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, is a NASA satellite that orbits the sun and its main goal is to make observations of the sun. SOHO comes equipped with a smooth occulting disk that is much bigger than the sun itself is used to block out the intense sunlight that comes from the body of the sun and the outer regions of the star. At the edge of the disk is a sungrazer comet. A sungrazer comet is a comet that orbits extremely close to the sun. Sungrazers often orbit too close to the sun, where strong evaporation and tidal forces lead to the fragmentation of the comet. This recent sungrazer comet was discovered by Alan Watson when he was viewing images taken by another spacecraft, STEREO-A, and is one of the brightest observed so far by SOHO. This particular sungrazer did not survive its journey around the sun. Sungrazers are believed to be members of the Kreutz family of comets, which were formed from the successive breakups of a single comet that passed close to the sun during the twentieth century.

Observations

Date: 1/8/10

Location: Venice, Fl

Time: 8:15-8:45

Conditions: clear

Observations:

Mars: very low, ENE, about 3 degrees high ENE

Castor and Pollux: about 30 degrees high ENE, very bright, Pollux twinkling a lot, more than Castor

Procyon: 20 degrees high in the E

Orion: about 35 degrees high in the ESE, stars of belt very bright, Orion's sword very clear, Betelgeuse and Rigel both bright

Sirius: ESE, 20 degrees high, very blue, twinkling a lot

Aldebaran: about 65 degrees high ESE

Pleiades: about 75 degrees high ESE, appear very blue

Jupiter: about 8 degrees high WSW

Fomalhaut: about 10 degrees high in the SW, hard to see due to high trees in the SW

Great Square of Pegasus: about 30 degrees high in the west, all four stars very bright

Deneb: about 15 degrees high in the NW, can not see the other stars of the northern cross because they are too low and there are houses/ trees in the way

Polaris: about 25 degrees high in the N, can see two bottom stars of the Little Dipper almost directly below

Capella: about 55 degrees high in the NE

Algol: about 75 degrees high in the N

Observations

Date:1/7/09

location: Venice, Fl

Time: 8:30-9:00

conditions: cloudy, bright stars still visible

Observations:

Jupiter: not visible

Mars: about 5 degrees in the ENE

Orion: 30 degrees high ESE, Rigel, Betelgeuse easiest to say, other stars still visible, but were hard to see because of clouds.

Sirius: about 20 degrees in the SE

Aldebaran: about 70 degrees ESE

Pleiades: about 80 degrees ESE

Capella: about 55 degrees in the NE

Algol: about 75 degrees high in the N

3 0f the 5 stars of the M from Cassiopeia visible

Great square of Pegasus in the West, ranges from 30-50 degrees high

Fomalhaut: about 8 degrees high in the SW

Mira: visible in the SSW about 55 degrees high

Procyon: 25 degrees high in the E

Observations

date: 1/6/09

location: Venice, Fl

time: 8:00-8:30

conditions: clear

observations:

Deneb: about 12.5 degrees high in the northwest, relatively dim

Polaris: about 25 degrees in the north, dim, could not see the bottom two stars of the little dipper

Sirius: extremely bright, under Orion, in the east, twinkling more than the other stars around it, looks blue

Fomalhaut: in the southwest, about 12.5 degrees high

Jupiter: about 10 degrees high in the west southwest

Mars: not yet visible

Gemini: about 22.5 degrees high ENE, Castor and Pollux very bright, the stars of the feet of Gemini also visible

Capella: very high, about 50 degrees in the NE

Cassiopeia: WorM is an m, about 50 degrees high in the NW

Algol: about 80 degrees N, can not see enough stars to make out the rest of Perseus

Great Square of Pegasus: about 40 degrees

Orion: about 30 degrees in the ESE

2nd Quarter Biography

Kenny Smith

Mr. Percival

Pd.00

8 Jan. 2010

Johann Franz Encke

Johann Franz Encke was born on September 23^rd, 1791 in Hamburg, Germany. Encke attended the University of Göttingen in 1811 and studied mathematics and astronomy under Carl Friedrich Gauss. Encke then enlisted in the military and did not return to the university until 1816. Almost immediately upon his return, Encke was appointed as an assistant at the Seeberg Observatory, near Gotha, Germany. In 1822, Encke was appointed director of the observatory. In 1823, he married Amalie Becker, with whom he had three sons and two daughters. In 1825, Encke took the position of professor of astronomy and director of the observatory at the University of Berlin. Encke worked for the University of Berlin until 1863. Encke later died on August 26^th, 1865.

While working at the Seeberg Observatory, Encke made many famous observations about comets. In 1817, Encke received the Cotta Prize for his work on the investigation of the comet of 1680. Encke also was able to figure out the orbital period of 71 years for the comet of 1812, which is now called 12P/Pons-Brooks. Perhaps his most famous discovery in regards to comets came when he examined the orbital elements of the comet of 1818 seen by Jean-Louis Pons. Pons suspected that one of the three comets observed during 1818 was the same comet that he had discovered in 1805. Encke calculated the orbital period to be about 3.3 years. Up until this point in history, all known comets had orbital periods of seventy years plus. Encke sent a note to Gauss explaining his findings and Gauss published the note. Encke became famous for being the discoverer of the short period comet. This comet was named Encke’s Comet in honor of Encke. This comet was one of the first comets named after someone other than its discoverer. In 1824, Encke received the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in London because of his correct and ground-breaking prediction on the return of this comet in 1822. Encke also received this award in 1830.

