Zooniverse

I spent most of my time on Zooniverse taking part in two different classification activities. I began with classifying galaxies. I would specify whether they were mostly elliptical or spiral galaxies. I would also specify whether or not they had bulges in the center and with the spiral galaxies, I would specify how many arms they had. I learned about the differences between several types of galaxies. The second classification activity dealt with observing the Moon's surface looking for mounds, craters, and ridges. I also specified which sections of the Moon had more boulders than others. I learned several interesting facts about the Moon's surface geology. The dark areas known as seas are actually solidified lava. The rest of the Moon is vastly covered with impact craters. Overall, my experience with Zooniverse was educational and interesting. There were hundreds of vivid pictures and tidbits of information.

Observations: AstronomyCast Gliese 581

Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star that is located about 20 light years from Earth in the constellation Libra. The mass of this star is estimated to be about one third that of the Sun, and it is the eighty-ninth closest star to the Sun. This red dwarf is particularly interesting because it is one of the most known stars to have a planet that could be hospitable for life. The star has been observed to have six planets in its orbit, two of which may be hospitable for life. Gliese d and Gliese g are the two planets that could be hospitable, with d having the possibility of Earth-like life. However, Gliese g has the greatest likelihood of containing liquid water on its surface. Gliese 581 has been the subject of a huge amount of attention because of these factors. Perhaps these couple of planets surrounding the red dwarf star are the first place to investigate more fully for extraterrestrial life.

Observations: AstronomyCast The Milky Way

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Earth. The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy 100,000–120,000 light-years in diameter containing 200–400 billion stars. It may contain at least as many planets, with an estimated 10 billion of those orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent stars. It appears as a flat disk. The Solar System is located within the disk, around two thirds of the way out from the Galactic Center, on the inner edge of a spiral-shaped concentration of gas and dust called the Orion–Cygnus Arm. As a guide to the relative physical scale of the Milky Way, if it were reduced to 100 meters (110 yd) in diameter, the Solar System, including the hypothesized Oort cloud, would be no more than 1 millimeter (0.039 in) in width, or a grain of sand in a sports field. This gives you a real feel for how large the universe truly is. With billions of galaxies in the Universe, our solar system is just a miniscule speck in just one of those billions and bilions of other galaxies. It is very humbling to think about how small one human being is in comparison to our own Milky Way galaxy and the Universe.

APOD 4.8

This is an even more fascinating picture involving water, but this time it is about the water on Jupiter's moon, Europa. Based on the Galileo probe data acquired during its exploration of the Jovian system from 1995 to 2003, Europa possesses a deep, global ocean of liquid water beneath a layer of surface ice. The ice layer plus the ocean underneath could range from 80 to 170 kilometers in depth. Estimating that the average depth is 100 kilometers, Europa would have a condensed ball of water with a radius of 877 kilometers. That's more water than is on Earth! Perhaps Europa is the first place to look for extraterrestrial life in the solar system.

APOD 4.7

This image is very fascinating. When one thinks about the Earth as a whole, they think of a lot of water. 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, yet there actually is not that much of it on the planet. Although 70% of the surface seems like a lot, in comparison to the Earth's radius, the oceans are very shallow. If all of the water on Earth was condensed into a ball, the radius of this ball would only be 700 kilometers. That is not even half the size of the Moon. This is an interesting insight into the actual amount of water on this water-planet.

Frank Low Biography

Frank J. Low was born on November 23, 1933 in Mobile Alabama. He grew up in Houston, Texas with his family before attending Yale University to acquire his undergraduate degree in physics. He later returned to Texas to attend Rice University where he would eventually acquire his Doctor of Philosophy in physics in 1959. Low is most famous for his innovation of and work with the infrared telescope. Low worked at Texas Instruments where one of his first assignments was the development of a low-temperature thermometer that was developed using a germanium semiconductor which measured changes in temperature based on the change in the device's electrical resistance as energy was absorbed. Based on his academic experiences, he came to the conclusion that the technology behind this thermometer could be integrated as the basis for a bolometer that could be used to measure the radiant energy coming from stars as infrared radiation. Low went to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia to test his bolometer, which was more sensitive to infrared than detectors previously in use on the Green Bank Telescope. However, infrared waves are absorbed by molecules such as water vapor in the atmosphere. In order to combat this new challenge, Low developed devices that could be attached to aircraft. His most effective device was a twelve inch telescope placed on a Learjet operated by NASA. He later proposed and joined the international project to build the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS). IRAS was able to discover in excess of 500,000 infrared sources, including many galaxies, and has discovered shells of debris surrounding stars that show the early stages of planetary formation, with debris similar to that later found as the Kuiper belt that encircles our Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune. Based on these findings, researchers have concluded 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. Low also worked with NASA on the Spitzer Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. On June 11, 2009, Low died at age 75. He was survived by his wife, three children, and six grandchildren.

