Quarter 4 Biography

Frank Low was born in Mobile, Alabama on November 23, 1933. As a child he was raised in Houston, Texas. He studied physics as an undergraduate at Yale, and then went on to earn a PhD in physics from Rice University in 1959.
Soon afterward, Low got a job with Texas Instruments, in 1961. One of his earlier projects was developing a semiconductor doped with gallium that measured low temperatures by changes in electrical resistance. Low recognized that the technology behind this thermometer could be the basis of a bolometer, or a sensitive detector, that could be used to measure the energy coming from stars in infrared telescopes, which were at the time wavelengths too short to be detected by existing telescopes. Low thought that the infrared detector could reveal celestial objects that would otherwise remain unseen, because it would pick up the heat from objects too small to have previously been found.
In 1962, Low took a prototype bolometer to the National Radio Astronomy Laboratory in Green Bank, West Virginia, and successfully demonstrated it. However, he was not in the clear. Infrared radiation is absorbed by water vapor in the atmosphere, so very little of it actually reached the land-based detectors.
To avoid atmospheric absorption of infrared radiation, Low developed devices that could be carried on aircrafts. First, he built a 2-inch telescope with an infrared detector and arranged for it to be mounted on a Navy jet, a Douglas A3 Skywarrior. This went on in 1965 and 1966, so after two years of demonstration flights proved the utility of the concept, he later built a 12-inch telescope was mounted in a Learjet by NASA in 1969.
Using the telescope on the Learjet Low observed that Jupiter and Saturn emitted more heat than they absorbed from sunlight, demonstrating that both planets must have an internal energy source. Low continued to use the Learjet for research, even after NASA, inspired by Low's success, launched the Kuiper Observatory and other more advanced telescopes.
Low knew, though, that really good observations would require telescopes in space, as they would be completely above the atmosphere and water vapor. He proposed the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS), and along three other astronomers, and efforts form the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom was a leader in designing and launching it in 1983. It made the first survey of the sky in infrared from space. Many of the parts for the detectors, especially after an accident at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, came from Low's own Infrared Laboratories, Inc., which he founded in 1967.
IRAS was a massive success, and has discovered over 500,000 infrared sources, including galaxies. It has also discovered debris surrounding stars that show early stages of planetary formation, with debris similar to what was later found in the Kuiper belt-- which encircles our own Solar System.
Because of his enormous contributions to astronomy, especially infrared advancements, Low was asked to serve as a scientists for NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility, which ultimately became known as the Spitzer Telescope. However, the team was having trouble launching it under the budget of $100 million--it was abnormally expensive because the telescope was designed to be cooled with liquid helium before launch, and then orbited in a helium-cooled cryostat.
At a 1993 retreat for the project's scientists, Low had an inspiration. To cool only the detector itself before launch, and let the innate heat of the telescope radiate into space. The Spitzer Telescope launched successfully in August 2003.
While making these field-changing discoveries, Low was still a teacher. He taught at the University of Arizona from 1965 to 1996, and simultaneously taught at Rice University from 1966 to 1979. He retired from his company, Infrared Laboratories, Inc., in 2007, and passed away on June 11, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 75.

Quarter 4 Biography Works Cited

I couldn't find a book on Frank Low :(


Overbye, Dennis. "Frank J. Low, Who Helped Drive Field of Infrared Astronomy, Dies at 75." The New York Times. 20 June 2009. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/science/space/21low.html>.

Harrison, Jeff. "Astronomer Frank J. Low, 1933-2009." UANews.org. The University of Arizona, 22 June 2009. Web. <http://uanews.org/node/26150>.

Maugh II, Thomas H. "Frank J. Low Dies at 75; One of the Fathers of Infrared Astronomy - Latimes.com." Los Angeles Times. 25 June 2009. Web. <http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-frank-low25-2009jun25,0,3511512.story>.

APOD 4.7

This is a breathtaking picture of the Trifid Nebula, also known as M20, which lies about 5,000 light-years away by the constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region, the nebula contains three different nebula: red emission nebulae, blue reflection nebulae, and dark nebulae. The bright red emission that is separated into three sections by the dark dust lanes lends the nebulae to its name. The Trifid Nebula is about 40 light-years across.

