Observational Session

   I was able to get the scope out several nights the past week. I was gonna focus primarily on October 26th. What made that night significant was was my success in finding the M13 star cluster. M13 is approximately 145 light-years in diameter, and lies some 25,000 light years from earth. It's said to be composed of hundreds of thousands of stars, the brightest of which is a red giant.

   When I first found M13, it was difficult to identify as a star cluster. It looked similar to M31, Andromeda Galaxy, just a little cloud in the lens, but I was using my 30mm SuperView lens, which gives more of a wide mosaic view. So I popped in a 9mm lens, and I was startled for second. I could see individual stars, just about like this picture here. It was phenomenal.

   Star clusters, or if you want the technical name, globular clusters, are held together by an immense gravitational pull. Astronomers say that there could be about 180 different globular clusters in our own Galaxy, each spaced tens of thousands of light-years apart. The globular clusters are also said to be much older than the open clusters found throughout the arms of the galaxy, and are, of course, much more dense.

Telescopes

Orion xt8i, xt10i, and xt12i intelliscopes

   If you're looking to see a globular cluster in good detail, I'm gonna have to recommend a dobsonian telescope. Dobsonians have the largest aperture of any telescope for the amateur astronomer. A scope with an 8-inch aperture will do great, but at least a 10-inch would be ideal, or if you wanna go further, maybe even a 12-inch. Just remember, the larger the aperture, the more light that is collected. Keep in mind also, a larger aperture means more $$$. These intelliscopes here to the right cost a pretty penny as well. You can get each of these three models without the computerized go-to mount, and save hundreds. The nice thing about having one without a computerized mount is that the telescopes movement is all manual. Which means you have to work to find what you're looking for, and as a result, instead of just memorizing coordinates to punch into a keypad, you actually learn the layout of the night sky. That's what makes astronomy fun right? It just seems so much more satisfying that way. That is, however, just my opinion. If you really want the computerized tracking mount, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having it, in fact, I imagine it would quite fun to use. It's all up to you.

How Big is the Universe?

    Earth is remarkable isn't it? An absolutely beautiful planet we live on. Not only that, it's HUGE isn't it? Well from our standpoint, yes, it is. However, when you think about how much there is out there beyond planet Earth, it's not. Actually, Earth is microscopically, infinitesimally, imperceptibly SMALL, and then some! Was I getting carried away? Not at all. I'll Help you see why. 

    The Solar System

Orbits of the objects in our solar system.

 

 Our Solar system consists of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, in that order. How large is the Solar System though? Well, the Sun is approximately 93,000,000 miles from earth. So if you were to hop in a jet plane and fly to the sun, assuming that was possible, it would take you about 17 years to get there. However, we're only the third planet from the Sun. So how far is it from the Sun to outermost planet? Astronomers speculate that it's about 4.5 billion kilometers. That's about 9 billion kilometers in diameter. WOW, right? That's nothing. The universe is so vast, there is no adjective you can use to do it justice. In fact, once we measure distances outside our solar system, we have to start using a unit of distance larger than miles or kilometers... much larger. 

Light-Years

    What is a light year? Simply put, it's the distance light travels in one year. Think about that for a minute. How far can light go in one year? Well, light travels at 186,000 miles every second. So there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That comes out to about, five trillion, eight-hundred and sixty-five billion, six hundred and ninety-six million miles, or: 5,865,696,000,000. That's how far light can go in a year. Even measuring distances in space using light-years, however, can be compared to trying to measure the distance between New York city and the island of Madagascar, using milometers.  

Going Beyond the Solar System

    So, how much space is there between the stars? Well the closest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is about 4 light-years away. That's just the closest star, however. Other stars are tens, hundreds, or thousands of light-years away. Now, this brings up a very interesting facet of the cosmos. Consider Proxima Centauri, it's 4 light-years away, so it would take a beam of light 4 years to reach it from Earth. Although that is correct, think about it this way: it takes light from the star itself 4 years to reach us. So guess what? If you look at Proxima Centauri, you're seeing what it looked like 4 years ago. That same principle applies to everything you look at in the night sky. You know what this means? When you look into the sky, or through your telescope at night, you're becoming a time traveler! When you look at the star Vega, you're seeing what it looked like some 25 years ago, when you look at the Dumbbell nebula, you're seeing thousands of years into the past, or when you look at the Andromeda galaxy, you're seeing some 2.2 million years into the past.


    Remember all of this as you gaze into the night sky. Like I said before, there is no adjective you can use that effectively describes the size of the universe; it's absolutely unending.