APOD 4.6

This is a picture of one of Saturn's sixty-two moons. This moon is Helene, and this picture was taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it orbited Saturn and reached a distance of only the Earth's atmosphere from Helene. This image has spectacular clarity and will help scientists learn more about the Helene. It could give insight into why the moon appears smooth and streaked as opposed to rough and cratered like our Moon. Helene is also an unusual moon because it orbits Saturn just before Dione, a larger moon, making it one of only four known Saturnian moons to occupy a Lagrange point.

Observations: AstronomyCast Ultraviolet Astronomy

Ultraviolet astronomy is generally used to refer to observations of electromagnetic radiation at ultraviolet wavelengths between approximately 10 and 320 nanometres; shorter wavelengths—higher energy photons—are studied by X-ray astronomy and gamma ray astronomy. Light at these wavelengths is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so observations at these wavelengths must be performed from the upper atmosphere or from space. Much of the universe looks cool when being observed with ultraviolet radiation, as it is normally associated with hotter objects; objects hotter than normal stars. Stars that are in wither the early stages or late stages of evolution. The universe is able to be observed with different kinds of radiation x-ray, gamma, etc... Each provides new and valuable insight.

APOD 4.5

This is a sequence of pictures taken last week of the Moon and the Solar System's innermost planet, Mercury. As Mercury reaches its greatest elongation angle from the Sun, it tracks a similar path as the old crescent Moon. The two are climbing along an ecliptic plane steeply inclined along the horizon. This well composed sequence captures the rising Moon and Mercury above the city lights of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.

Observations: AstronomyCast Cosmic Rays

Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating in outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. Most primary cosmic rays (those that enter the atmosphere from deep space) are composed of familiar stable subatomic particles that normally occur on Earth, such as protons, atomic nuclei, or electrons. Although most of the subatomic particles are stable protons and neutrons, a small fraction that enter the Earth's atmosphere occur as stable particles of antimatter. Antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. For example, a positron and an antiproton can form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a "normal matter" hydrogen atom. Furthermore, mixing matter and antimatter can lead to the annihilation of both. The flux of incoming cosmic rays at the upper atmosphere is dependent on the solar wind, the Earth's magnetic field, and the energy of the cosmic rays.

APOD 4.4

This is a picture of unusual blobs found in the Carina Nebula. Energetic light and winds from nearby stars are breaking apart the dark dust grains that make the iconic forms opaque. Ironically the blobs, otherwise known as dark molecular clouds, frequently create in their midst the very stars that later destroy them. This picture was taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and span a couple of light months.

APOD 4.3

This is a brilliant picture of Earth's sister planet, Venus. It was taken on April 2nd in Portal, Arizona. It was taken as Venus crossed paths with the Pleiades, another set of very bright stars. The fact that the Pleiades are normally considered very bright stars in the sky shows just how brilliant Venus appears on this night. The last similar conjunction of Venus and Pleiades occurred nearly 8 years ago, and as it did then, Venus will continue on to cross paths with the disk of the Sun in June.

APOD 4.2

This is an image of the Volcano Tungurahua which sometimes erupts spectacularly. In the picture above, taken in 2006, the 5,000 meter high volcano is erupting, emitting dark plumes of ash and lava. As the lava flows down the side of the mountain, clouds intermingle with the dark ash. Located in Ecuador, Tungurahua has become active roughly every 90 years for the last 1,300 years.

APOD 4.1

This is a picture of the Grand Canyon taken on March 26. Off in the distance, keeping the canyon alight is the moon along with the planet Venus. In the foreground, the Colorado River sparkles in the Moon's light as it travels through the canyon as seen from the southern rim. On this date, wonders of the night sky included the compact Pleiades and V-shaped Hyades star clusters poised just above the Moon. Bright planet Jupiter is below the closer Moon/Venus pairing, near the western horizon.

