Waxing Gibbous Moon

An hour earlier in the night two days after last viewing Leo and the Moon, the constellation was now positioned more above the Moon than next to it. This waxing gibbous was 150° southeast and 40° above the horizon.

Leo and the Sickle Later in the Year

The night I recorded this was the night I saw Jupiter with my telescope, so I was focused much more on that and only on Leo briefly. At the same time two weeks later, the Sickle had angled slightly more upwards and the constellation moved west. 

Compared to April 22 when Regulus was at a 235° azimuth and a 50° altitude, it was now at a 250° azimuth and 38° altitude. 

Leo and the Sickle

Leo is the constellation which is recognizable by its "backward question mark," the Sickle. (I apologize I accidentally labeled the lion's tail as the Sickle in my drawing). The brightest star in the constellation is Regulus, who, on this night was situated 235° west with a 50° altitude.

As mentioned in my previous observation, I had looked at Leo once before, not looking for it specifically, but was happy that I was able to recognize it. That night, along with this, will be the memories I keep of my first experiences with the constellation of Leo the Lion, which truly is spectacular.

First Quarter Moon

This first quarter moon shone in the western sky below the constellation Leo at an altitude of 37°. I had seen Leo once or twice before, but this time was the first time I really started to learn it (see my next post about Leo). I also found it interesting to see where Castor and Pollux we’re positioned, compared to when I first saw them in the fall. 

Where I Have Been & Updates

[let me start by being totally honest and saying that I originally started writing this post on June 6th. now it’s June 26th. some of the content has been altered for the time]

It has been saddening to me that I have not posted on here in three months, and that I have very minimal posts since the new year. I would always want to blog, especially to show my ‘recent’ observations and talk about the many things that have recently happened in the world of space, but life has just been so crazy.

Here’s a timeline of how my life’s been going:

• I was tracking the number of consecutive ‘miserable’ weeks and I think I made it up to “This is the Eighth Miserable Week in a Row.”

I know I shouldn’t use the word miserable like this because I really do live a blessed life that many would be happy to have. I’m using miserable in the sense of no sleep, not enough hours in a day to get everything done, crazy decision making, feelings of overwhelmedness, and just so much going on.

• Then I had an okay week.
• Then I had another miserable week.
• Then I had three good-okay-fair-relaxing-whatever-you-want-to-call-it weeks.
• And now, here I am.

I’ve had some room for a breath at this point and it’s time to come back on here. Times when I’ve wanted to blog, I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to ‘take a break’ from this blog, and this wasn’t planned.

We had another observation notebook to do for class (unfortunately I wasn’t able to do all of them, so my grade won’t be too great  -- update: it was, I’m honestly not sure why or how but I got a perfect score) and I turned it in without taking pictures of it. When I was still in the sixth or seventh “miserable” week, I had planned on having this apology post followed by a continuous daily (or twice daily) run of all the observations I’d done. But -obviously- that didn’t happen. I don’t have the notebook and I don’t have pictures, but I will surely post them if I am able to. [Spoiler Alert] One of the most exciting observations I did this spring was looking at Jupiter with my telescope! It was a little bit of a struggle, but I was so happy! I’ll be sure to let you know about that!

Now, I was hoping to be able to have a supplemental post to go up at the same time as this; I don’t know if that will happen, but I will most definitely get a post or two up as soon as I can - which will hopefully be this week! (Update: I was able to get the notebook back so I hope to have all my new observations come out asap!)

For those of you still reading or still here, thank you.

This is a summer for the stars, for imagination, for dreaming, for sunsets sunrises, for writing and learning. And I promise you’ll be a part of it.

With Love,

                                           🌠
    North Star Gazer 🔭

Full Moon

I'm back to my observations for class, starting with the Full Moon, which, on March 31st was also called the Blue Moon (second full moon in a single month, space.com) or the Full Sap Moon (full moon at the time of year when sap starts to flow in maple trees, almanac.com). I really enjoyed the color of this moon, which I described as similar to that of a yellow-orange light bulb. I caught it when it was low in the eastern sky and it was very neat to see it rise -fairly quickly- up above the house across the street. The rest of the sky was cloudy; luckily, it was just this one spot where the moon was that was clear.  :)

The Humanity Star

The Humanity Star, created by Peter Beck (Rocket Lab) is a visible satellite meant to “create a shared experience for everyone on the planet.” It was launched on January 21, 2018 and will orbit Earth for nine months before burning up in the atmosphere. Orbiting every 90 minutes, the one meter, 22.7 pound reflective geodesic sphere consists of 76 panels that reflect sunlight as it spins, causing the flashing light we see in the sky.

On the official Humanity Star website you can track when the next time you’ll be able to see it will be. Just enter your location and it will give you the date and time, expected duration, and where in the sky you should look. And below that, in the “education” section, there are PDF activities you can print out and make your own Humanity Star model! 

The website defines the hope for the Humanity Star to “draw more people to the night sky, perhaps those who may not otherwise be looking.” I hope that I can have this same impact on my readers: that, maybe, by seeing my passion for space through my posts and following me along on my own night observations, you’ll be inspired to go on your own adventures - looking up, learning, dreaming. And if I’ve achieved this in even just one person, I’ve done my job. 

