APOD 3.4

              This image first appealed to me as I had been watching lord of the rings and it reminded me of the giant eye at the top of the tower in the movie. The image above is of the the helix nebula from the vista telescope. The nebula is what forms after after a star. When a sun like star diminishes a gas like cloud called a nebula can form. The image is taken in infared as the colors of the nebula would be unseen to the naked eye. Its confusing to think that when a star nears the end of its life it basically explodes. Sending debris in every direction. Why would there be anything left? Would not all of the debris be sent, scattered across space. What force holds material back to create a object such as this?

APOD 3.3

              I always enjoyed these types of photos. The long exposure images were always very appealing. This image taken from an observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile is very cool. I guess other than the unique image these pictures portray they actually have some astrological importance as well. When understanding the sky and the stars it is sometimes difficult to comprehend them as moving. Its obvious to see the sun as it appears to rotate across our sky, but stars are not as unique and don't have as much as an impact on our minds. These long exposure pictures help instill the idea of stellar motion. This also helps better understand the seasonal positions of constellations and where to identify them in different parts of the night throughout the year.

APOD 3.2

             When i first viewed this image it appealed to me as it looks like a giant sand ball. The outer texture visually appears to be loose and sand like.The description says that the moon is being lit by Saturns light, which can obviously be seen on the right side of the image. However what is illuminating the rest of the moon? There must also be light coming from other nearby stars or other planets to allow the moon to emit light. The satellite which took the image contains evidense of the possibilities of ice crystals under the surface of the moon. This might explain the the surface composition.

APOD 3.1

          The image above is of a comet passing through the Hercules constellation. I was not viewing the night sky when it passed, however in the description it says that the comet would have been below the visibility for the naked eye. I did not know that the tail of the comet contained iron. I was under the impression the tail was simply dust and debree from whatever compound the core of the comet was made of. I assume this particular comet contains iron if its tail is composed of iron. The description states the tail is altered by space wind. This concept is confusiong as I try to assimilate it with wind on Earth. However this can not be the same as there is no oxygen is space.

Observation Hours 1-4

Feb 12, 2012 Stargaze 7-9pm

       In the western sky we observed Pegasus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Also just after we started somewhere around 7:15 there was a satellite orbiting overhead. On the south western corner of the sky near the horizon there was Jupiter and Venus as well as Eridanus. In the eastern sky we saw Gemini, Canis Major, Lepus, Auriga and Orion. The binoculars were aimed at the plyeades. In the north we saw the big dipper and cancer. Directly above us we saw taurus (hyades) 

William Lassell- Biography

                  William Lassell was born 1799 and past away in 1880. During his life he was a very important astronomer who made many important achievements in the advancement of celestial understandings. At the time astronomy was a hobby and you needed a financial base to be able to dabble into it. Lassell made his fortune in the beer brewing industry and was then able to study the night sky. He actually built his own observatory in Liverpool to conduct his observations.Specific achievements are involved with Saturn and Neptune.
                Lassell manufactured his very own telescope and it was a refracting telescope. The telescope was extremely heavy and was perfect for viewing the long term aspects of planetary motion. Following the creation of his own satellite he discovered many of Saturns satellites. He discovered Triton and Hyperion of Saturn and several of uranus including Ariel. Lassell also had studied into the planetary rings of Saturn and led to the better understandings of their existence. Lassell had major contributions in the telescope aspect of astronomy. Aside from making his own telescope, he had many advancements in his telescope design. Lassell made a steam powered telescope. Along with this he produced a 48 inch speculum mirror for his observations. This larger telescope was built in Malta because of the better prime observing location. Adding to his accomplishments he recieved the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in 1849. He then served as the society's president for two years (1870-1871).
               Following his death he was renowned forever as one of the most famous and important astronomers in planetary objects. He detailed many important things in Saturn, Urnaus, Jupiter and Neptune, involving their natural sattellites and ring systems. He innovated satellites and all in all was an innovative person in the field of astronomy. Neptune had a ring system named after him. The Lassell ring was one of the inner rings of Neptune named after him as he was an important person involved with its observations. The rings were named after astronomers who were involved with the early detailed observations of Neptune.

Observations Jan 11, 2012

                  My family went out to dinner and then went to the beach afterwards at night. It was neat to see the entire night time sky from a uninterrupted area of light. I was looking up at the stars and tried to identify some specific points. I noticed one object shining brighter than all the others. I assumed it was probably a planet. I thought maybe it was Venus because Venus is usually visible in the early evening sky. I looked it up on my phone and it was Jupiter. To the naked eye its hard to distinguish planet to planet unless I had known specific locations. Anyways I felt proud to be able to identify a planet from a star.