Observations: AstronomyCast X-Ray Astronomy

X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-ray radiation is mostly absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere; therefore, many of the instruments used to measure X-rays are sent up through the atmosphere on balloons, sounding rockets, and satellites. Much of the rays are picked up from celestial objects that emit high temperature gases. The first X-ray source to be identified was from the constellation Scorpius and was called Scorpius X-1. It is now known that such X-ray sources as Sco X-1 are compact stars, such as neutron stars or black holes. Material falling into a black hole may emit X-rays, but the black hole does not. The main energy source for the X-ray emission is gravity.

Observations: AstronomyCast Globular Cluster

Globular clusters are spherical collections of stars that orbit a galactic core as a satellite. Globular clusters are very tightly bound by gravity, which gives them a spherical shape and relatively high stellar densities toward their centers. These globular clusters are common; there are about 150 to 158 known globular clusters in the Milky Way, with more left to be discovered. Other galaxies have many more clusters than even the Milky Way. The Andromeda galaxy has about 500 and galaxy M87 has as many as 13,000. Although it appears that globular clusters seem to have some of the first formed stars in the galaxy, little is known about their role in galactic evolution.

Supernova Remnants

This is the image of the remnant of Kepler's supernova. A supernova remnant (SNR) is the structure resulting from the explosion of a star in a supernova. The supernova remnant is bounded by an expanding shock wave, and consists of ejected material expanding from the explosion, and the interstellar material it sweeps up and shocks along the way. This was a supernovaa that took place in the Milky Way galaxy and is in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is the last supernova to have taken place in our galaxy. It is about 20,000 light years from Earth. It was first observed in northern Italy on October 9, 1604.

APOD 3.8

This is a picture containing three of the planets visible with the naked eye. It contains Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury. The first planet you notice is Venus the brightest object in the western sky. Above Venus, the second brightest object is Jupiter. Mercury is very faint and is only visible briefly after sunset as a faint dot just above the horizon. This picture was taken on Reunion Island looking out to the Indian Ocean.

APOD 3.7

This is a series of pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope between 1994 and 2009. This is the result of one of the brightest supernovas ever seen. It occurred twenty-five years ago and scientists have been watching  and waited for the expanding debris from this tremendous stellar explosion to crash into previously expelled material. The collision occurred at speeds near 60 million kilometers per hour and shock-heats the ring material causing it to glow. Astronomers are still studying the mysterious rings.

Dorothea Klumpke Roberts Biography

      Dorothea Klumpke Roberts came form an established family of nine, including her parents. She was born on August 9th, 1861 in San Francisco, California. Her father had moved there in the 1850s along with many others during the Gold Rush. However, he was not successful in that particular field. Although he did not strike it rich, he became a very successful realtor. He eventually met Dorothea Mathilda Tolle and they were married. In 1877, seven children later, Dorothea's family moved to Paris, France and several of her sisters went to schools in Germany and Switzerland. Out of her four sisters and two brothers, a wealth of them became accomplished people of their own. One an artist, another a violinist, one a pianist, and one a neurosurgeon. Dorothea herself went to school to study music but became fascinated with astronomy. She earned her bachelor's degree in the field in 1886 and took up a position at the Paris observatory. There she worked with Guillaume Bigourdan and Lipót Schulhof, and later with the pioneer astrophotographers Paul and Prosper Henry, who were working with a 34 cm refractor and photographing the minor planets, also known as assteroids. Her work consisted of measuring star positions, processing astrophotographs, studying stellar spectra and meteorites. In 1886 Sir David Gill proposed an atlas of the heavens. The idea received enthusiastic support, especially from the Director of the Paris Observatory, Admiral Amédée Mouchez, who suggested an international meeting in Paris. This led to the Carte du Ciel project which required photographing the entire sky and showing stars as faint as the 14th magnitude. The Paris Observatory was required to map a large portion of the sky. Ten years later, Dorothea traveled to Norway to see a solar eclipse. Although the eclipse was a bust, she met her future husband, Dr. Isaac Roberts. He had his own observatory equipped his private observatory with a 50 cm reflector and camera, and a 13 cm Cooke refractor. Five years later, in 1901, the two were married, and Dorothea worked with Roberts on a project to photograph all 52 of the Herschel "areas of nebulosity." Although Roberts died four years later, Dorothea returned to Paris Observatory and spent 25 years processing the plates and Isaac's notes, periodically publishing papers on the results.rothea kept up the research. She published a survey entitled, "The Isaac Roberts Atlas of 52 Regions, a Guide to William Herschel's Fields of Nebulosity" and was awarded the Hèléne-Paul Helbronner prize in 1932 from the French Academy of Sciences for this publication.

