FogBow

Astronomy Picture of the Day:
May 29, 2008

Over the ocean, you see a 'fogbow'. It is compromised of reflections of sunlights on water drops, like a rainbow, only without their loud colours. All the fog is not in this arch - as you can see by the fading hues around it - but in fact the shape is created by the water drops to divert the sunlight from the viewer from a certain angle. Because the active drops are so, so small, the wavelength of light becomes more important than the colours. Rainbows are created by larger raindrops that act like prisms, reflecting light from the sun.

I only wonder how often this happens, and if it only happens closer to water. I find this more lovely than a rainbow, and hope it happens near by sometime soon. How rare is an event like this, I wonder? 

This photo was taken in California in 2008.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080529.html

Pettit, Homework 1.1

Trevor Pettit

9/11/13

            This is a picture of the LADEE Launch Streak.  This shot shows the second stage ignition as well as a portion of the initial launch streak of NASA’s Minotaur V rocket.  Minotaur V launched from Wallops Flight Facility, on Wallops Island, Virginia.  Minotaur V was launched at night, which made the launch streak extremely visible and unique.  In fact, a large portion of the Eastern US was able to see the launch streak.  This question makes me wonder how visible the typical launch streak is, and what the visibility is dependent on.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Sunspot at sunset

When I saw this picture, it instantly caught my eye.  I was drawn to this photo because of the reddened rays of the setting sun, and the vibrate colors in the sun. This beautiful sunset flooded the skies over cedar creek lake, southeast of Dallas, Texas. This picture doesn't trust show a sunset we see on a daily basis, but something much more special. A sunspot that is usually unseen by the naked eye, was prominent enough to see on July 6th over the water. This is possible because the center of a solar disk mixed with the dense atmosphere on earth, and the sunspot was reshaped and dimmed. It would be beautiful to see one of these magnificent sunsets. Some questions that came to mind are: Are they common? Can we see these sunsets in other places like new york? 

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130713.html

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130909.html

This is called a Nearby Cepheid Variable RS Pup. It is one of the most important stars in the sky due to its large and superlative nebula surrounding it. 

Questions:

1. It is described on the NASA website under this photo how it is more luminous than the sun, but how come we do not often see it/why is it not as well known as the sun?

Supernova: Crab Nebula

 

            The photo that I selected is of Crab Nebula’s supernova. The photo caught my eye immediately with its extravagant colors and mixtures of gasses. The supernova is made from the remnant of a destroyed star with massive clouds of debris. I wonder whether the supernova keeps the same shape as the star or immediately expands? When the photo was taken, did the Crab Nebula supernova still exist? What elements make the beautiful colors of the supernova?

Coronal Mass Ejection

                                  A Coronal Mass Ejection

This photo instantly caught my eye as I was sifting through the photos at Astronomy picture of the day. This is a picture of the sun having a coronal mass ejection, or a CME. CME's occur about once a week to twice a day when the sun emits filaments of light and blasts balls of magnetic plasma through space. The filaments can be seen from almost 2 million kilometers above the sun's surface. CME's can also affect space weather and seriously affect our earth if they are directed towards us. One question that was raised by this photo was how destructive can CME's be to other planets. Another question that was raised by this photo was what material are the solar filaments made of.

    Source of Photo

Milky Way Over Quiver Tree Forest

This photograph was taken in southern Namibia. In the background is the central band of the large milky way. In the foreground there are many quiver trees which are unique because they are actually aloe plants but can grow very tall like trees.  These plants can live to be 300 years old! This photograph was my favorite because of the variety of colors in the sky and the interesting plants. I wonder why the quiver trees have lasted for so many years? I also want to know why the milky way is shaped as it is? What is the burst of light in the background? The sunset?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121212.html

Strawberry Sun

As soon as I looked at this picture, I loved it. This unique, unusual sun made me ask myself why is this sun a different color then all the rest that I see? This picture was taken on August 22nd in Strawberry, California. The Rim Fire which strongly affects areas near the Yosemite National Park is near this town. In California, many forest fires occur in which the particles of smoke from these fires spread into the Earth's atmosphere. This causes a change in the color of the sun, and also the sky. I was curious about this picture though and was wondering: How long does this sun stay this color for?Days?Weeks?, Does this sun only appear in California? Do people in Strawberry, California only get to see this color sun, or does the color change daily? I find this picture to be so cool, and makes me want to hop on a plane to Strawberry, California, just to see this amazing sun!