APOD 4.6

I chose to do a picture on Jupiter's Great Red Spot because I really like it and I haven't done a picture of it yet this year. The Great Red Spot is basically a giant hurricane, a hurricane that is twice the size of the Earth. It is an astronomical anomaly: neither predicted nor initially understood, with no visible signs of slowing. Even today, details on the spot's size, shape, and color remain a mystery. If we better understand the weather conditions on Jupiter it could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of our weather here on Earth.

APOD 4.5

This is two galaxies that have collided! They are located in the southern constellation of Corvus, aka Crow :). The two galaxies seen here are NGC 4038 and NGC 4039. This event actually lasts hundreds of millions of years, but even so in the entire event the stars do not collide. Instead their clouds of molecular gas and dust do, triggering star formation near the center of the collision. This spans approximately 500 light-years across, and is aptly named "Antennae" due to its long shape. And the matter that is far from the center were flung there by gravitational tidal forces.

APOD 4.4http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3805620845326069297

This is called CAT'S EYE. I LOVE CATS! This nebula lies about 3,000 light years away from Earth. This planetary nebula represents a final, brief phase in the life of a sun-like star. The dying central star in the nebula produced the outer pattern of dusty, concentric layers by shrugging off outer layers in a series of regular convulsions. The eye of this is about half a light-year across. This is approximately the phase our sun will be in in about 5 billion years.

APOD 4.3

This is a view of the emission nebula IC 410 in false color. The two clouds of dust and gas in the top left, a part of the "cosmic pond," are the tadpoles.The nebula itself actually surrounds a cluster of stars, NGC 1893, which energizes the glowing gas. The reason for the tadpole shape of the clouds is that they were "sculpted" so to speak by the wind and radiation from the stars. IC 410 lies approximately 12,000 light years away, by the constellation Auriga.

Zooniverse

On Zooniverse I'm doing MoonZoo. I basically just find craters, mounds, boulders or anything irregular to label. So far I haven't seen anything irregular at all, and if I see anything, it's usually just mounds.

APOD 4.2

THIS IS SO COOL. I realize that it's only an artist's rendition, because we have never actually been on Titan's surface, but this image of it is so neat. I chose this picture because it's so neat to think that there's weather on other planets/moons, not just Earth. However, there are major differences, obviously, between our storms and theirs. Since the temperature of Titan is consistently about -290 degrees Farenheit, the storms, cycle of evaporation, cloud formation, and rain, is not water but liquid methane. Thunderstorms like this are seasonal on Titan's surface, more along the equatorial regions. However, the lightning drawn in this picture is not confirmed, just theorized. It is thought that it could exist due to the thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere.

APOD 4.1

This is an image of Valles Marineris, a canyon on Mars. Also the largest canyon in the Solar System. It is approximately 3000 km long, 600 km across, and 8 km deep. To put that into perspective, the grand canyon in the United States is 800 km long, 30 km across, and 1.8 km deep. Scientists are still unsure of how the canyon formed, but they hypothesize that it was started as a crack on the planet that cooled billions of years ago. Just by looking at this image of the planet, it is obvious that the canyon is extremely large, as it is visible from space. 

APOD 3.8

I chose this picture because I saw the title was "Red Snow Moon" and I was intrigued. This picture shows a full moon in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The term snow moon dates back to the Native Americans, who named the full moon of every February that. I also love this picture because when comparing the width and size of the buildings surrounding it, they look quite similar. Basically, the moon looks huge! It's so neat. I also love the red glow that is cast on the moon and sky, similar to that of a sunset. And that is because the blue light is scattered away by intervening air.

APOD 3.7

What you are seeing right here is the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, about 11,000 light-years away. It spans approximately 15 light-years, but what is so important about this picture is the inset. What is highlighted is the neutron star at the very center of the supernova. A neutron star is incredibly small and dense remains of the stellar core. This neutron core is different though, in the fact that this particular neutron star is cooling incredibly rapidly to the point that it is forming a frictionless neutron superfluid. This is so different and unique because it is the first observational for this bizarre state of matter.