Dorothea Klumpke Roberts: Sources

SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Klumpke
http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/articles/dorothea.html
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1942PASP...54..217A
http://www.answers.com/topic/dorothea-klumpke-roberts
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/107876/large/C0043664-Dorothea_Klumpke_1861-1942_Astronomer-SPL.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/107876/enlarge&usg=__FZ7tK3U3o8dIDg0Io_LNa6uvZ9w=&h=530&w=454&sz=38&hl=en&start=3&zoom=1&tbnid=TTE3NNljO_OZlM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=113&ei=Y5JLT-SfKZO_gAfC8IWMDg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddorothea%2Bklumpke%2Broberts%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1

GALE:
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=fl_sarhs&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCX2588812967&&docId=GALE|CX2588812967&docType=GALE

APOD 3.6

This is a picture of a road in the dark Atacama Desert in Chile. It appears to lead to the glowing nebulae of the Milky Way. Ini reality, the road leads to Cerro Armazones peak in Chile, future construction site for the 40-meter class European Extremely Large Telescope. In the sky above the road, the Great Carina Nebula dominates the sky. It is one of our galaxies largest star formations. The sky is so clear because of the distance from any kind of light, therefore, there is very little light pollution.

APOD 3.5

This is a very picturesque image of the Rosette Nebula. The Rosette Nebula is not the only nebula to evoke the image of flowers, but it is the most famous. It is known to look like a rose, with a center being a cluster of young stars 50 light years wide. The petals of this rose are actually a stellar nursery whose lovely, symmetric shape is sculpted by the winds and radiation from its central cluster. The constellation Monoceros is contained in this famous nebula.

Observations (AstronomyCast) Nebulae

A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust composed mainly of hydrogen and helium with some other ionized gases. Originally nebula was the name for any extended astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way. Many nebulae form from the gravitational collapse of gas in the interstellar medium. As the material collapses under its own weight, massive stars may form in the center, and their ultraviolet radiation ionizes the surrounding gas making it visible at optical wavelengths. There are four main types of nebulae: diffuse, planetary, protoplanetary, and supernova. Diffuse nebulae are extended and contain no well defined boundaries. Planetary nebulae form from the gaseous shells that are ejected from low-mass asymptotic giant branch stars when they transform into white dwarfs. Protoplanetary nebula are astronomical objects which are at the short-lived episode during a star's rapid stellar evolution between the late asymptotic giant branch phase and the following planetary nebula phase. A supernova nebula occurs when a high-mass star reaches the end of its life.

APOD 3.4

This shot of the Orion Nebula pictures a hot bed of star formation. This Orion field, which is located 1600 light years away, is full of intricate patterns of filaments of dust. Dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by a strong outer wind of particles. Forming star clusters in the above image appear brown, while the central glowing gas is highlighted in red. Over the next few million years, the dust will be destroyed by stars or will disperse into the galaxy. 

APOD 3.3

This is the image of star trails set up at ESO's La Silla Observatory. To trace the graceful paths of the stars across the sky, set up your camera on a tripod aimed towards the sky and take pictures at intervals. This image is actually 250 consecutive one minute exposures over a 4 hour period looking towards the North. The North Celestial Pole, at the center of the star trail arcs, is just below the horizon in this southern hemisphere perspective.

APOD 3.2

This picture of a rocky incline was taken on Mars by the rover Opportunity. Because winter on Mars is apporaoching, and the temperatures will drop severely, Opportunity needs to find a warmer place where it can charge its solar panels so as not to run out of battery. The 15 degree incline ahead is known as Greeley's Haven. On top of this incline, Opportunity will have a greater exposure to sunlight on this ridge and therefore a better chance to survive the winter.

APOD 3.1

This is a picture of an aurora over Norway  A large coronal mass ejection occurred on our Sun five days ago, throwing a cloud of fast moving electrons, protons, and ions toward the Earth. A majority if this cloud passed above the Earth, and it impacted the Earth's magnetosphere, which caused this aurora. A more powerful solar flare occurred soon after this aurora took place which means that an even greater aurora may appear soon.