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130829.html

I found this star to be very interesting for a few reasons. With a simple glance you would just think it is a pretty star because of the nebula surrounding it so why is it so interesting or important? "Pulsating RS Puppis, the brightest star in the image center, is some ten times more massive than our Sun and on average 15,000 times more luminous." These are just a few words that describe how important it is. This star also is used to determine some of the first steps of the cosmic distance scale because of how bright it is. Scientists are able to use the brightness of RS Puppis and the surrounding nebula along with the known speed of light to determine its distance with very little error. RS Puppis is approximately 6.500 light-years away! -James Tubridy

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Yuri's Planet 

From the first time I laid my eyes on it, I was astounded by the picture above. On April 12th, 1961, Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin saw Earth from outer space. Yuri was the first human to see the planet from an outer space view and described it as rather dark and blue, but clear nonetheless. Yuri's description of our planet is greatly contrasted by the above photograph, taken much more recently. The photograph depicts a present day Earth, illuminated by lights that vividly show the locations of various cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. Although the International Space Station is orbiting close to Earth, it still amazes me that it was able to capture an image of the world in such a vivacious way. I, myself, was shocked to see that so many lights could be seen from outer space. This is the main reason that I selected this photograph—I used to believe that no lights could be seen from outer space due to the great distance from the ground level, but now I recognize that as a great misconception. While I am still awed and in shock from this photograph, many questions are rapidly forming in my mind. For example, how far away would you have to get from Earth for these radiant lights to appear extinguished? Also, how much power or energy is used on Earth for an image such as this one to be able to be captured from outer space?

Source:  http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130412.html

A Moon's Super Halo

Above, the image displays what appears to be a glowing white orb, which at first, I mistook for the sun. Only after taking the title and the short description into account, I realized the image was actually of the moon.  This moon was referred to as the "Super Moon" because of the outstanding bright light it seems to radiate, and the fact that it was the biggest moon so far this year. This simple, but exquisite image, was seen from Punta Piedras, Argentina and the Rio de La Plata, near Buenos Aires in June 28, 2013. Also adding to the beauty of the picture, is a halo, which seems to emphasize the brightness of the moon. The 22 degree halo was created interestingly because of the combination of the moon being irregularly very bright and the ice crystals located in the high thin clouds above. The image itself seems to be controversial compared to our set image of what we usually see our full moon: dull, but bright enough to see. Although, these "Super Moon's" apparently are very common, it raises a few questions such as where else can somebody see a sight like this? Can the people in towns and cities surrounded by bright lights of electronics and bustle ever experience something like this? Also though the moon's closeness to the earth contributes to its brightness, what exactly causes it to illuminate so brightly?

Photo Source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130628.html

 

Comet Halley

This photograph was taken in 1986 during comet Halley’s most recent pass through the inner solar system. This picture’s main focus is the white streak running approximately through the center of the photo, which is in fact comet Halley; this photo is extremely impressive considering how clear this picture is with the lack of technology, compared to today’s developments, scientist’s had back in the 1980s. Comet Halley happens to be the most recognized comet in history, even though, in comparison to comet Hyakutake, Halley is only 1/10^th the brightness that Hyakutake showed. Halley is the most famous comet because it returns every 76 years, “and each time the nucleus sheds about 6 meters of ice and rock into space;” these scattered fragments falling to Earth result in an orbiting trail, which is called Orionids Meteor Shower (Bonnell and Nemiroff). Billions of stars are orbiting our Milky Way but only a handful come close enough for us to see making comet Halley seem even more spectacular. While looking at the picture I can see the comet, but I wonder what the orbiting trail (Orionids Meteor Shower) looks like in a picture since it is not shown here. Also, since this picture was taken a while ago, I was wondering if when we look at it, it actually looks like this because it is a snapshot of moving objects so it is bound to look a bit contorted.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap961210.html