“My hope is that everyone ... will ... feel a connection to our place in [the universe] and think a little differently about their lives, actions, and what is important.” -Peter Beck

🌟  North Star Gazer

PyeongChang 2018: Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido

The audience present in PyeongChang didn’t get to experience the
display; the light particles were only visible on the TV screen.

While watching the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, I heard a short two word phrase that grabbed my attention and curiosity: “star chart.” NBC host, Mike Tirico, said “ancient South Korean star chart” and I was curious to know more. He was explaining the dome on which the stars, as mapped by Korean astronomers in the 14th century, were projected. Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido (“The Chart of the Constellations and the Regions they Govern”) is the second oldest surviving astronomical map in the world, created in 1394 under the Joseon Dynasty. 264 constellations are named among the 1,467 stars whose sizes vary based on apparent 

Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido

brightness in the night sky. The black marble stone, which measures 122.5 cm x 211 cm x 12 cm, is housed in the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul, deemed a National Treasure by the Korean government. The chart is pictured/depicted on the back of the Korean 10,000 won.


The armillary sphere is a revolving model of the celestial globe made up by rings and hoops once used by astronomers to plot the stars.         – Tony Rice, WRAL.com


I found it interesting to learn about the many scientific advancements made by this society under King Taejo, comparing it to the more common South American societies. Two other astronomy technologies were created, the Angbuilgu sun dial and the Chiljeongsan astronomical calendar ("Calculation on the Motions of the Seven Celestial Determinants"). You can read all about the Joseon Dynasty here.

National Palace Museum and Korean currency (~ 9 U.S. dollars)

Angbuilgu and Chiljeongsan 

Works Cited

Doo, Rumy. “[PyeongChang 2018] 3 Things You Might Have Missed about the Opening 
        Ceremony.” Korea Herald, 12 Feb. 2018.

“Joseon.” KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER, Korean Culture and Information Service.

Revolvy, LLC. “Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido.” Revolvy, CC-BY-SA.

Rice, Tony. “Korea's Astronomical History Featured in Opening Ceremonies.”WRAL.com, Capitol 
        Broadcasting Company, Inc., 11 Feb. 2018.

January 20, 2018

On this night, the stars were so clear in the sky that it seemed like they were "all there". The Moon, to the northwest, was a spectacular waxing crescent. The whole time I spent with my eyes up to the sky, I was whispering "oh wow" on repeat to myself, taking in the sight. Below, you'll find my observations for the northern and southern skies, and a small comment about the eastern sky. I was out so long that I didn't even get the chance to look at the western sky! But of course, I did look west for a second, just to see Cassiopeia!

In the southern sky, I could see Orion, Sirius (the brightest star in the sky), part of Taurus, and Pleiades (the famous "Seven Sisters" star cluster in Taurus ~ that, to me, looks like a tiny Dipper!). The red of Betelgeuse and the blue of Rigel didn't seem to stand out to me as much today. The ISS was passing by at this time, but it was unfortunately too low behind the trees for me to see.

In the northern sky, I saw both Dippers, but only parts of Ursa Minor (it's always fainter than Ursa Major). You'd expect that for the two constellations everyone knows since childhood not to be so awestruck, but today, I was even saying "oh wow" to the Big and Little Dipper.

I saw a lot in the eastern sky as well, but I'd already been out in the cold for 20 minutes, so I didn't draw them, but, with the help of my trusty SkyView app, I was able to see Capella & Menkalinan, Castor & Pollux, and Alhena & Procyon, among many others (I did write down 2 other stars' names, but once inside, I couldn't even decipher what I'd written!). 

Last night's observations, along with my recent research about the Very Large Telescope (read my new post here) spoke to and inspired me, causing that flame of passion to burn a little stronger within me.

The Very Large Telescope

The Very Large Telescope, owned and managed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is located in Cerro Paranal, Chile. The facility consists of four individual rotating telescopes, Antu (Sun), Kueyen (Moon), Melipal (Southern Cross), and Yepun (Venus), named from the indigenous Mapuche language. The elevation of the site is 2,635 meters. Construction of the VLT began in 1991 and it made its first observation in 1998.


The Very Large Telescope is an optical telescope that is able to detect ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light waves. It uses Ritchey-Cretien reflectors and interferometry, a technology that creates higher resolution images by combining light wave signals underground. The telescope is used to view deep space objects as faint as magnitude 30, which means they are four billion times fainter than what is visible to the naked eye. Each of the four unit telescopes has an aperture of 8.2 meters. The facility also has four smaller auxiliary telescopes, each of which is 1.8 meters in diameter. When combined through interferometry, the telescopes can have an aperture of up to 200 meters in diameter. Each unit telescope has an angular resolution of 50 milliarcseconds (an arcsecond measures the angle between two objects to the observer). When combined by interferometry, this resolution is reduced to only 2 milliarcseconds, which the ESO defines as being able to distinguish two points on the ISS separated by the width of a single sesame seed from Earth or being able to read a newspaper on the Moon!