AstronomyCast Neutron Star

A neutron star is a stellar remnant that can be formed by the gravitational collapse that occurs from one of the several types of supernova events. Neutron stars are composed entirely of neutrons. They contain no electrons and therefore do not have an overall positive charge. They do, however, contain seas of electrons that flow  over and around the crushed together neutrons. Neutron stars are generally very hot and generally have a mass between 1.35 and 2 solar masses. The first neutron star was discovered by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky in 1934, and many have been discovered since.

APOD 2.8

Believe it or not, this is an image of Earth using a special process. It was created from a 12 frame mosaic used to construct a spherical panorama. This type of stereographic projection is used to map the image pixels is centered directly below the camera and is known as the  little planet projection. If you look closely, you can see a portion of the constellation of Orion just to the right of the center of Earth. You can also see the fading tail of the comet Lovejoy stretching near the south celestial pole.

AstronomyCast Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an intersellar medium of gas and dust, and dark matter. Galaxies contain various amounts of star remnants, star clusters, and types of interstellar clouds. There are several different types of galaxies including elliptical galaxies, spiral galaxies, ring galaxies, dwarf galaxies, starburst galaxies, and other morphologies. The galaxy in which we live is named the Milky Way galaxy and it is a disc shaped spiral galaxy. It is 100,000 to 200,000  light years in diameter and holds about 200-400 billion stars. It is estimated to be 13.2 billion years old.

AstronomyCast Io

One of Jupiter's moons, Io, is the site of extreme conditions. It is the most geologically active object in the solar system. Io is the fourth largest moon in the solar system and it has over 400 active volcanoes. The extensive geological activity is caused by the result of tidal heating from friction generated from within Io's interior as it is pulled between Jupiter and the other Galilean moons. Some of the volcanoes and mountains on Io are even taller than Earth's Mt. Everest. Unlike many other moons, Io consists of silicate rock surrounding a molten iron or molten iron sulfide core. Io is just one of the thousands of satellites in our solar system and it holds many interesting information.

Heinrich Wilhelm Matthaus Olbers Biography

Heinrich Olbers was born on October 11, 1758. He was born in Arbergren, Germany, near Bremen. He is most famous for being a physician and an astronomer. He studied to become a physician at Gottinger, which is a university in Lower Saxony, Germany. He graduated in 1780, and he began to practice medicine in Bremen, Germany. He is perhaps more famous for his fascination with astronomy and contributions made towards the field. He turned the second level of his home into an observatory with which he was able to make several contributions. He made several discoveries of asteroids, including Pallas and Vesta. Olbers also theorized about the formation of the asteroid belt. As the term "asteroid" had not been coined during his lifetime, he as well as some others astronomers thought that they were planets or parts of planets. Olbers predicted that the area in which these asteroids were being found was once a planet and that the asteroids were its remnants. Olbers also discovered a comet which is named after him (13P/Olbers). Olbers' most famous contribution to astronomy is his paradox. It states that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the  assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe. If the universe is static and populated by an infinite number of stars, any sight line from Earth must end at the surface of a star, so the night should be completely bright. Other notable accomplishments were his acceptance into the Royal Swedish Academy of the Sciences, and he also partook in the baptizing of Napoleon the Second of France. Heinrich Olbers died on March 2, 1840, at the age of 81.

AstronomyCast Tunguska Event

The Tunguska Event is one of the most fascinating events in the history of meteorite or comet impacts with the Earth. The actual occurrence is still under debate. Scientists do not even know for certain what happened. The general belief is that the meteorite or comet burst before it even made impact with the Earth in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is also believed that the object burst approximately five to ten kilometers from the surface of the Earth, however the size of the object itself is still under debate. The power of the blast is estimated to be between five to thirty megatons of TNT. Although not much is certain about the cause of the event, Leonid Kulik, Yevgeny Krinov, Kirill Florensky, Nikolai Vladimirovich Vasiliev, and Wilhelm Fast are some of the most famous scientists who have researched it. 

APOD 2.7

This is an image of a full sky aurora above Norway. Auroras do not usually reach below 60 kilometers. This is much higher than any building, muntain, or airplane path. The colors of the auroras are cause by the striking of the electrons and protons into molecules high in the sky. Usually auroras appear as circles surrounding the Earth's poles, but this one is a wide angle horizontally compressed. 

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Wilhelm_Matth%C3%A4us_Olbers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olbers'_paradox
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0836516.html
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Heinrich_Wilhelm_Matthias_Olbers
http://www.answers.com/topic/olbers-s-paradox

Gale: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=fl_sarhs&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|CX2830100625&&docId=GALE|CX2830100625&docType=GALE