apod 3.3

This is a picture that an astronaut took of himself with the earth in the background. I cannot even imagine looking down onto the entire earth from up above. It must be a very strange feeling to be up in space for the first time and see the earth growing smaller and smaller as you fly in the opposite direction. I, however, hope to never have to see this view for myself as being in space is probably my worst nightmare!

apod 3.2

This is a picture of the remnants of 2 supernovas. The explaination tells about how the data collected shows how different both of the supernovas were. It says that the 2 supernovas were not likely to have happened at the same time and are not physically related. I think that it is very interesting how two huge phenomenons in the universe just happen to collide in the sky and make such a beautiful visual. The whole concept of stars exploding blows me away.

apod 3.1

This is a picture of an aurora seen i n North Dakota. What is really cool about it is the green vertical rays that are visible below it. I think that auroras are very interesting. I always am fascinated by things in nature that are not really understood and cannot completely be expained. I remember from the video that we watched that there are some indicators of a pattern to the form of auroras and the time which they appear but scientists still do not know exactly what brings about an aurora.

observation 2.4

Wednesday January 2nd
San Francisco, CA
approx 11 pm
clear skies
2hrs
looking due north

I think that i was able to identify the other constellations. I believe the ones that i am looking at are gemini and taurus. I was also able to see the moon in its waning crescent phase.

observation 2.3

Tuesday January 1st
San Francisco, CA
approx 11 pm
clear skies
2hrs
looking due north

Over the break, I visited San Francisco. As i was sitting on the back porch i was able to identify some of the stars in the sky. I could see the three stars that formed Orion's belt in the Orion constellation. I saw several other shapes that i think were constellations but i am not sure what they were. I will have to look them up.

Biography 2

William Rutter Dawes

William Rutter Dawes was a British astronomer who was born in 1799. As a young man, Dawes trained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London to become a physician. In 1826, he moved to Liverpool, where he took up an interest in Astronomy. He then became heavily influenced by Rev. Thomas Waffles, which resulted in Dawes taking charge of a small congregation in Ormskirk. In 1929, he returned to his astronomical studies and began to investigate binary stars. Through his studies, Dawes was able to improve upon Sir John Herschel's observations on double stars by refining his 3.8 inch Dolland refractor telescope. Therefore, he was able to collect more accurate data about binaries. He was often nicknamed "eagle eye." Due to bad health and his wife's death, in 1839 Dawes gave up his congregation and moved to London. There he became an assistant to George Bishop in his private observatory. Bishop allowed Dawes to use this observatory, which included a 7 inch refractor telescope, until 1844. He then moved to Kent and was able to build his own personal observatory with 6.5 inch Merz refractor. With this telescope, Dawes helped to discover Saturn's crepe ring. In 1855, he won the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and in 1864 he made detailed drawings of Mars during its opposition. These drawings helped Richard Anthony Proctor make a map of Mars in 1867. Because of his work concerning Mars, craters on both Mars and the Moon are named after Dawes, as well as the optical phenomenon called the Dawes limit. In 1865 he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society and died just a short 4 years later in Haddenham.






Dawes crater on Mars







Drawings of Mars

(click for

larger picture)

Bibliography
http://www.mikeoates.org/astro-history/dawes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rutter_Dawes
http://www.britannica.com/eb/question-152951/49/William-Rutter-Dawes-born
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/william-rutter-dawes/
http://www.colorpro.com/wmdawes/images/dawes-crater-on-mars.gif
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16767/16767-h/16767-h.htm