2.5 APOD

Here in Perseus is a minxture of dust, gas and stars that spans about 4 degrees of the sky. The large bright spot in the center is the object NGC 1333 which is a reflection nebula that has been mapped by radio waves. It is one of the closest star forming regions to Earth, at about

1,000 light-years away. The red glow in the picture comes from hydrogen gas, and the region is part of a larger molecular cloud that leads scientists to believe that this is a star forming region. These clouds typically hide young stars. This type of "stellar nursuries" are common.

2.4 APOD

This is a shot of the M13 globular cluster in the constellation Hercules. This cluster is home to hundreds of thousands of stars, making it one of the brightest clusters in the northern sky. The cluster, which is over 25,000 lightyears away, is about 145 lightyears wide. It is widely excpeted that M13 is between 14 and 24 billion years old. Also in the top left of the photo is a galaxy called NGC 6207. M13 was discovered by Sir Edmond Halley in 1714, and is a favorite of amateur astronomers because it so much brighter than most globular clusters.

Observation 2.1

Date: November 5, 2007
Time: 7:00-9:00
Place: Suncoast Community Church (Clark Road east of the Interstate)
Sky conditions: Clear

Instruments used: binoculars, school telescope

Planets: Jupiter (Setting)

Bright Stars: Aldebaran, Altair, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Fomalhaut

Constellations: Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Cepheus, Taurus, Delphinius, Pisces Austrinus, Lyra, Vulpecula

Binary Stars: Epsilon Lyrea (difficult to distinguish the different colors)

Deep Sky Objects: M45 (Star cluster), M57, M31, M27 (all but M45 mostly looked like fuzzy circles)

Other: Holmes Comet (visible with the naked eye, looked fuzzy, did not yet have a tail)

2.3 APOD

These two galaxies are known collectively as Arp 87. The bridge between them is made of stars, gas, and dust. It spans 75,000 lightyears, and shows that there is a gravitational connection between the two galaxies. At one point, the two galaxies came close to eachother and a "violent gravitational battle" ensued. This type of connection is relatively common, and it is expected that the two galaxies will eventually join to create one larger galaxy. The blue spots on the galaxy on the right are regions where new stars have recently formed. This was likely a result of the interaction between the two galaxies.

2.2 APOD

This picture was taken during a sunset in Sweden. Because sunset rises up, it often appears to be night on the ground and day in the air. This picture is a little different, however, because of the Noctilucent clouds seen in the sky. These Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesopheric clouds, are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. They are often visible in the summer months at places of high latitudes, like Sweden. Not much is known about these clouds, ut it is thought that they are made up of ice particles. Several satellites have been launched to study the objects. Scientists have found clouds similar to the Noctilucent clouds made of carbon dioxide on Mars.