APOD 10: Anemic Spiral NGC 4921 from Hubble

2013 November 25

Presently estimated at 310 million years light years away. Hubble Space Telescope was used to identify Cepheid variable stars as stellar markers of distance. It is a member of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies, and has been informally dubbed as anemic due to its low rate of star formation and low surface brightness. Within this span of the Anemic Spiral is a bright nucleus, a prominent ring of star dust, blue clusters of new stars, smaller companion galaxies, a bright center bar, and unrelated stars in the Milky Way. 

APOD 9: Globular Cluster M15 From Hubble



2013 November 19

Over 100,000 stars swarm together in the center of the bright cluster, M15. Formed from the very early years of our Galaxy, and still orbits the center of our Galaxy. At its center, it has one of the densest concentrations of stars known, with a high abundance of variable stars and pulsars. This image spans 120 light years, as M15 lies 35,000 light years
away towards the constellation of Pegasus.



APOD 8: Little Planet Sunrise

24 October 2013

This nadir-to-zenith, around-the-horizon mosaic maps the view from a small airfield near a small Argentinean town. Above the western horizon the sky shines with the warm colors of sunset, and slate blue shadow of Earth itself extending through the atmosphere can be seen rising as it hugs the eastern horizon. The balance of the composition and the gradual color scheme introduction creates a comforting depiction of Earth's unity.

Q2 Observations #1

Date: October 29, 2013

Time: 7:00-8:30 PM (with Percival & Dacey, ~ 3 hours credit)

Place: Casey Key

Sky Conditions: Slightly clear, with a number of relatively high clouds. Moon not present during time of observation, waning cresent.

Instruments Used: binoculars (10x50), telescope: 26mm with F10 focal power.

Planets: Venus (neutral filter, quarter phase, slight florescent glow)

Bright Stars noted: Vega, Deneb, Altair (Summer Triangle), Antares,

Constellations noted: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Scorpius, Virgo, Bootes, and Hercules. Cygnus ("v" structure found magnitude 5).

Binary Star: Alberio, one star bright blue, the other (lower to right) yellow. Polaris, secondary faint star location approx. 11 o'clock.

Deep Sky Objects: M13: globular, located in Hercules; in the tel. @ 100 power, myriad of stars in clusterous formation.

M11: open, Wild Duck Cluster. faint, distorted honeycomb-like cluster clouds.

Other: Venus located in constellation Ophiuchus. 

APOD 7: The Smoke Nebula in Frustriaus

1 November 2013
NGC 7841: The Smoke Nebula in Frustriaus

Known as the Smoke Nebula found in the constellation Frustriaus, it is not an expanding supernova remnant along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The rich starfield is composed of water droplets sprayed by astrophotographer in Sweden. This not-so-cosmic snapshot catches the brilliant hues of blues and reds, which I've noticed is a common effect of smoke-like features in our galaxy. The rising smoke is varied in depth and light-quality, enhancing the perception of the vastness of our universe. n