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. 

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 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

Mae Jemison

When I took AP U.S. History in high school, we did a project called "Historical Character Day" after completing the lengthy coursework and dreaded AP exam. We could chose to be any significant person in American history and had to pretend to be that person, introducing ourselves to the entire class and then interacting with other important, well-known people of history. So, as you might have already guessed, I chose to be Mae Jemison. 

The following is the information I collected as I prepared for Historical Character Day so that I would be able to fully know my person inside and out:

Name:  Mae Jemison

Born:  October 17, 1956

Contribution to History: the first black female astronaut

Significance to America:

• First African American woman admitted to the space program and in space
• Science Mission Specialist
• Advocate for women’s and civil rights
• Area Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone & Liberia
• Awards:
• 1988 - Essence Science and Technology Award
• 1992 - Ebony Black Achievement Award
• 1993 - Montgomery Fellowship from Dartmouth College
• 1990 - Gamma Sigma Gamma Woman of the Year
• 1992 - public school in Detroit named after her
• 2004 - International Space Hall of Fame
• 1993 - National Women’s Hall of Fame
• Organizations:
• American Medical Association
• American Chemical Society
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• World Sickle Cell Foundation
• American Express Geography Competition
• Center for Prevention of Childhood Malnutrition
• Established Jemison Group, a company for research, development, and marketing of advanced technologies
• Established The Earth We Share, a science camp to encourage (especially girls) to learn about science & global issues

Fun Facts:

• She can speak Russian, Japanese, and Swahili
• She started college at Stanford University at 16 years old and then went on to med school at Cornell
• She worked in Cambodian refugee camps
• Her space shuttle, Endeavour, was the only one named by children
• Was featuered in LEGO's "Women of NASA" set [read my post about it here]
• Made an appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Is an advocate for peace and equality
• Favorite Hobby: theater/dance
• Favorite Music: modern jazz, African dance, West Side Story
• Favorite Book: A Wrinkle in Time & The Arm of the Starfish [because they each feature female scientists heroines]
• Favorite Subject in School: science and technology, but also loved art just as much
• Other Interests:
• cooking
• watching movies
• weight lifting
• gardening
• traveling
• photography
• skiing
• volleyball

As part of the project, I had to describe the type of person I'd see myself (Mae Jemison) getting along with the best:

Someone who supports human rights and has a heart for all people no matter their race, gender, social standing, etc. Someone who is interested in science and technology, but also has an appreciation for the arts. Someone who loves learning and new experiences and is always up for an adventure and likes nature and serving others. Someone who will support me on all my endeavors (no pun intended).

We also had to bring in a food that the person liked/would have eaten in that time. I spent a long time looking for different 'space food' recipes and came across a video of Chris Hadfield making a sandwich out of a tortilla with peanut butter and honey. They use tortillas in space instead of bread because it doesn't make crumbs and it is more compact, thus avoiding bread crumbs from floating around in zero gravity. So I brought in these 'Space Shuttle Sandwiches' or what I liked to call PB&Jems.

On Historic Character Day, I wore a NASA tee shirt and I even spoke a little bit of Swahili ... or what I was able to learn from Google Translate ;)

Unaweza Daima Ngoma Kama Wewe Ni Daktari Lakini Huwezi Daktari Kama Wewe Ni Damfe  -- “You can always dance if you’re a doctor, but you can’t doctor if you’re a dancer”

Some of the amazing people I (as Mae Jemison) had the opportunity to interact with included: Thomas Edison, Grace Hopper, Elizabeth Blackwell, Louis Armstrong, Sally Ride, Maya Angelou, Eleanor Roosevelt, JFK, and Amelia Earhart ... all of whom were fellow scientists, aviators/astronauts, feminists, and African Americans from various time periods.

Finally, here are a few other quotes from Mae Jemison that I came across in my research that I enjoyed:

“Some of the most fun people I know are scientists” 

“I stayed in the astronaut program until 1993. People ask me why I left. I thought I had a lot of things to contribute that would be difficult to do if I stayed. I thought I could have a stronger voice as an advocate for space exploration. So I ended up starting my own technology consulting company”

“What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach it in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens you to the possibility."

                                                      ♡ 

This Day in Space History: November 2

1885

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harlow-Shapley

Astronomer Harlow Shapley was born. During his life, Shapley studied stars and galaxies, proving through measurements of star dimensions that the Sun wasn't, in fact, positioned at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, but 30,000 light years away from its center. At the center of the galaxy were star clusters positioned spherically in Sagittarius. Shapley’s discoveries helped scientists formulate the first realistic estimate of the size of our galaxy which was 10x larger than previously thought. As a research professor at Harvard and the director of the College’s observatory, Shapley observed metagalaxies, proposing his “liquid water belt” or habitable zone theory.

