3.3:

This photo was taken from Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees. La Mongie ski resort is lighting up the mountain slopes on the right. Lights from Southern France and Germany also light up the horizon. Many constellations and astronomical objects can be seen in this picture: Orion, Gemini, Mars, etc. The domes on the left hold a 0.6 meter telescope that amateur astronomers can use. There is also a one meter telescope that was used during Apollo lunar landing missions and is currently used used for the Sun-watching CLIMSO. This picture is incredibly beautiful and magical. The starry sky and luminous lights on the mountains and horizon create a truly dazzling sight.

3.2: The Cocoon Nebula from CFHT

This is a picture of the Cocoon Nebula, but it is cataloged as IC 5146. It is about 4,000 light-years away and can be found near the Swan constellation, Cygnus. Many new open clusters are developing in the Cocoon Nebula. Therefore, it also has a red emission nebula, blue reflection nebulas, and dark absorption nebulas. These nebulas produce the variety of colors that can be ssen in this photo taken by the CFHT in Hawaii. Recent measurements suggest that the large star on the left in this picture opened a hole in a molecular cloud; the glowing material flows through this hole.

Observation Session: 1/8/08

During this session we first looked at the moon through binocs. Although the moon was only a crescent, we could still see the darker part of the moon because of Earth shine. We also looked at a number of constellations and asterisms: Cepeus, Casseopia, Pegasus(the Great Square), Eridanus, Orion, Pisces(circlet). Names and first magnitude stars we looked at are Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, Sirius, and Achernar. We also looked at Mars and other M objects through the telescope, and M31 with the binocs.

Observation Session 1/3/08

During this session we looked for “shooting stars” from the quadrantid meteor shower. We only saw one really good “shooting star” that streaked across the whole sky. I also saw about 5 small “shooting stars”.

Observation Session 12/6/07

During this lesion we viewed many constellations and asterisms including the summer triangle, Casseopia, Cetus, Perseus, etc. We also viewed first magnitude stars like Fomalhaut and Vega. We also viewed Comet Holmes, Mars, and various M objects through the telescope.

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve was born on April 15, 1793 in Altona (which was then in Denmark). Napoleon’s army was looking for recruits, but Struve escaped in 1808 and began to attend University of Dorpat. His brother, Karl, was a professor of philology at the University. Friedrich Struve decided to study philology too and received his degree in 1810. Georg Friedrich Parrot, a physicist, greatly influenced Struve. Struve became interested in sciences, especially Astronomy. He began observing astronomical phenomena at the Dorpat Observatory in 1812. Struve was later appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy. Under Struve’s direction the observatory was internationally acclaimed. It was especially commended after 1824 when the observatory gained the Fraunhofer equatorial telescope. This telescope had a 9.6-inch achromatic objective lens; it was the biggest of its time. Struve mainly observed and studied binary stars. He published his discoveries in Catalogus novus in 1827, Mensurae micrometricae in 1837, and Positiones mediae in1852. His observations of double stars proved that Newton’s law of gravitation also applies outside the solar system. Czar Nicholas I put some land aside in 1830 in the Pulkovo Hills near St. Petersburg. The land would be the location for a new observatory. The observatory opened in 1839; the Czar appointed Struve as the director. The observatory’s telescope had a 15-inch objective lens. With this impressive telescope, the observatory had the best equipment in Europe. Because of failing health, Struve had to retire in 1861. Struve finally dies on November 23, 1864 in St. Petersburg. His son, Otto Wilhelm von Struve, was also an astronomer was the director of the Pulkovo Observatory from 1858 to1899.

Struve spent many of his observations looking at double stars. Most double stars are actually binary stars instead of optical doubles. Binary stars orbit around each other’s barycenter and change position over time. Struve made measurements of these tiny position changes. From 1824 to 1837, he measured over 2,714 double stars. He published his data in Stellarum duplicium et multiplicium mensurae micrometricae. Struve also measured aberration. Although Friedrich Bessel was the first to measure a star’s parallax, Struve was the first to measure Vega’s parallax.

Struve also completed geodetic surveying between 1816 and 1855. To try and find the exact size and shape of the Earth, he started the Struve Arc. It was a chain of survey triangulations from Hammerfest to the Black Sea. It covered over 2,820 km and went through 10 countries. Many scientists and monarchs had to work together to complete the surveying. “The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points” (Smith).

Works Cited

"Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve." NNDB. 2008. Soylent Communications. 9 Jan.

2008 .

Gale, Thomson. "Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Von Struve." BookRags. 2006.

Encyclopedia of World Biography. 9 Jan. 2008 .

Ripley, George, and Charles A. Dana. "Encyclopedia of World Biography."

Google Book Search. 1883. 9 Jan. 2008 .

Smith, J R. "The Struve Geodetic Arc." Sept. 2005. International Institution for

History of Surveying & Measurement. 9 Jan. 2008 .

3.1: Mammatus Clouds Over Mexico

Normal clouds are flat at the bottom. Normal clouds are formed when warm air rises and condenses at a specific height and temperature. Opaque clouds are formed with these water droplets. However, cloud pockets are sometimes formed. These pockets contain large ice or water droplets. As these droplets fall, they evaporate. These pockets are often associated with turbulent or stormy weather and are seen with anvil clouds. Mammatus clouds can result because of the pockets.

3.1: Mammatus Clouds Over Mexico

Normal clouds are flat on the bottom. When warm air rises and cool, it usually condenses at a specific temperature and height. An opaque cloud is formed from these water droplets. However, cloud pokets sometimes form with large ice or water droplets. They fall into clear air as they evaporate. These pokets are often assoiated with turbulent or stormy weather at the top of an anvil cloud. The result can be mammatus clouds.