Strange "Hybrid Star" Discovered

Location of the first suspected TZO object, some 200,000 light-years from Earth.
Credit:  Space.com

       

 Astronomers have discovered what can be referred to as a hybrid star, which is a smaller star squeezed into a larger star, and it's likened to cosmic buried treasure. Why? Well since 1975, it's only been a theory, there was no tangible evidence that such an object existed, until now.

 This "hybrid star" is what results when a neutron star is swallowed up by a red supergiant, which is the largest star scientists have discovered. A neutron star is essentially a supermassive star that collapsed into a radius of about 10km due to the force of gravity, after a supernova. 

 These "hybrid stars" are actually called Thorne-Zytkow (TZO) objects. They're theorized to result from the existence of binary systems, which makes perfect sense. You might wonder though, "How could astronomers tell that a neutron star is sitting inside a red supergiant?" Well a TZO looks exactly like a red supergiant, but the fact that there's a neutron star inside it cause it to give off a unique chemical signature, setting it apart from a red supergiant.

 The TZO is located in a dwarf Galaxy neighboring the Milky Way, about 200,000 light-years from earth. It's also said that the evidence of the TZO existing is strong, but not 100%. It perfectly matches scientists expectations, but they're based off models and calculations that are a few decades old. So it seems likely that there'll be new research done as to make up-to-date models of a TZO. Which is most likely going to create new expectations for one as well.

 Just a few months ago, a TZO was considered to be an obscure topic; just a theory. Now, however, they're existence is becoming a distinct possibility.

Observing session, October 6th

    
    I was able to get the telescope out last night, Monday, October 6th, after nearly a week of cloud covered skies and rain. At the time, the moon was out, and was almost full, so it nearly out shone everything else in the sky. Here's a shot I got of it with my phone, I basically just held it up to my telescope eyepiece:

I

I was surprised that I was able to get a decent shot of the Moon here. You can actually see the depth in the craters and a lot of details. I was using a Meade Ma 40mm multi-coated lens, that's actually designed for use with an astrophotography camera mount. 


    Like I said before, the moon made it difficult to find anything else in the sky. I did manage to find M31, Andromeda Galaxy, but it was faint at best. I couldn't seem to locate any nebula that normally I would've had no trouble finding. I had also set out to find M33, Triangulum galaxy, unfortunately to no avail. When I realized it was going to be nearly impossible to find any Messiers given my circumstances, I broke out my Fujifilm Finepix S 4800 and attempted some night sky shots. It isn't a DSLR so it wouldn't pick up a huge amount of starlight, I'm sure the moon played a role there as well, but it did fairly decent:

  

   













    I just recently figured out how to leave the shutter open on the camera for an extended period of time, and at that point I realized it would be possible for me to have a shot at astrophotgraphy, and well, there's the results! Not all that bad really, for a bridge camera. I have a Velbon 9000 deluxe tripod that I received as a gift, but unfortunately, it was missing the plate that the camera mounts to. So I had to order one, and it's on its way. So in the near future I'll be able to use that to get some good shots of the sky. I'm thinking next time I try, I may get better results if the moon isn't out, so I'll see how that goes and keep the blog updated as to that.


   There's a nature preserve near where I live that's hosting an astronomical event this December, and I'm hoping to attend that and take the telescope out there with me. So you'll be hearing from me on that, and I'll keep the blog updated before then as well.

Sky Events 2014: Lunar Eclipse

    

    What's your favorite part of Autumn? Color in the trees? Cool weather? Jumping into a big pile of leaves? Well, this fall we get something extra we can enjoy: a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse starts around 4 A.M. EDT (1:16 A.M. PDT) on October 8th, and will be visible anywhere in North America. However, you won't notice much of a difference in the coloration of the Moon until it passes through the outer part of the Earth's shadow, the penumbra, into the inner part of the Earth's shadow, the umbra, around 5 A.M. EDT (2:15 A.M. PDT).

The mechanics of a lunar eclipse. Showing how the longer red wavelengths are bent around the earth as a result of it's atmosphere, reaching the Moon.

mars.nasa.gov

    

    Once the Moon passes into the umbra, it will be there for about an hour and ten minutes, so you'll have that long before it moves on and out. Once totality approaches, when the Moon is totally obscured from the Sun, no direct sunlight reaches it. So this raises the question, "Why does the Moon look red during a lunar eclipse?" This is where it get's interesting. The Moon appears red because sunlight that hits the Earth's atmosphere is bent around the planet, and strikes the Moon behind it. Why red though? Why not blue? Red has a longer wavelength, whereas blue has a shorter wavelength. So any blue light is scattered throughout the atmosphere, and dissipates. The red light passes on through the atmosphere, and out to the Moon due to it's longer wavelength. 

