APOD 4.8

May 20th, 2011                                           A Journey Through the Night Sky

I found this image to be very fitting for my last APOD post, as it is an image of the entire Milky Way Galaxy and all that it contains.  The 5 gigapixel mosaic was made by combining over 37,000 images of the night sky throughout the year.  Using vivid colors from the different pictures of the night sky, the image was meant to post as a comparison to the brightness of day.  The contents of this great galaxy contains innumerable stars, vast clouds, interstellar matter such as dust and gas, all to faint to see with the naked eye.  This majestic image helps to remind us of the true vastness of our galaxy and how much it actually beholds.  

Q.4 Bio. Frank J. Low

Quarter 4 Bio: Frank Low

            Frank James Low was born in Mobile, Alabama on November 23^rd, 1933.  However, at a young age his family moved and he grew up in Houston, Texas.  He attended graduate school at Yale University, and followed up by receiving his Doctor of Philosophy in Physics from Rice University in 1959.

            After graduation, Low took a job with Texas Instruments in 1961 where his first assignment was the development of a low-temperature thermometer.  In the process, he developed one of the key steps using infrared rays as we know it. To do this, he used a Germanium Semiconductor that had been doped with small quantities of gallium that would measure temperature changes based on changes in the device’s electrical resistance. Based on his previous knowledge from graduate school, he realized that the thermometer could be used as a basis for bolometer that could measure radiant energy coming from stars as infrared radiation. 

            After completing a task that had been unsolved for many years, he took his newly created bolometer to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia to test his invention. When testing, he came across the problem that infrared radiation was being absorbed by molecules such as water vapor in the atmosphere.  To resolve this problem, he developed devices that could be placed aboard an aircraft and carried small telescopes.  He later used a Learjet operated by NASA with a slightly larger telescope attached.  Lear continued researching with the Learjet, even after NASA upgraded their system. 

            Frank later proposed and led the charge in building an Infrared Astronomy Satellite.  This project was operated as a joint effort with the U.S., U.K., and Netherlands. Starting in 1983, the Satellite took the first infrared readings from space, avoiding all outside interference from the atmosphere.  Based on the findings from the IRAS, researchers were able to conclude that the majority of galactic radiation is emitted in the form of infrared radiation that is generated when light from young stars is absorbed by interstellar dust and then radiated from the dust in the form of heat.

            Because of his accomplishments, Frank Low was named to serve as facility scientist for NASA’s Space Infrared Telescope Facility, later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope. Throughout his life, Low received many awards including the Rumford Prize, the Helen Warner Prize, the Joseph Weber Award, and the Bruce Medal.  He later passed away at the age of 75 on June 11, 2009 in Tuscan, Arizona caused by the result of a longstanding illness.

Works Cited

1.      http://www.nndb.com/people/224/000170711/

2.      http://www.as.arizona.edu/people/faculty/frank_low.pdf

3.      http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/06/21/frank-low-pioneer-of-ir-astronomy-1933-2009/

4.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_J._Low

APOD 4.7

May 18th, 2011.                        The Last Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor.

While I am usually tempted to choose the colorful and mystic pictures of galaxies and other space objects, I found that this week it was appropriate to pick the picture of the shuttle launch. Not only is this one of the final launches before the program gets cancelled, but I have also never seen a launch up close in person so I wanted to explore more about it.  This was the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor's final trip into Earth's Orbit. The shuttle went up with 6 astronauts and began its ascent to space. The mission was STS-134 and the shuttle is expected to dock with the international space station.  It is supposed to deliver many objects to the ISS, most importantly the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 which is supposed to detect both dark matter and antimatter.  The final launch in the current space shuttle program is planned for shuttle Atlantis in mid-July.

APOD 4.6

May 11th, 2011.                                   The Southern Cliff in the Lagoon

This picture stood out to me because of its fascinating colors and glow.  The Lagoon Nebula is a star forming region in M8.  The colors are from a false-coloring of the narrow visible light and the broad spectrum infrared light mixed, both taken by the Gemini South Telescope.  The view, spanning 20 light-years across, is commonly known as the Southern Cliff.  Many of the bright new stars are Herbig-Haro objects and are produced by jets emitted by young stars while giving off heat in the neighboring dust and clouds.  This Lagoon Nebula is located about 5,000 light-years away in the center of our Milky Way near the constellation Sagittarius.

APOD 4.5

April 29th, 2011                                                  The Antennae

This APOD was very fitting, as this phenomenon known as the Antennae takes place 60 million light-years away in the constellation Corvus, or the Crow, which just so happened to be our constellation of the week this week. The picture is resulting from the collision of two large galaxies many years ago, however the mains stars inside of each of these galaxies, known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 did not collide in the event.  Their molecular gas and dust mixes in the center of the collision area forming a prime location for star formation in the center of the cosmic wreckage. In this picture, many of the new forming star clusters can be seen, as well as the outstretched "arms" of the antennae that are formed by gravitational tidal forces, thus giving the phenomenon its respective name.

Zooniverse Progress 04/25/11

April 25th, 2011

So far on Zooniverse over the last week I continued working mainly with the Moon Zoo.  Between Boulder Wars and examining different Moon Images, I have spent a majority of my allotted Zooniverse time, however I also did spend a bit of time on other studies.  I also helped to identify some stars on the Planet Hunter as well as tried some of the Galaxy Wars in the Galaxy Zoo program.

APOD 4.4

April 25th, 2011                                Monsters of IC 1396

IC 1396, or better known as the Elephants Trunk Nebula, is said to take the appearance of a human look object.  The glowing gas and dust cloud of the star provide the foreboding arms since it is located in a star formation area.  However, while the appearance of a monster's face may scare onlookers, the only true threat is the star inside of the Nebula that is too far from Earth to even pose a threat.  The bright young star inside produces energetic light that eats away at the dust of the dark cometary globule present in the upper right hand corner of the photograph, as can be seen by the glowing line working its way toward the core.  Jets and winds of particles emitted from the star are pushing away the nearby ambient gas and dust and providing for this pathway.  Located 3,000 light-years away, the IC 1396 Nebula looks extremely faint and spans a great distance across the sky.  It is believed that over 100 young stars have been noted to be developing inside of the great Nebula.