Observations 10-24

8:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Tonight, I started looking at the fall constellations (before my teacher gave us any quizzes on them), and I was able to recognize Pegasus directly north of Uranus (at nearly the same spot in the sky as Jupiter, but I didn't see any moons, so I am guessing the mysterious planet I have seen in my past two observations was Uranus.).  I was only able to recognize the summer constellations of Aquila, Lyra, and Cygnus because it started getting cloudy.  I also noticed the constellation Cepheus before I looked near the moon and saw Pleiades (AKA "The Seven Sisters").  Overall, it was a pretty good night for stargazing, so I just wish the clouds hadn't rolled in so soon.

EDIT: Further investigation using Google and a few good websites showed that the "bright planet" was actually Jupiter (Uranus was close-by in the sky, but about as dim as every other star in the area).  My mistake.

APOD 1.4 (Discovery Rollout Shadow)

I chose this post because I wasn't sure when they would next post a picture of the Space Shuttle or the International Space Station (ISS), and I wanted to be able to comment on them before we started having to rely on other countries' rockets and shuttles to get to our own astronauts.  In a few months, the Space Shuttle program will be discontinued, and the United States will not have any replacement ready for several years, so there will be a time when, in order to have American scientists and astronauts making observations on the ISS, we will need to rely on either the Russians' rockets or another country's method of getting to the ISS if we want to do anything (from putting them up there, to rescuing them in case of a disaster, to bringing them back down to Earth) in space.  This could be very bad, since alliances can change very quickly if a few bad things happen, leaving us unable to reach our own citizens until we do what the other country wants.

APOD 1.5 (An Airplane In Front of the Moon)

I chose this photo because I sometimes get mistaken when stargazing by airplanes suddenly appearing in my field of view, making me temporarily think there is a new star that I hadn't seen before.  However, they move so fast that I quickly realize that I was fooled, yet at the same time, I know that I will never get a good look at one in flight.  The fact that someone was able to do that, even if it was a small two-engine plane instead of the massive four-engine passenger jets, is just astounding.

APOD 1.6 (Two Planet Opposition)

I am especially proud of this photo because I saw Jupiter, its moons, and Uranus with my very own eyes (and binoculars) on the recent class star-gaze.  It is very rare to see two planets at opposition with the Earth at the same time, and it is very astounding to understand that the same little dots of light orbiting Jupiter helped Galileo prove we live in a heliocentric solar system, which put astronomy on a course to become what it is today.

APOD 1.7 (Moonquakes Surprisingly Common)

I chose this article because I am always looking towards the future, and one of the first steps to space travel is some kind of base on the Moon.  If there are lots of "Moonquakes" which are very strong and last a long time, then anything built on the Moon will have to be built to survive them without sustaining much damage to its airtight seals, which would quickly kill everyone inside if they malfunctioned and welcomed in the eternal vacuum of space.  The good news is that, since there is not as much gravity on the moon, we should be able to build tougher buildings that are still able to support their own weight.

APOD 1.8 (Venus Just After Sunset)

This photo appeals to me because I have a very difficult time identifying planets.  Here, the viewer is shown how planets often have very strange patterns that they follow when they cross our sky.  Over the course of about 220 days (44 different pictures, each about 5 days apart), Venus crosses a portion of the sky almost in a "V" shape.  It is important to note that these photos were taken almost on the other side of the Earth, in Turkey.

Observations 10-23

8 PM to 9 PM

I went to Turtle Beach last night to watch the stars for a while.  I was able to recognize most of the constellations I have learned about so far, such as Sagittarius, Scorpius, Serpens, (The Serpent Handler constellation, which has a really tough to spell name), Cygnus, Cepheus, Hercules, Ursa Minor, Lyra, and Aquila.  I located the stars Altair, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, and Antares.  I was able to locate the miscellaneous objects Summer Triangle, Northern Cross, Teapot, and Little Dipper.  The moon was a Waning Gibbous.  Once again, I located a bright planet to the South, but I am unsure what planet it was.