While he was professor at the University of Berlin, Encke led and directed the preparation of the star-maps of the Berlin Academy. The maps were finished in 1859. Encke also spearheaded the building of a new observatory at the university. The new observatory was inaugurated in 1835. Encke was the teacher for many well known astronomers, including Johann Galle, who discovered Neptune while he was an assistant to Encke, F. F. E. Brünnow, B. A. Gould, K. N. A. Kruseger, W. J. Förster, Friedrich Tietjen, and K. C. Bruhns. Encke edited the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch, which is an astronomical almanac that was issued every year from 1776 to 1960. Johann Encke also issued four volumes of the Astronomische Beobachtungen of the Berlin observatory and published several of his papers in Astronomische Nachrichten.

Encke has several other small contributions to the astronomical world. In 1837, he discovered a wide variation in the brightness of the A Ring of Saturn. When it was later discovered that this was caused by a gap between the A Ring and the very small F Ring, the gap was named the Encke Gap, even though Encke was not the true discoverer. Encke used observations from the transits of Venus that occurred in 1761 and 1769 to calculate the solar parallax to be 8.57 arc seconds, which is very close to today’s accepted value. Encke developed methods for calculating the orbits of minor planets and the orbits of double stars. Encke’s name has also been bestowed upon an asteroid, 9134 Encke, and a crater on the moon.

Johann Encke has had an immense impact on astronomy. His accurate investigations into comets made him famous around the world. Encke’s discovery of the short periodic comet sent shockwaves through the astronomical world. His star maps were used by his assistant, Johann Galle, to help discover Neptune. Encke impacted all aspects of the astronomy program at the University of Berlin and helped make the program one of the best around. Although not all of Encke’s contributions were obvious, he truly changed the world of astronomy as we know it today.

Sources:

"Encke, Johann Franz." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 369-370. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Sarasota County High. 8 Jan. 2010 .

"Johann Franz Encke." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 08 Jan. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186524/Johann-Franz-Encke>.

"Encke, Johann Franz (1791-1865)." Plichts Website. Ed. Chris Plicht. Web. 09 Jan. 2010. .

"Johann Franz Encke." -- jd --. Web. 08 Jan. 2010. .

"Johann Franz Encke." Cambridge Encyclopedia. Web. 09 Jan. 2010. .

"Johann Franz Encke." NNDB: Tracking the entire world. Web. 09 Jan. 2010. .

Apod 2.7 The Mystery of the Fading Star

Epsilon Aurigae, a binary star and the fifth brightest star in the constellation Auriga, is very mysterious. Every 27 years, Epsilon Aurigae fades and stays dim for 2 years before returning to its normal magnitude. Epsilon Aurigae is being eclipsed by a single star embedded in a dusty disk. The disk is estimated to have a radius of four astronomical units and to have a thickness of .5 astronomical units. Epsilon Aurigae is currently undergoing the two-year long eclipse. Astronomers formed a team called Citizen Sky and are currently collecting data to help explain the nature of the companion star and the state of the brighter star, which couldn't be explained in previous observations. Spitzer Space Telescope, an infrared telescope, has observed Epsilon Aurigae and its data provides evidence that Epsilon Aurigae is a large, but low mass star near the end of its life cycle. The current eclipse will last throughout 2010 and in 2011 Epsilon Aurigae will rapidly return to its normal brightness.

Observations

Date: 1/5/09

Location: Venice, Fl

Time: 8:00-8:30

Conditions: some clouds low in sky, none higher up

Observations:

Constellations:

Orion: 25 degrees high ESE

Casseiopeia: high in the N, WorM asterism appears as an M when looking to the north

Pegasus: Great Square of Pegasus easily visible in the W

Gemini: about 20 degrees high in the East, Pollux and Castor very bright

Planets:

Jupiter: about 10 degrees high in the SW, very bright

looked for Mars, but it was too low to be seen

Stars:

Sirius: very bright about 15 degrees in ESE, blue appearance

Fomalhaut: in the SW about 15 high, did not appear as bright as it did at other times, (E.g. Fomalhaut seemed brighter in November)

Deneb: 15 high in the NW

Polaris: around 25 degrees in the N, not very bright, was almost directly above another bright star by about 15 degrees with very few, faint stars in between

found the two bottom stars of the Little Dipper asterism of Ursa Minor by using Polaris as a guide.

Observations

Date: 1/4/09

Time: 8:25-8:55

Location: Venice, Fl

Conditions: partly cloudy

Instruments: Celestron 10 X 50 binoculars

Observations:

Moon: has not risen yet

Orion: about 25-30 degrees high in the SE, can see Betelgeuse, Rigel, Bellatrix, Saiph, three stars of the belt, and the sword. When using binoculars, the Great Orion Nebula could easily be seen. Orion was surrounded by lots of stars that were visible with the binoculars, but not the naked eye.

Sirius: about 12.5 degrees high in the South East, brightest star that can be seen, appears blue, was twinkling a lot.

Procyon: about 12.5 degrees high in the East.

Gemini: Pollux and Castor very easy to see, the other stars of the constellation were difficult to see. Pollux- 15 degrees high in East. Castor: 17.5 degrees high in the East.

Cassiopeia: WorM asterism high overhead in the North

Polaris: about 27 degrees in the North
Deneb: about 17.5 degrees in North West

Square of Pegasus: in the West, spans from 20-30 degrees high

Pleiades: very blue and bright, almost straight up, in the East.

Mars: about 6 degrees high in the East, very red

Algol: straight overhead in the constellation Perseus, the hero.

looked for Mira high in the SSW, but it was not found