APOD 3.6

I love Switzerland! I also love this picture because it's beautiful. I also like this picture because so much of the night sky is visible, and the Ms and constellations are labeled, which really helps with people like me who get incredibly disoriented when looking at the night sky. I also love how well captured the Milky Way is in this. Still, my favorite part of this is that so many of the different night sky objects are captured, because being able to see them in perspective, spanned across the night sky is very helpful. Some of the captured constellations and deep sky objects are M33 in Triangulum, M44 the Beehive, the Rosette Nebula, the Orion Nebula, and even the Pacman Nebula.

APOD 3.5

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1102/rosette_lula_900.jpg

The picture that I chose is an image of the Rosette Nebula. I chose this mostly because we have learned the constellation that this is in, Monoceros. And I think it's neat to be able to see what we're learning as it really appears, and not just in diagrams and words. The stars in the center of the Rosette Nebula are very bright, and they're also fairly young, forming only approximately four million years ago. The stellar winds from these stars are actually forming a whole in the nebula, which is apparent when you look at it. The Rosette Nebula itself spans about 100 light years across, about 5000 light years away. 

3-16-11

On Wednesday Night I was on Siesta Key beach just a little after sunset, at about 8:15, and it was beautiful. Fortunately after driving I forgot to take off my glasses when we went onto the beach, so I could view the sky clearly.
The two main objects I noticed in the sky were very bright in the southwest direction, not very far apart. While I am not 100% sure of my guess, I think they were Rigel and Sirius. Rigel is in Orion, Sirius is in Canis Major.
Another few observations I made were the moon, which was in waxing gibbous phase, and the Pleiades and the Hyades.

Stargaze!

I'm sorry this is so late! I went to a stargaze almost a month ago I think (eek!) somewhere near the end of February, and have only ever remembered to post about it when I'm not next to a computer.
While, I admit, I do not remember all, I have stored a lot in my memory, because I have been meaning to post, so I will try to summarize to my best ability.
I met Amanda at Pine View for the stargaze and the first couple things we observed together were the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia, and the "W" that the stars in it make. Also, I was quick to point out Orion's Belt.
With Mr. Percival's help the three of us were able to identify most of the zodiacal constellations in the sky, and the heavenly G.

Astronomer Biography: Henrietta Leavitt

Henrietta Leavitt was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1868. When she was young she moved to Cleveland, Ohio. She then attended Oberlin College and Radcliffe College, formerly known as the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women. During Leavitt’s senior year was when she discovered her passion for astronomy. However, she experienced a serious setback after college when she contracted a serious illness and became severely deaf. Because of that she spent several years at home, but did not ever stop thinking about astronomy.

In 1895, after spending three years at home, she started volunteering at the Harvard College Observatory. After seven years of hard work she was appointed to be a member of permanent staff, by director Charles Pickering. She became the head of the photographic photometry department, which studied images of stars to determine their magnitude. However, Pickering did not like his women employees to do work with theoretical endeavors, so in her position as the head of the department she mainly cleaned telescopes.
During her career Leavitt discovered more than 2,400 variable stars during her career-- these are stars that change from bright to dim back to bright fairly regularly. Her most important contribution then, unsurprisingly, came from the field of variable stars. She discovered the cepheid variable period-luminosity relationhsip in 1908, from studying the Cepheid variables in the Small Magellanic Clouds. The basis of this is that there is a direct correlation between how bright a star is and how long it takes from a star to go from bright to dim. This relationship aided countless other astronomers’ discoveries, such as Edwin Hubble, Harlow Shapley, and Ejnar Hertzsprung.

She also, related to her work as the head of the photographic photometry department, created a standard of photographic measurements. She did this too by using the “north polar sequence” as a gauge for brightness of stars. They were accepted by the International Committee of Photographic Magnitudes in 1913, and then later renamed the Harvard Standard. In order to create this standard she used almost 300 plates and 13 telescopes, along with logarithmic equations to order the stars into 17 magnitudes of brightness. She continually improved and enlarged this work throughout her entire life, refining her standard.

However, Leavitt was not given the freedoms she desired. She was not allowed to pursue the topics of study she desired, but instead was assigned to what the observatory allowed. This was because of the prejudices of the day-- women were not given the opportunities that men were, so her true intellect was not used to its fullest. She was incredibly bright, as is remembered, because a colleague at the observatory remembers her as “possessing the best mind at the Observatory.” However, because of the limited rights of women in the 1800s, her full aptitude was not acknowledged. Her intellect is much more appreciated now, with a modern astronomer naming her as “the most brilliant woman at Harvard.”

