Night-Sky Observation #3 (Light Pollution/ Star Count)

Night-Sky Observation 3:

 Light Pollution

 

 

 

Light Pollution Map of the United States

 

 
Location:  Womelsdorf, PA
Date/ Time:  June 26th, 2013 at 12:30 A.M.

 

Stars Observed:

1.  1
2.  3
3.  3
4.  1
5. 2 
6.  2
7.  3
8.  1
9. 3 
10.  2
11.  3
12.  3
13.  2
14.  2
15.  4
16.  3
17.  4
18.   4
19.   4
20. 3

- Cumulative Total:  62
- Divided by 20:  3.1


Multiplied by 99.2=  307.52 stars



Observation Notes:

Well, I had to wait quite a while to see a night-sky worth observing.  Because of the storm earlier, the sky was covered in clouds well after sunset and up until about midnight.  Slowly the moonlight made its way through, followed by the appearance of the stars.  The Big Dipper was very noticeable and I also observed that through the toilet-paper roll, the stars became more apparent.  I believe having my vision condensed allowed my eyes to focus in on more stars.  Considering the conditions, it was a relatively clear night.  The light pollution seemed very low because what stars I could see were extremely vivid.  I will blame the weather conditions for the small amount of stars per view.  Regardless, it was a pretty night to do a night-sky observation!

Meteor Shower Party Planner

 

* Meteor Shower Party *

 

Mission:  I wanted to create a party plan for an upcoming meteor shower.  Using the table above, you can see when is the best time to view a meteor shower in 2013.

The next meteor shower is July 30th, 2013.   However, the meteor shower in August has 50 meteors per hour!   I would like to plan to watch the meteor shower from a camp-site, so to enjoy it to the maximum ability!  I enjoy camping at a site in Hamburg, PA so that is probably where I would go. 

 

 

You will need:

 

• Camping supplies (Here is a site that has a camping check-list.  Most of these items aren't necessary for an overnight camping trip, but it's still useful:  Real Simple Camping Packing List)
• Camera
• Binoculars (even though you won't need them to see the meteor shower, it might be fun to get a closer look!)

Party Plan:

 

Hike up around the early-afternoon & enjoy the day in the woods... the campsite I know of has a small stream nearby which is helpful for staying cool during the hotter months. 

 

 

Set up camp & enjoy this Night-Sky inspired playlist:

 

• "Dark Star" - Grateful Dead
• "Standing on the Moon" - Grateful Dead
• "Starry Eyes" - Roky Erickson
• "Waiting for the Moon to Rise" - Belle & Sebastian
• "Song About the Moon" - Paul Simon
• "Moondance" - Van Morrison
• "Bad Moon Rising" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
•  "Moonshadow" - Cat Stevens

 

 

Food & Drink:

 

Easy Recipe for Cosmos (Cosmopolitans)

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cosmopolitan/

 

 

Space shaped sandwiches!  Use cookie cutters in space-shapes to create fun sandwiches! 

 

 

 

 

 

Space-shaped Goldfish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Extras:

 

This is a great Pinterest board that uses all moon & stars inspired clothing, decorations & quotes.

 

http://pinterest.com/taught2love/the-moon-and-the-stars-party/

 

 How to Watch a Meteor Shower:

 

http://www.howcast.com/videos/432517-How-to-Watch-a-Meteor-Shower

A Universe From Nothing

"A Universe From Nothing"


An incredible video... Lawrence Krauss talks about cosmology and the mystery in science... the idea that something could come from nothing. 

Sun Observation (Night Sky #2) on June 12th, 2013

This is my observation from the telescope at Kutztown University on June 12th, 2013.  It was approximately 6:15 P.M. when I took this observation.

I was able to locate the chromosphere and prominences on the sun.  The prominences appeared a darker red, almost like a line across the surface.  I saw some at the top left corner and more at the bottom right corner.  Overall, I was impressed with how clearly we could see the sun... enough so that I was able to notice distinct traits... and I definitely don't know what I'm doing with a telescope! 

 

 

The chromosphere is the red ring I outlined around the sun, the prominences are represented using the curved red lines.

Pluto

 

 

Since I am not a talented illustrator (I prefer painting), I decided to use this program to create what I think Pluto would look like.  It's called Astro-Venture and it allows you enter specifics about your planet (though there wasn't an option for dwarf planet) and then it creates an image for you.  I entered the distance away from the sun, whether or not it would have active volcanoes and if there would be plate tectonics and this is what I ended up with.  It is a little different than what I imagined, but relatively close... I have read that Pluto may be more brown in color and have some lighter spots but the overall look seems about right. 

Moon Illusion (Night Sky Observation #1)

ASSIGNMENT:  Moon Illusion

(C'mon, Super-Moon!  Just barely able to make it out through the clouds.  The sky is lit up so beautifully, every so often the clouds break and you can see the glowing outline.)

11:45 P.M.

 

11:59 P.M.

1. Observe the moonrise and record the time and date:  June 23rd, 2013.  At 9:00 P.M. there was no visible moon.  At 9:30 there was also no visible moon.  At 10:09, when I made my observations, the moon was covered by clouds.  At one moment the clouds opened very slightly and I was able to see a faint shape of what I believe was the moon (hopefully it was not just moon-light).  At this point, the moon was 50 degrees latitude using the fist-method we learned in class.



2. Record any color that you notice:  This was not a great night for an observation because of the conditions.  I will check back later tonight to see if I can get a better look.  Last night, the color was perfectly white with some small darker spots that were only visible with my camera.  To the naked eye, it was glowing white.



3. Record the shape of the Moon- draw it:  N.A. for tonight's observation.  Yesterday it was a full-moon with beams of light surrounding the circle.



4. Measure the size of the Moon using your “moon ruler*”.




5. Record the altitude of the Moon. Repeat the observations when the Moon is higher in the sky that same evening: 

50 degrees at 10:09 P.M.

Super Moon 2013

Tomorrow is the "Super Moon" of 2013 and so to get prepared, I took a shot of it today.  Tomorrow I will post another photo of the moon to compare & contrast this full-moon with the super one coming up!

Super-moon Explained

This article explains the super-moon.  When the moon is closest to the Earth, it is called perigee.  According to this article, the moon will appear about 12% bigger tomorrow night.  It is supposed to be the largest the moon will appear all year!  It seems perfect, then, that it occurs right before our night-sky observations are due.  I am looking forward to analyzing the super-moon tomorrow, but here are my shots from tonight: