A POD 4.8

This final APOD is that of the Andromeda Galaxy! Even better, this picture features the galaxy in ultraviolet. Using the GALEX telescope, the spiral of the galaxy almost turns into rings. At 2.5 million light years, Andromeda is the closest galaxy to us and stretches 260,000 light years across! When observing the galaxy in ultraviolet, these rings that we see are thought to be evidence that the Andromeda Galaxy consumed its neighbor galaxy, M32, a some point around 200 million years ago. Overall, it is good to know that the only other galaxy near us is one so beautiful and great.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120518.html

APOD 4.7

This weeks picture is from the center of the Omega Nebula. Not only sporting a great name, the Omega Nebula has great features that are most prominent when zoomed in on the center. A star forming, reddish haze in the bottom of the picture. An odd green haze in the background background that is most likely a reflecting part of the nebula. Also, the most prominent part of the picture, the black streaks through the center of the white glow. This area is an area of colder gas that is absorbing the radiation from all of the young stars, the bright points. The omega nebula itself lies 3000 light years away in the direction of Sagittarius. Eventually, the Nebula will become full of stars and planets.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120506.html

APOD 4.6

This weeks picture of M106, a very beautiful galaxy in the spring sky. This particular galaxy is very similar to ours and M31, The Andromeda Galaxy. Being 21 million light years away and 30000 light years across, M106 exhibits 2 prominent spiral arms rotating in the clockwise direction. We can also see some stellar nurseries in the reddish clouds in the arms with some prominent blue stars. This picture is actually a large number of images from the Hubble telescope put together, and really signifies just how much the Hubble telescope has contributed to our understanding of the universe.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120503.html

Apod 4.5

This weeks picture is of a meteor shooting through the summer sky over crater lake, the deepest lake in America. A meteor is a small rock or pebble that has started entering our atmosphere but is quickly burnt to dust  due to the extreme heat caused by friction. This particular meteor was part of the Lyrids Meteor shower that occurs in late April. on the peak dates of April 22-23, can yield around 20-30 meteors per hour, allowing most who wish to see meteor get the chance to revel in its glory, if only for that brief second.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120425.html

observations for q4

Time: dusk-12:00

Place: Atlanta, Ga.
Sky Conditions: Clear and very dark. No moon or much ambient light.

Instruments Used: Eyes.

Planets: Venus, Mars, Saturn.

Bright Stars noted: Spica, Rigel, Castor, Pollux, Antares, Arcturas,

Constellations noted: Scorpius, Virgo, Bootes, Hydra(sorta), Corvus, Leo, Ursa Major/Minor. I know that: Crater, Sextans, Canes Venatici, Antlia, Cancer, and a few other constellations were in the sky but were hard if not impossible to actually see and identify.

Other: It was a very cool thing to be able to see the winter sky falling in the west, knowing just about all of the spring sky that took up most of the sky and then being able to look east around midnight and see my favorite constellations, the summer ones, rising and taking center stage.

Edwin Hubble Q4 bio

         Born in Marshfield, Missouri in 1889, dying in 1953, Hubble moved to Wheaton, Illinois at one years old. Edwin Hubble was born to an insurance executive for a father and a stay at home mother. In his early years Hubble was known more for athletic abilities, winning many awards and even setting state records. When he graduated high school he attended the University of Chicago and focused on mathematics and astronomy. From Chicago he went on to Oxford to further his studies and to complete a masters degree. When Hubble returned to America he did so to take care of his family because his father passed away. His family had moved to Louisville, Kentucky and began so he began teaching at the local high school. After just one year Hubble quit teaching and moved himself back to Chicago so he could use the Yerkes Observatory. As WW1 broke out to full scale war Hubble even served in the army and achieved the rank of Major. Afterwards, Hubble was offered a seat at the Mount Wilson observatory, the best telescopes were there at the time. It was here that Hubble would make the ground breaking discoveries he is most known for. 


The first truly big discovery made by Hubble was just how big the universe really was. Using the brand new 100inch diameter Hooker Telescope, Hubble found Cepheid Variables, discovered by Henrietta Levette, in far off nebulae. He used these Cepheid Variables to measure distance and what he discovered went against all previous knowledge of the universe. He discovered that some of the things classified as Nebulae were actually far off galaxies! These galaxies were theorized to be at distance that were before inconceivable. Eventually getting his data published in 1925, Hubble nearly over night opened up the universe to something much larger and full secrets. With this now accepted as fact, Hubble moved on to classifying these fuzzy galaxies and the system he devised based on appearance is the one we use today. 


The second great thing Hubble is known for is the expansion on the idea of red shift, and in turn the Doppler effect. It had already been theorized that everything was moving away from everything else, and now this included galaxies. Using the Cepheid Variables and work done by other astronomers, Hubble was able to guesstimate about how fast each galaxy was moving away from himself and his galaxy. By using the red shift and other mathematical equations, Hubble came up with the speed of 500 km/s/Mpc, also know as the Hubble constant. With this data now known and confirmed, Hubble also was giving the first real piece of evidence to support the Big Bang Theory. 


Overall Hubble was able to be at the right place at the right time and have the right idea to make his name a household name. Now, with the Hubble telescope producing the most beautiful images ever seen before in humanity, his name and his life will live on history for 1000s of years to come. 

Edwin Hubble sources

http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm
http://www.spacetelescope.org/about/history/the_man_behind_the_name/
http://apod.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/1996/sandage_hubble.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/edwin-hubble
http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/20th_people_hubble.html