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap971003.html

Jeanne Chrisanthopoulos

Strawberry Sun

This photo instantly caught my eye. The neon orange colored sun and camel colored sky intrigued me to read more about this odd image and where it came from. Taken in the small village of Strawberry, California, the cause of this rather rare-looking sky was the infamous forest fire called the "Rim Fire". The smoke particles built up and caused the sky and sun to look this way. The questions that this photo raises for me are: Has this happened in other places in the world? Does the sky look like this all the time? Will the blue particles in the sky ever reappear?

Source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130829.html

Sophie Doukas

Colorful Light Pillars

This photo is showing light pillars at an ice-skating rink in Fairbanks, Alaska. This phenomenon is similar to a Sun-pillar, ice crystals reflecting sunlight from the atmosphere, in appearance and in the way it is caused to occur. These columns of colorful light are caused by flat ice crystals which reflect the ground light. Normally, these ice crystals wouldn't reach the ground before evaporating but, when in such freezing temperatures, the fluttering flat ice crystals form what is known as a crystal fog, or light snow near to the ground. A question that this picture raises is why are the various pillars of light not all the same color? What causes some of the columns to be blue and the others to be more of a yellow-green color? Also, is it more common to see light pillars or a Sun-pillar?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060305.html

Arcus "roll cloud"

At first glance, one would think that a tsunami was rolling over a town (at least I did). This arcus cloud known as a roll cloud is truly something you don't see every day. The cloud looks as though it is only a few feet above the buildings. I even think that this cloud is moving rapidly. Some questions that come to mind are: How does a roll cloud form? How often do these roll clouds occur, and do they only occur in certain parts of the world?

September's Aurora

This is a photo of the Northern Lights near the Norwegian Sea coast in September. This event occurred on September 20th 2012, the day before the September equinox. Because the equinoxes are occurring at this time, there are more geomagnetic storms, causing the auroral zones to descend to lower levels. The parallel aurora rays are casting down, but the photo makes the rays appear to spread out and expand into different directions. I think it is interesting how the rays seem to disperse in many directions appearing to get brighter as they approach the Earth. I really like the pretty green and pink colors, but where does the color originate from? Also, how is it that the rays seem to disperse, when in reality they are parallel?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120921.html

Old Faith-Full Moon

This is a photograph of the geyser, Old Faithful, erupting in front of a glowing full moon in Yellowstone National Park. The moon, located behind the spray of Old Faithful, creates a mysterious glow, similar to a halo. What intrigues me most about this picture is how at first glance, the spray from the geyser looks like clouds covering the moon. To someone to quickly glances at it, they might even think this, but if you observe the picture, you are able to tell that the mist is not a cloud, but the erupting geyser. After observing this picture, the questions that come to mind are: What causes geysers to erupt? In the picture, it appears that something is glowing in the bottom right corner-what is that?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091003.html

Thunderstorm at Sunset

This is a photo of a thunderstorm retreating at sunset. It was taken mid June of this year in Alberta, Canada. I was drawn to this photo because of the bright and vibrant colors. The cloud depicted in this photo is called a cumulonimbus cloud, or a "thundercloud." As the title suggests, this photo depicts a thunderstorm. What interests me is that because of the time of day at which this thunderstorm occurred, the photo contains two distinctly different elements. In the background, the sky is darker and rain is falling, while in the foreground the sky is bright and the clouds are pink and orange and yellow. I love the contrast between these two scenes, and how surreal an effect they create. I wonder how often something like this occurs, and whether it can only occur in certain places in the world. I also wonder if a similar effect could occur during sunrise.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130828.html

Waterspout

This is a photo of a waterspout taken in Tampa Bay, Florida. This photo is very interesting to me mainly because I have never seen anything quite like it. When I first looked at this photo it almost reminded me of an upside-down tornado. It looks almost as if water is rising up to form this "waterspout" which must take very strong winds for this to happen. The first question that came to my mind is how strong must the winds be for this to happen? Another one is can "waterspouts" only form in oceans? Lastly is how long does it take for them to form?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130717.html