She continued working and pursuing her dreams at the Observatory until her death from cancer on December 21, 1921.

Quarter 3 Biography Works Cited

Rubin, Vera. People, Stars, and Scopes. 5742 ed. Vol. 309. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005. Print. New.

"A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Henrietta Leavitt." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baleav.html>.

APOD 3.4

This is by far one of my favorite APOD pictures EVER. I love it because the shade of blue of the sky, and the way the stars look picture perfect. But mostly because the gas clouds look like dogs! Or wolves! It's so beautiful I can't deal. But it's also very fascinating, because although the clouds look very thick, especially towards the center, they are not. The clouds are relatively thin, it is only because of the interstellar dust that the clouds look opaque at all. What's happening though, is the stars we see are emitting energetic light and wind after they formed, and dispersing the clouds, or stellar nurseries from which they formed. It is predicted that within the next few million years, the stars will completely defeat the clouds and they will disappear all together.

APOD 3.3

I chose this picture for today's APOD for multiple reasons. Because it is related to our current topic, because it's gorgeous, and also because it's incredibly fascinating. This image is of the star Zeta Ophiuchi, a runaway star. A runaway star is a star that is moving rapidly through space, which is basically the neatest thing ever. This star, 20 times larger than the sun, is moving at 24 kilometers per SECOND. A star! That's so ridiculous. It was most likely once part of a binary system, but when its other half exploded, it was flung out into space. It's about 460 light years away and would be one of the brightest stars in the sky, if it were not obscured by so much dust.

APOD 3.2

The picture I have chosen here is a supernova remnant, SNR 0509-67.5. The red color was recorded when a picture of this was taken that only filtered through the light emitted by energetic hydrogen. The reason I chose this picture, is because it is imbued with mystery. Scientists have still yet to discover why the remnant has ripples, as seen on the upper left hand corner. And, according to their calculations, the former supernova exploded around 400 years ago, as typical Type Ia supernova, meaning it came from a white dwarf star. However, another mystery remains embedded in that fact, which is the question, why wasn't this supernova seen 400 years ago when light from the initial blast should have been seen from Earth?

APOD 3.1

This picture is kind of mind-boggling at first, and it takes a minute or so to understand what it is. This is a 24 hour "mosaic" of a spot in Sounio, Greece. The transition from night to day and from day to night is shown. As is the sun's movement, which is taken in 15 minute intervals. My favorite part of the picture though, is the star trails. It shows during the night that as the stars get closer to the top of the picture, more circumpolar, their startrails last longer. On the website, it says that the stars closer towards the bottom have about 30 minute startrails, meaning they do not stay in the night sky very long. However, as we move upward, the startrails become more circular as they rotate around the poles, and it is said that they have 11 hour startrails. For example, Polaris, which is right above our North Pole, is one of the stars closer to the top with 11 hour startrails. I really liked this picture because it was beautiful, but also because it is such a good visual aid in showing the difference in the location of a star, and how long they stay in our night sky, and where they move.

APOD 2.7....to be continued

The picture that I chose here is a mock up of what a black hole would look like if we were able to get close enough to see one. As is shown the light bends toward the black hole because of its enormous gravity.

APOD 2.6

In Montana a cloud appeared that looked more like either a sign of the apocalypse or a message from other begins than just typical thunderstorm clouds. However it is actually just an impressive cloud called a supercell. These storm systems center on rotating updrafts that span several miles. They also deliver torrential rain and many times tornadoes. This particular one only lasted several hours before moving on.

Johann Encke, Biography

      On September 23, 1791, Johann Encke was born in Hamburg, Germany. He went to school at Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums, a college preparatory school. After graduation he went on to study mathematics and astronomy at the University of Gottingen in 1811 under Carl Friedrich Gauss, but it did not last long. He soon enlisted in the Hanseatic Legion for the campaign of 1813-1814, and then became a lieutenant of artillery in the Prussian service in 1815.

