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.

Observaton 12/11!

I observed with Jake and Fetty Saturday night!
We were east of the interstate at Twin Lakes Park, so it was an ideal location for looking at the stars. Early in the night I saw a meteor shower with Maddie! It was so great!
Then later I saw the moon, which was in a crescent shape. And I saw Jupiter, on the ecliptic, which was very bright. Also very visible was Orion's Belt. I also saw Pleiades, which was really very neat. And of course, earlier on in the night, I saw the summer triangle.