APOD 2.7 (Looking back at an eclipsed earth)

January 2

I personally enjoy this picture, partially because it is just so rare, and partially because it almost looks like a small portion of the Earth is being burned with a giant magnifying glass.  This picture of a solar eclipse's effect on Earth viewed from outer space was taken in August 1999 by the Russian space station Mir, being one of the last photos captured before the station was deorbited in a controlled re-entry in 2001.  While it is supposedly breathtaking to be see a solar eclipse from the surface, I think it is amazing to see just what little impact such a phenomenon has on the majority of the Earth's surface (half is in shadow and cannot even see the sun, probably 49.99% is not lined up with the sun and the moon, 0.009% is only partially lined up, 0.001% is in the perfect position to view the stars at high noon or view the sun's corona with the naked eye).

2nd Quarter Biography (William Rutter Dawes)

            William Rutter Dawes was born in West Sussex, England in the year 1799.  His father, a mathematics teacher, hoped that William would become a clergyman in the Church of England.  William chose instead to train to be a doctor at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.  He moved to Liverpool in 1826, where he met William Lassell.  Although there is no record of their first meeting, it is known that they struck up a lifelong friendship.  It was around this time that Dawes first became interested in astronomy, particularly the study of binary stars.  At one point, Dawes obtained a copy of Rees’s Encyclopedia, and copied Sir William Herschel’s catalogue of double stars out of it.  He then used a 1.6 inch refractor and a copy of Flamsteed’s Atlas to find all the binaries draw diagrams of them every “fine night”.

            Soon after moving to Liverpool, Dawes turned from medicine to religion, resulting in him taking charge of a small congregation in Ormskirk, 15 miles from Liverpool. Dawes took up astronomy and the study of binary stars in earnest in 1829.  Sir John Herschel eventually became Dawes’ friend and mentor.  Dawes improved on Sir John’s own binary star research by refining his telescope, a 3.8 inch Dolland refractor.  As a result, he was able to make observations that were so much more accurate that he eventually got the nickname “eagle eye Dawes”.

            Dawes was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1830.  Dawes had never been a healthy man, and the death of his wife in 1839 made his health worse than ever.  As a result, he gave up his congregation and moved to London, where he became an assistant at George Bishop’s private observatory, which had a 7 inch refracting telescope.  Dawes continued his astronomical work there until 1844.

            Dawes married again in 1842, and moved to Kent, living 40 miles from his friend Sir John Herschel.  Dawes’ new wife was wealthy, so he was able to build his own observatory and install a 6.5 inch Merz refractor.  With it, he “co-discovered” Staurn’s crepe ring.  W. C. Bond at the Harvard Observatory had also located the ring but the news hadn’t even crossed the Atlantic before Dawes made his claim.

            In 1857, Dawes moved to Haddenham in Buckinghamshire, where he stayed for the remainder of his life.  There, he gained great respect for the free medical service he gave to the poor of the town.  His second wife died in 1860, causing his own health to deteriorate even more.  He continued to observe the stars until 1865, which was also the year that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.  He died 3 years later in 1868.

Works Cited for 2nd Quarter Biography

William Rutter Dawes (1799-1868). 30 Nov. 2009. History of Astronomy. 18 Dec. 2010  <http://www.mikeoates.org/astro-history/dawes.htm>

William Rutter Dawes.  8 Sept. 2010. Wikipedia. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rutter_Dawes>

Observations 12-21

2 AM-3 AM

Tonight my dad shook me awake for the lunar eclipse.  Even though I was tired, had a clogged nose, was unable to go back to bed without my dad screaming at me, and cold even with a jacket on, I was till able to notice Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, Taurus, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.  I also noticed Polaris, Rigel, Betelgeuse, and Sirius.  The moon was located in a constellation near Orion (unsure which one) when it turned dark red.

Observations 12-14

9 PM-10 PM

Tonight I saw Orion, all of Canis Major (not just the area near Sirius), Canis Minor, Gemini, Taurus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, and Auriga.  I might have seen more if the first quarter/waxing gibbous moon hadn't been high in the sky when I was making my observations.

I also saw Jupiter directly below the moon.

The sky was crystal clear tonight, partially because of the temperatures in the 30s, which limited the humidity, but drastically increased the wind chill factor, which forced me to bundle up, limiting my peripheral vision.

Observations 12-10

8:00-10:00 PM

Tonight, I saw the constellations Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga, Orion, Cepheus, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Andromeda, and Lacerta.  I also identified the stars Rigel, Betelgeuse, and Sirius, as well as the planet Jupiter.  I was able to make these observations because of the small moon, which set very early into my stargazing session.

APOD 2.6 (Too Close to a Black Hole)

December 7

I chose this one because black holes are always popular, and I always wondered what it would look like to be near one (I already know that the inside would be pitch black, for the few seconds my eyes still functioned after I crossed the event horizon before they get stretched out of my skull and start to look like spaghetti pasta right before I become a part of the black hole, slightly increasing its gravitational pull.).  I personally find the optical effects directly adjacent to the anomaly the most interesting.  Who would have imagined that an object that absorbs so much light could create such brilliant light-bending oddities in the sky?