Friday, November 30, 2012

APOD 2.5

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This is the APOD from November 23rd, 2012. It is depicting the Pipe Nebula. It is located east of Antares and Ophiuchus is visible in this picture. It was discovered by E. E. Barnard in the 20th century. This was taken as a 24 hour exposure from the Atacama desert in Chile. It is about 450 light years away. The dark center of this image is created by gas and dust collapsing and creating stars.

APOD 2.4

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This is the APOD from November  15th, 2012. It depicts the solar eclipse that happened a few days earlier on November 13th. Most of it could be visible in the southern Pacific. The closest land to its track was Australia. This picture was taken from Queensland. In this picture, the sun is almost completely covered except for the small bit at the top. It is also surrounded by a faint solar corona.

Friday, November 9, 2012

APOD 2.3

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This is the APOD from November 3, 2012. This is a picture of the full moon during late October. It was taken over the Italian Alps. This was the second full moon after the Autumnal Equinox. For many it is called the Hunter's moon. This is because they used the light from the moon to hunt in preperation for the harsh winter. The sun in this picture is setting and the mountains depicted are around 11,000 feet tall.

Friday, November 2, 2012

APOD 2.2

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This is the APOD from October 31st, 2012. This picture contains the constellation Cepheus, a mysterious cloud and the VdB 152 nebula. The ghostly cloud is around 1,400 light years away. This is along the northern Milky Way. The blur light in this picture is created by the reflecion of stars in space.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Observations

On October 7th my friends and I went to the area by Casey Key Fish House that you held stargazes at for about an hour in hopes of seeing stars, but the moon was very bright in its waxing gibbous phase. The sky was clear so a few off the stars could be seen but not well enough to determine what they were. I did notice the moon though on this morning of the 29th.

APOD 2.1

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the highest resolution version available. This is the APOD from October 23, 2012. These oddly shaped clouds are called Mammatus clouds. They differ from regular clouds by having curved bottoms that are formed by water droplets rising and forming at various heights because of the specific temperatures that correspond. This can create cloud pockets that hold ice or water. These often form when very turbulent storms are near. This picture was taken in Saskatchewan over summer.