"Henry N. Russell Definition of Henry N. Russell in the Free Online Encyclopedia." The Free Encyclopedia. Farlex. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Henry N. Russell>.
"Henry N Russell, Henry N Russell Science Definition | Science Dictionary." Dictionary.com. Ask.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/science/henry n russell>.
Shapley, Harlow. "Henry Norris Russel." National Academy of Sciences (1958). Print.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
APOD 3.5
X-Factor
This picture was taken on Monday, February 14th 2011. Whats better than a bunch of roses for Valentine's day? The Sun has the answer. An X-class flare is what we all of humanity likes. This is like the dawning of the age of Aquarius for solar astronomers. An X-class flare is a massive solar flare, one that has not been seen for quite some time. The flare was so bright that it distorted the pixels of the image from overflow. This X-class flare caused an coronal mass ejection. What none of these sites or the APOD explained was that if there is a possibility for a flare of this magnitude to damage or effect Earth, other than in some killer Aurora. Anyways, this flare is the courier for a much welcomed solar maximum, which will mean even more ejections and flares. The solar maximum also peaks around 2012...
Friday, February 4, 2011
APOD 3.3
The Whirlpool Galaxy, M51
An extremely beautiful sight to see in infrared. This is the perfect time for this APOD to come along as we are studying interstellar medium. This photo is shopped to dissipate the glare of the massive amounts of stars withing the galaxy, but it still is a behemoth of doom. The extremely large and swirly galaxy is only about 15,000 light years across, no big deal, but its shape and pronounced swirls are the most interesting part. The reason the image was taken was to explore how the galaxy forms stars. The interstellar medium we are studying definitely pertains to the giant laboratory that this galaxy is. This is a beautiful sight, but I wish we could explore it more.
Friday, January 28, 2011
APOD 3.2
Tarantula Nebula
Yes, on my blog I cover a lot of nebula and space dust, but it is all so beautiful and interesting. I do in fact know that they all come from coloration, but they are still stunning to view without the luminous colors. The sheer mass and size of this nebula is ridonculous. It is nearly 1,500 light years across. We aren't even a cell in this massive universe. How is anything or anybody even aware of our existence if everything is so spaced out, but more about the nebula. The nebula is a star forming region that is located within this large Magellianic cloud, and the whole thing revolves around our Milky Way. If the nebula was placed as close as the Orion nebula, it would command 30 degrees of the sky, you know, only 60 full moons worth. This is a spectacular sight and this is why I love ASTRO.
Friday, January 21, 2011
APOD 3.1
Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
The three wondrous stars of Orion the Hunter's Belt. First off, I am a sucker for anything having to do with Orion, because well... (Orion-O) x (Capital First Letter) = Rion, and the fact that there is so much to observe in Orion itself. These three beautiful stars that make up the belt are super giant massive bluish stars, and are much larger than our Sun. One thing that makes this belt picture so interesting is it captures the true scale of how many dust clouds are within Orion. To the left near Alnitak resides the Horsehead Nebula and the Flame Nebula. To the bottom, it is possible to see the beginning of what is the famed Orion Nebula. This is a beautiful mosaic of 2 photos, and contributes great homage to the constellation I am named after.
Friday, January 14, 2011
APOD 2.8
The Antikythera Mechanism
This is probably one of the finest ancient creations ever. The most primitive computer on this planet. This interested me so much that I simply had to do more research on the matter. In particular I watched a video with a college proffesor that made a perfect home made model representation of the mechanism. This ancient device was used to tell dates to tell the positions of the moon, sun, stars, and basically a map for see goers. There is a nob which when turned, turns the mechanism to different days indicated on the mechanism. As the nob turns, multiple rings shift, and are used to identify the positions of celestial objects. This is definitely a fascinating piece of technology, and makes me wonder how people so ancient could make such amazing technology, and make me realize that there must be much mre we don't know about to discover.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Nathaniel Bowditch, Biography 2
Rion Koball
Mr. Percival
Astronomy Period 1
January 11, 2011
Nathaniel Bowditch, was self-educated American mathematician and astronomer. He was the author of the best American book on navigation of his time and the translator of the book Celestial Mechanics. He is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation. His book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.