The VLT had made many discoveries including:
* discovered the most massive star, R136a1, which is 265x more massive than our Sun
* observed the afterglow of the furthest known gamma ray burst
* watches stars circle around the black hole at the center of our galaxy
* produced the first image of an exoplanet and measured the planet's mass
* discovered the Great Cold Spot on Jupiter

On the homepage of the website, you can view a live panoramic image of the Paranal Observatory which I have linked here with a map of the site, which includes its high-end "resort" called the Residencia where astronomers and engineers live.
http://www.eso.org/public/usa/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/ 

The last thing I have for you today is an amazing set of images taken by the VLT. The link below is from the ESO and contains 682 unbelievable, groundbreaking images. I scrolled through all 14 pages on the website clicking on the ones that I wanted to learn more about (which was a LOT). And not very far into the collection, my eyes were tearing up. Sure, I'm an emotional person, but looking at these sparked something in me. Inspiration? Hope? Just pure awe? I don't know what it was, but these pictures of deep space that are possible through the abilities of our own humankind truly struck me. 

I'll insert here some of my favorites:

http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/list/1/?adv=&facility=31 

                                                 Jupiter                           Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232     

  

Red flames of Betelgeuse          Jewel Box cluster    

       Eta Carinae Nebula               Gas cloud being ripped 

                                                     apart by the black hole at the 

                                                 center of the Milky Way

Outbursts from a newborn star in the constellation Orion

Rosetta's Comet

Dust ring around the star           Globular cluster 47 Tuc

 HR 4796A in Centaurus                                                   

  

The protoplanet that orbits the             Colliding galaxies          

young star HD 100546 is seen                                                    

in the star's dust and gas                                                     

                                                   

     Exoplanet CVSO 30c           Triple quasar QQQ 1429-008

   

Never forget to look up and beyond,

                                       🌠
    North Star Gazer 🔭

   

Works Cited

alienarka. "VLT Trailer 2009 (Paranal, Chile)." Online video clip. YouTube. 4 December 2009.
“Angular Measurements.” Cool Cosmos, IPAC-Caltech, coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_
        classroom/cosmic_reference/angular.html.
Ferris, Timothy. Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding
Earth from Interplanetary Peril. Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Greenhaven Press. Exploring Science and Medical Discoveries: Astronomy. Thomson Gale, 2006.
Gregersen, Erik. “Very Large Telescope.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7
        Mar. 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Very-Large-Telescope.
Nave, Rod. “Very Large Telescope (VLT).” HyperPhysics, hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase
        /Solar/VLT.html.
“Very Large Telescope.” ESO United States, www.eso.org/public/usa/teles-instr/paranal-
        observatory/vlt/.

January 10, 2018

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much lately, but I'm back! I had a burst of inspiration so get excited for the fun posts I have planned! (Seriously, earlier today I was tearing up looking at something that you'll hopefully get to see very soon)

⭐   ☆   ⭐   ☆   ⭐

Facing 165° south, it was interesting to note the shifts in the positions of the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Spica since my previous observations, which were all generally at the same time. On November 28th, Jupiter was much closer to the horizon, Mars and Spica were almost next to one another, and there was no Moon (see picture below). This change is due to the differences in the orbits of the planets around the Sun. In this observation, Mars did not appear as red as it does other days. The Moon was in the waxing crescent phase. Also, the coloring of this picture does not do the sky justice- the sunrise was a much more vivid orange.

January 1, 2018

Happy New Year, everyone!! 

My Observation Notebook project is finished now (although I still have more observations to post here) but I am happy to announce that I'll be continuing my observations. My dad surprised me this Christmas with this notebook that he ordered with my blog logo and a star chart printed on the front. In here, I'll be doing my own personal observation notebook. Since this one is separate from class, the format will be a little different because there are no guidelines. And as for the blog posts, I'm not sure exactly how I'll set them up but for this one, I'm typing out the paragraph I wrote in the notebook, adding a little bit more. 
Thanks so much for reading! Here's to a great 2018- I'm looking forward to continuing to explore the night sky together!

Just as I was going to bed at almost 2 am, I could see how bright it was outside, so I got up and looked out my window. The moon was full and bright at due west, and I could see part of Orion. Through the window, without my glasses on, I could see the red of Betelgeuse - if that tells you anything about how dark and clear the sky was! I'm not positive, but this might've been my first time seeing Sirius, which is the brightest star in the night sky. It most certainly was the brightest star, so much that I had to check the SkyView app to see what star it was because at first sight I thought it must have been a satellite or something! Wow, that was an amazing sight in itself! The moon's light created a beautiful shadows of the trees in the snow on the ground- another sight in which I took delight. I remember thinking that it was cool that January 1st was a Full Moon, but when I looked it up, according to moongiant.com, on December 31st, the moon was 96% illuminated and 99% on January 1st - "not quite a full moon." But even if it doesn't fall right on the start of a new year, that only means that I have tonight to look forward to as even more spectacular.

                   Shine bright and keep dreaming,
                               ✰North Star Gazer