IRAS 20324: Evaporating Protostar

This is a photo of a new star being formed causing nebula IRAS 20324+4057. This was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2006. The bright yellow area is the star that is forming. As the it forms, light from other stars erodes away at the gas and dust which were part of the new star. While gas and dust is being eroded, rough winds from other stars are blowing. The winds blow the gas and dust into the shape that it takes here in the photo. The gas and dust being blown around by winds is the blue area. The caption under the photo describes the shape as a caterpillar. I the it looks more the a jellyfish. Most jellyfish are a very light transparent pink. But the brain of the jellyfish is dark red. This reminds me of a jellyfish because the bulk of it is blue but the color of the star forming is yellow. I think it is interesting how the color of dust and gases is a very light, almost neon blue and how the shade of blue varies throughout the nebula. I have a couple of questions to go along with the photo. First, what causes the color of the gas and dust? Second, Why does the shade of blue vary? Finally, why is the gas and dust still around the star? I would think that they would disperse into space.

                                           http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130904.html

A Quadruple Lunar Halo Over Spain

The photo above shows a Quadruple Lunar Halo captured in Madrid, Spain.  Taken on Saturday December 1st, 2012 (but posted on Monday December 3, 2012) the picture illustrates the Moon surrounded by a halo made by falling ice crystals.  When these ice crystals come into the atmosphere of the Earth, they cause rings or halos to appear around the Sun or Moon.  These rings usually last from a few minutes to a few hours.  When I saw this picture, my first question was if these halos appear all over the world, or can they only appear in certain parts.  Also, I wonder if the moon has to be in a certain phase, or phases, for the halos to appear. 

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121203.html

Skylab Over Earth

The Skylab was a space station that was launched by NASA in May 1973. The Skylab was a scientific laboratory that orbited the Earth. It included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. Its purpose was to do many different scientific tests including astronomical observations in ultraviolet and X-ray light. Some of the observations showed us important information about Comet Kohoutek, the Sun, and x-ray background. By having this Skylab astronauts were able to study more about the universe that surrounds us. Many scientific experiments were conducted on the Skylab during its lifetime. The Skylab fell back to Earth July 11, 1979. Why did the Skylab only operate for 6 years? Why can’t we make a Skylab that would be able to orbit other planets?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1308/skylab_nasa_3000.jpg

Airglow, Gegenschein, and the Milky Way

This is a photo of an airglow, the gegenschein, and the Milky Way. This view was seen on April 11, in the southern Atacama desert of Chile. The airglow, which is the green section in the picture, is due to chemiluminescence, the production of light in a chemical reaction, and found around the globe. The chemical energy is provided by the Sun's extreme ultraviolet radiation. The gegenschein is sunlight reflected by dust along the solar system's ecliptic plane. The Milky Way is all the way on the right and it seems to be coming out of the mountaintop. I found this picture interesting because of all of the color in it. There is purple, green, blue, orange, yellow, and even some red. I like how the Milky Way stands out on the right, but the rest of the picture is also interesting. I would love to see a view like this someday. Why can you see the Milky Way so clearly at the moment? What is the orange and yellow part off to the left? Why can you see so many more stars in this picture?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130420.html

Milky Way Over Spain's Bardenas Reales

This is a photo of the Milky Way over Castildetierra, a rock formation in Bardenas Reales, in northeast Spain.  The view above Castildetierra is Earth's side view of the Milky Way Galaxy.  Although the Milky Way is a beautiful sight, it is not the main focus of the picture.  The Milky Way band can actually be seen on most clear nights from any place on Earth.  It is the rock formation Castildetierra that is rare.  It is 50 meters tall and was made by erosion from wind and water over thousands of years.  Now that I know the Milky Way can be seen from many places I would love to be able to see it for myself someday.  Where are the best places to see the Milky Way?  Why is the Castildetierra such a rare and important sight?


http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130902.html

Aurora Over Iceland

This is a photo of an aurora over Iceland that was taken over the Vatnajökull Glacier. Auroras are known to have many colors and shapes just like this one in Iceland.  Looking at many pictures of auroras, each and every one is unique in its own way.  Auroras are made from the energetic particles from a solar storm causing the gases of the thin upper atmosphere to glow bright colors such as pink, blue, green and red.  I would really want an experience to see an aurora one day because of its magnificent beauty and calming effect.  