Nathaniel Bowditch was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Bowditch’s formal education ended when he was ten years old and family circumstances forced him to work for two years in his father’s cooperage shop. At the age of twelve he became indentured and worked as a bookkeeper to a ship chandler.
At age fourteen, Bowditch began to study algebra and two years later he taught himself calculus. He also taught himself Latin and French so he was able to read mathematical works, such as Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. He discovered thousands of errors in John Hamilton Moore's The New Practical Navigator. He copied all the mathematical papers he found in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Among his many significant scientific contributions would be a translation of Pierre-Simon de Laplace's Mécanique céleste, a lengthy work on mathematics and theoretical astronomy.
Between 1795 and 1799 Bowditch made four long sea voyages, and in 1802 he was put in command of a merchant vessel. All through that period, he pursued his interest in mathematics. After investigating the accuracy of The Practical Navigator, a work by the Englishman J.H. Moore, he created a revised edition in 1799. His additions became so numerous that in 1802 he published The New American Practical Navigator, based on Moore’s book, which was adopted by the U.S. Department of the Navy, and went through some 60 editions.
Bowditch also wrote many scientific papers, one of which was on the motion of a pendulum swinging simultaneously about two axes at right angles. This was to describe the motion of the Earth as seen from the moon. It was a description of the so called, Bowditch-curves, or the Lassajous figures.
Bowditch provided a masterful translation of the first four volumes of Laplace's monumental work on the gravitation of heavenly bodies, Traité de mécanique céleste. To help with the difficulty of the mathematics, Bowditch provided an extensive commentary that more than doubled the size of the original writing. The resulting work, Celestial Mechanics, was published in four volumes in 1829–1839 to widespread international acclaim. Bowditch wrote several notes on the fifth and final volume but died before he was able to complete the translation.
Bowditch turned down offerings from many universities . He was president of the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Salem and worked as an actuary for the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company of Boston. In recognition of his achievements he was admitted as an honorary member to several foreign academies, including the Royal Society. From 1829 until his death he was president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Mr. Percival
Astronomy Period 1
January 11, 2011
Nathaniel Bowditch
Nathaniel Bowditch was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Bowditch’s formal education ended when he was ten years old and family circumstances forced him to work for two years in his father’s cooperage shop. At the age of twelve he became indentured and worked as a bookkeeper to a ship chandler.
At age fourteen, Bowditch began to study algebra and two years later he taught himself calculus. He also taught himself Latin and French so he was able to read mathematical works, such as Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. He discovered thousands of errors in John Hamilton Moore's The New Practical Navigator. He copied all the mathematical papers he found in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Among his many significant scientific contributions would be a translation of Pierre-Simon de Laplace's Mécanique céleste, a lengthy work on mathematics and theoretical astronomy.
Between 1795 and 1799 Bowditch made four long sea voyages, and in 1802 he was put in command of a merchant vessel. All through that period, he pursued his interest in mathematics. After investigating the accuracy of The Practical Navigator, a work by the Englishman J.H. Moore, he created a revised edition in 1799. His additions became so numerous that in 1802 he published The New American Practical Navigator, based on Moore’s book, which was adopted by the U.S. Department of the Navy, and went through some 60 editions.
Bowditch also wrote many scientific papers, one of which was on the motion of a pendulum swinging simultaneously about two axes at right angles. This was to describe the motion of the Earth as seen from the moon. It was a description of the so called, Bowditch-curves, or the Lassajous figures.
Bowditch provided a masterful translation of the first four volumes of Laplace's monumental work on the gravitation of heavenly bodies, Traité de mécanique céleste. To help with the difficulty of the mathematics, Bowditch provided an extensive commentary that more than doubled the size of the original writing. The resulting work, Celestial Mechanics, was published in four volumes in 1829–1839 to widespread international acclaim. Bowditch wrote several notes on the fifth and final volume but died before he was able to complete the translation.
Bowditch turned down offerings from many universities . He was president of the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Salem and worked as an actuary for the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company of Boston. In recognition of his achievements he was admitted as an honorary member to several foreign academies, including the Royal Society. From 1829 until his death he was president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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