    People in North America aren't the only ones who can witness the eclipse. Anyone on islands in the Pacific Ocean will also get a fantastic view. For those in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia, the eclipse will occur on the evening of October 8th. 

    

    

    

Astronomical Software: What should you choose?

    Looking to get planetarium software? You'll need to take several things into consideration. Are you looking for free software, or are you looking to spend $? What are you looking for in the software? Are you interested in just flying around a digital 3D universe, or do you want a tool to aid you in your endeavor as an astronomer? It all depends on what you want the software to do.

3D Space Simulators

 

    If you're looking for free software, and to explore the cosmos in a digital 3D environment, not to worry. There is indeed software for you.

                                                          Space Engine®

    

      Space Engine® is by far the best 3D space simulator I have ever used. Why do I say that? Well first of all it's free. Can't beat that right? Secondly, you can explore, not just the solar system, but the entire observable universe. Most areas beyond the Milky Way Galaxy are procedurally generated. You can also land on planets, in thousands and thousands of star systems, with stunning procedurally generated land detail. Third, the visuals are absolutely stunning. I've used many other free space simulators that don't even come close to the visuals of Space Engine®. The bad news is, with superb graphics, comes the need for a superb computer. If your computers CPU and graphics processor are anything below par, you may not be able to run Space Engine®. I would suggest visiting the author's website, en.spaceengine.org, and reviewing the system requirements to make sure your rig stacks up. If it does, fantastic. If it doesn't, not to worry, there is a solution! For more information on Space Engine®, refer back to their website and have a look around!

                                                             Celestia®

    Celestia® is exactly like Space Engine®, except with toned down visuals. Your computer shouldn't have any issues running it. My 13 year old laptop ran it at 40 frames-per-second. It also happens to be free! The other main difference of Celestia is that there's no procedural generation. Which means all objects are pre-programmed into the software, which is not a bad thing at all. In fact, it's great if you're uncertain whether your computer will run it. You can head over to the author's website at:www.shatters.net/celestia/

 

 

Astronomical Tools

    Now if you're looking for software to aid you as an astronomer and to have more of an educational nature, then this line of products will be perfect.

Starry Night®

    The Starry Night® line of software products is perfect for the passionate astronomer. Although, you'll need to prepare yourself to spend some money. Their least expensive product is $49.95 USD. Their four primary programs are:

• Starry Night: Complete Space and Astronomy Pack        $49.95  http://store.simulationcurriculum.com/collections/frontpage/products/starry-night-complete-space-and-astronomy-pack 

•  Starry Night: Enthusiast        $79.95                               http://store.simulationcurriculum.com/collections/frontpage/products/starry-night-enthusiast-7

• Starry Night: Pro        $129.95                                           http://store.simulationcurriculum.com/collections/frontpage/products/starry-night-pro-7

• Starry Night: Pro Plus        $249.95                                    http://store.simulationcurriculum.com/collections/frontpage/products/starry-night-pro-plus-7  

    I would suggest carefully examining each product to determine which one will best suit your needs. Starry Night® products do more than just give you a digital 3d universe to explore, they have more of an educational purpose, to give you an understanding of the night sky and to help you become a better astronomer. You know that for sure if you've examined these products here. 

    So, which software should you choose? That's entirely up to you. Like I said earlier, it depends on what you want to do with it. To sum it all up, are you wanting to explore a digital 3D universe? Or do you wish to study the cosmos while you explore it, and learn more about it?
 

Introduction

    My name is Alec, I'm an amateur astronomer. This blog will be mostly about my findings as I observe the night sky, and I may throw in some product and/or software reviews in here and there. My telescope is a levenhuk Ra 250N with a dobsonian mount: 

    It has a 10 inch aperture and a focal length of 1255mm. I've had quite a bit of success with it, and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I live where there's more light pollution than I prefer (I prefer none, but that's difficult to come by). 

   I did have the chance to get the scope out Sunday, September 28th, and I managed to find the Dumbell Nebula (M 27) and the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31), both using a 30mm eyepiece. It's amazing seeing objects like those in the night sky. I also noticed Andromeda's satellite M 110, which is a dwarf elliptical Galaxy. 

    Andromeda and it's neighbor, m 110

You can see M 110 at about 2 o' clock right off the Andromeda galaxy. 

    I've also had the pleasure of viewing Saturn through my scope. That was during mid summer however, and now it's getting into autumn, Saturn has unfortunately set in my location. On the bright side, since a new season changes the what you can see at night, it brings more objects into view as others set. I'm looking forward to more adventures into the night sky!