1978

http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-29.htm  http://weebau.com/flights/soyuz31.htm

The crew of the USSR's Soyuz 29 mission returns back to Earth aboard Soyuz 31. The mission was launched June 16, 1978 and docked to Salyut 6. The craft returned to Earth September 3rd, but the crew stayed an additional two months. Soyuz 31 was launched August 26th and docked the next day, eventually bringing home Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkov of the former mission in November.

2000

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/international-space-station-is-15-years-old-first-commander-remembers/
The first ISS crew, launched on October 31st, arrived at 5:23 am EST. The crew of Expedition 1, which would last four and a half months, consisted of Commander Bill Shepard and Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. The current ISS Expedition is 53



For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/n/november02.html

observation notebook

The major project for my Space Exploration class is to have a series of at least 25 observations of the sky based on certain tasks and criteria. I decided to take you along with me to see everything that I am doing, from last week until December 15th, when the notebook is due.

My first step was heading to Target to get a notebook. I chose this one because it was a little space-y looking. A friend of mine can do really good cursive, so I am going to have her write "observation notebook" all fancily on the front cover for me. In class, we made quadrants from a template, string, paper clips, and a straw. Quadrants are used to measure the altitude of an object above the horizon. My other supplies for these activities are: a compass, a star chart, the packet of directions, and my SkyView app. Last week I printed a calendar and went through the packet, writing down which day I was going to look at/for each thing.

Check out my pictures below and follow all the observations that I'll post as I do them.

 

these are all the observations I hope to make, but depending on whether or not there are clouds one night or if I have something else going on, I may not get them all

look through the straw at the object being observed and look for the angle as marked by the string...this is the object's altitude

It's Eclipse Day!!

Hi everyone! Today was an exciting day...when the moon crossed in front of the sun, in perfect alignment with the Earth. Watching the news, I was amazed at the size of the crowds, a truly national (and international - one reporter said 20 countries were represented) gathering for everyone to experience, what could be a once in a lifetime event. I saw a smiling bride and groom standing among a crowd, looking up toward the darkened afternoon sky; and it appears many couples said 'I do' today during the total solar eclipse. I watched as people waited anxiously, followed by cheers, in Saluki Stadium, Carbondale, Illinois - where tickets cost up to ten thousand dollars. And after they saw its totality -the longest duration: 2 minutes and 41 seconds- they were able to see Venus in the sky (might I remind you this was in early afternoon!). What an amazing sight it must have been!

As for how I experienced the eclipse, well...the glasses were all sold out, so I consulted the internet for how to experience it without looking at the sun! The Washington Post came through, providing me with easy directions for a pinhole projector. I used a Thin Mints box because I of course wanted to make the box be a special one and what better way to celebrate an eclipse than with cookies! Making it was so simple - white paper goes on the inside for the screen, cut two squares, cover one with foil, poke a hole through the foil, that's pretty much it. So here's my box and here's the best picture I could get of what I could see. Looking at the image of the sun is so incredibly misleading because its the middle of the afternoon and you see what looks like a crescent moon and it's just amazing and so fun to look at! Unfortunately my picture below does not do it justice for what I could really see (and of course what the people in the path of totality could see!). In my area, the peak time for the solar eclipse was 2:41 pm EDT, I watched from 2 to 3, and when I looked through my projector again at 4, the sun's image was a complete circle again!

and these three...well...they're just really cool to look at  :)

in these, you can see the sun and moon overlapping

Mercury is on the left, Mars is on the right, and Venus is at the bottom of the last picture

these were taken, respectively at: 12:30, 2:05, 2:15 and 3:15

Don't worry, if you weren't in the path of the total solar eclipse this year in 2017, the next one will be April 8, 2024. Check the map below from NationalEclipse.com to find out if you'll get the chance to see it! I'll be able to see it - will you? (Or will you be lucky enough to be right in that spot where the two paths collide and you get to see it twice?)

Also, check out this map from GreatAmericanEclipse.com to see all the future solar eclipses in the next hundred years

Now I want to hear about what you did and what you saw today! Let me know in the comments down below! I hope everyone had the chance to enjoy such a great phenomena on this exciting day!

💖,
The North Star Gazer 🌟