APOD 1.4

I chose the picture of the Sun for a few reasons. First off, it just looks awesome, even if the colors aren't what we see and are from iron atoms. Also, I think that it is really cool that you can see the actual magnetic fields on the surface of the Sun. To be able to actually see these fields on the Sun proves that there is iron, or at least some kind of ferrous metal within the Sun or else the fields wouldn't be able to be seen. I think that it is just amazing how things like this can exist in the universe, let alone our own Solar System.

Observation 2 9/20/10

Today at the stargaze we saw many different celestial objects. We saw 6 1st magnitude stars, Antares, Altair, Deneb, Vega, Fomalhaut, and Arcturus. We also saw the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. We watched Venus set below the horizon and it turned a bright red right before it went down. Also, we were able to see 4 moons orbiting Jupiter; Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. Some of the constellations that we saw were Sagittarius (and the Teapot), Scorpius, Aquila, the Summer Triangle, Scutum, Hercules and the Keystone, and the Little Dipper. We could also barely see various M objects with the binoculars because the moon was in its waxing gibbous phase so it blocked out dimmer sources of light.

Observation 1

Tonight it was very cloudy out but I saw the moon in its waxing gibbous phase, almost a full moon, at 9:15 in the South-East about 60 degrees altitude. I also saw the summer triangle at about the zenith point at the same time.

APOD 1.3

I choose the Northern Lights this week because they have always fascinated me. I think that it is amazing that something like that can exist on the Earth because it seems more like science fiction than reality. It is so awesome how the interactions of the ionosphere and solar wind can create such beautiful colors and motions in the sky. I have always wanted to see them, but unfortunately we went to Alaska in the summer so the Sun never set far below the horizon, so the conditions weren't right. However, I hope to go when the conditions are right so that I can see them one day.

APOD 1.2

The picture of the Vela Supernova Remnant is an amazing picture and the details are amazing. The colors are very beautiful and might be a result of the red/blue color shift or just an artist's rendition, but either way it is awesome to look at. Also, the pure distance to this nebula is mind boggling, even at over 800 light years away it is still one of the closest nebulae in the universe and the size of it is extremely large as well, which makes everything about this nebula simply awesome.

APOD 1.1

I chose the bubble nebula because of how it looks. It looks very small and fragile, but the sheer size of it is bind boggling and it is simply amazing that things like this can exist in real life and not only in fantasy. Not only this, but it also looks amazing and the colors and shape of it are very pretty.