Questions: 
1) Why are auroras so rare to see?
2) Why do auroras only happen in certain areas of the world?

Photo Source-  http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120321.html

A Starry Night of Iceland

 

 

 

This photo was taken over Jökulsárlón, the largest glacial lake in Iceland. The photographer, Stephane Vetter, captured two green auroral rings, a band of our Milky Way Galaxy in the distant sky, the Pleiades open clusters of stars, and the Andromeda galaxy. The image won an international competition for landscape astrophotography. The reflection of the sky on the lake is very aesthetically pleasing. I think this image is very mesmerizing; I personally would love to view something so spectacular before I die. Some questions this photo raises for me include: What determines the color of the auroral rings? What does an auroral ring look like from space? What creates auroral rings?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110517.html

Perseid Meteors Over Ontario

This is a picture of the Perseids meteor shower seen from Oakland, Ontario, Canada on August 11. It is named that way because the meteors seem to be coming from the direction of Perseus, a constellation named after a Greek hero. It is caused by the trial of dust left from the Comet Swift-Tuttle, a comet, as it orbits the sun and when Earth passes through the debris, the meteors happen to occur right in front of Perseus. I found this fascinating mostly because of how the meteor showers coincidentally happen to look like it is coming from Perseus. It also captured my attention just because it looked so beautiful and peaceful. I wonder if this amazing meteor shower will happen every single year and what would be the best places to observe the Perseids meteor shower from since I would love to see it with my own eyes.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130813.html

The Butterfly Nebula

This image is a closeup of the nebula NGC 6302 that was taken by one of the Hubble Space Telescope's cameras. It is interesting because the nebula looks just like a butterfly. The wings are pinker closer to the center and darker orange farther out. The dying star in the center of the wings is not in sight in this photo because it is covered by a cloud of dust. When observing this picture, I began to wonder how nebulas begin to form. I know that they are formed with dust and gases, but I want to know how they form and which gases they are formed with. Are all nebulas formed with the same gases? If nebulas can keep getting larger by picking up more dust and gases, how large can they get? How large is this nebula compared to others? How large are the largest ones? 

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130607.html

The Moon Over Andromeda

The picture above depicts the spiral Andromeda, which is the closest large spiral to the Earth, although it is still 2.5 million light years away.The picture was taken on August 1st, 2013, and the moon is nearly full. To the naked eye, one would only see the moon in this picture and at most a fuzzy patch, which is Andromeda because its surface brightness is so low. However, with NASA's technology the spiral can clearly be seen. Another spiral is also visible in the distance below Andromeda, and I wonder both how far away compared to the astounding distance between Andromeda and Earth and the name of the spiral.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130801.html

The Strawberry Sun

The red sun was photographed near the village of Strawberry, California, USA. The photo is of a pinkish red sun which, combined with the background, looks sinister. The picture looks the way it does because of a forest fire called the Red Rim fire had caused smoke to change the sun to the color in the photo above. A question I have about this photo is, if this was only caused by smoke plumes distorting how we see the color of the sun, how often could one find a moment like this?http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130829.html

Milky Way - As Seen from Earth

 

 

This image intrigued me by its sheer beauty. I am wondering if it was somehow computer enhanced. Is it really possible to see the Milky Way so vividly from our own planet?? If so, I definitely want to experience a hike like this within my lifetime!

This is a picture of the milky band of stars that form the spiral shaped galaxy we live in. This picture was taken from Bryce Canyon, Utah, a national park.
For me this picture raises questions such as: What are those black clouds of dust in the middle? How did our galaxy form? Why does it have a spiral shape? What is at the center? Is there intelligent life within our own galaxy?

Photo Source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130601.html