After his stint in the military, he returned to Gottingen in 1816. Immediately following his return, he was appointed as the assistant to Benhardt von Lindenau in the Seeberg Observatory in Switzerland. It was at that observatory that he completed his investigation of the comet of 1680, and his discovery earned him a Cotta Prize in 1817, awarded by judged Gauss and Olbers. He also correctly assigned an orbit period of 71 years to the comet of 1812, which is now known as 12P/Pons-Brooks. And most importantly discovered the comet that now bears his name, Encke’s comet. In 1822 he was appointed director of the Seeberg Observatory.

Encke discovered the orbit of Encke’s comet following a suggestion by Jean-Louis Pons. Pons surmised that one of the three comets that passed in 1808 was the same one that he has discovered in 1805. So, under Pons’ suggestion, Encke began studying the orbital elements of this comet, which was at the time, groundbreaking. At the time when Encke was investigating this comet, all other known comets had orbital periods of at least seventy years, with an aphelion far beyond the orbit of Uranus. While Pons was suggesting one with a less than fifteen-year orbital period, which was unheard of. For instance, the most famous comet to fall under that category was Halley’s comet, with a seventy-six year orbital period.

            However, after calculations, it was discovered that the comet had an orbital period of only 3.3 years, which was miraculous in those days. This showed that Encke’s comet had an aphelion that was inside the orbit of Jupiter. Encke predicted its return for 1822, which fit the schedule of its orbital period.

            Encke sent his calculations and discovery to Gauss, Olbers, and Bessel. Gauss published the works immediately, and Encke became known as the discoverer of short periodic comets. And because of this, it was named Encke’s comet. It is unusually, one of the only comets who was not named after its discoverer, and instead after the one who calculated its orbit.

In 1824, because of his discovery, the Royal Astronomical Society in London presented him with a Gold Medal. It was in that same year that Encke married Amalie Becker, the daughter of a bookseller. The two later had three sons and two daughters. It was the following year that Encke was a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Some of Encke’s smaller achievements include: becoming new director of the Academy of Sciences, issuing four volumes of Astronomische Beobachtungen auf der Sternwarte zu Berlin, discovering the Encke Gap in the Rings of Saturn, becoming an astronomy professor at the University of Berlin, and being elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

On August 26, 1865 he passed away from a brain disease, but he remained the director of the observatory until the day he passed. He passed away in Spandua and is buried in a cemetery in the Kreuzberg section of Berlin.

APOD 2.5

One of the main reasons I chose this picture is because Aries is my zodiacal sign. Oh, and it's really pretty.LIKE SO PRETTY. I LOVE IT! But also I liked how in this picture the stars are very bright and noticeable through the stardust, it's a nice contrast. The span this picture covers is about 2 degrees, or 30 light-years across. The blue area in the bottom right corner is a nebula.

THE SUN! THE SUN! THE SUN!

 http://www.windows2universe.org/sun/images/sunspots_earth_size_big.jpg

http://hea-www.harvard.edu/CHAMP/EDUCATION/PUBLIC/ICONS/sun_ultraviolet.gif

http://www.windows2universe.org/spaceweather/images/sunspot_form.jpg

http://www.ritualgoddess.com/the2012vortex/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/suns-magnetic-field-nasa.jpg

http://www.rise.org.au/info/Res/sun/index.html

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd115/truemaskedwabbit/The%20sun/sun-prominence.jpg

http://www.hao.ucar.edu/education/slides/slide17.jpeg

Quarter 2 Biography Works Cited

"Johann Encke Biography." Biography Base Home. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. <http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Encke_Johann.html>.

"Johann Franz Encke." NNDB: Tracking the Entire World. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nndb.com/people/825/000095540/>.

"Johann Franz Encke." -- Jd --. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. <http://www.surveyor.in-berlin.de/himmel/Bios/Encke-e.html>.

January 5

In the morning as I was driving to school, I actually looked up. And saw the very, very bright Venus!

12-21 Lunar Eclipse!

On December 21st of last year I observed the lunar eclipse. I came to Pine View to do it at the hosted event with my friend Amanda. While waiting for the eclipse we observed many constellations in the sky, but the main attraction was obviously the eclipse. It was my first ever lunar eclipse and it was phenomenal! Even watching it happen was almost miraculous, as we slowly saw minute by minute the moon entering the shadow further and further. It was so beautiful as a deep red, and it was such a good experience.