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Blog Vocabulary

1. Astronomical Unit- average distance between Earth to Sun
2. Astronomy- study of all matter and energy
3. Big Bang- theoretical beginning of evolution for universe
4. Black Hole- escape velocity exceeds speed of light
5. Ecliptic- path of sun by Earth's orbit
6. Electromagnetic Spectrum- traveling energy in a vacuum
7. Galaxy- how matter organizes in a universe
8. Gravity- force of attraction between two bodies
9. Hydrogen- most abundant element in the universe
10. Light Year- distance light travels in one year
11. Mass- amount of matter in an object
12. Meridian- imaginary circle dividing direction and zenith
13. Oscillating Universe- universe regenerating constantly by Big Bang
14. Planet- large enough object to clear debris
15. Precession- Earth's axis conical wobbling
16. Quantum Mechanics- physics of smallest parts of atoms
17. Revolution- orbit of one body around another
18. Rotation- body's motion spinning around its axis
19. Solar System- family of bodies orbiting around sun
20. Speed of Light- distance of electromagnetic radiation versus time
21. Stellar System- star surrounded by other bodies in orbit
22. Star- body converts matter into energy luminously
23. String Theory- theory where universe is energy strands

The Orion 0978 Starblast Personal Telescope

Well, I must say with a budget of five hundred dollars, Amazon has many options for telescopes.  I went for a middle of the budget style with the Orion 0978, which caught my eye because it is the same brand as the telescopes we have in class.  This reflecting telescope has sixty-six degree view field, which is good for seeing large amounts of sky easily. The short focal length also allows for this benefit.  Reviews on this model were a four out of five stars, so seems the other people who bought it thought so as well!  It only weighs twenty pounds and comes with batteries already, this makes it easy for a beginner to travel with it and carry it maybe if they were doing some night hiking to look at the sky. It comes with a 6mm and 15mm eye piece which allows for 30-75X magnification.  My favorite part however, is that the EZ Finder function allows you to focus with a red dot, like a pen light, on whatever object you wish, so you could for example, pick out Sirius and then know where you were heading for other celestial objects in the night sky.
http://www.amazon.com/Orion-09798-StarBlast-Equatorial-Reflector/dp/B0069VYPV4/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1393025427&sr=8-7&keywords=telescope

Light Pollution Problems of Royersford, Pennsylvania

After arriving home tonight from class, I wanted to observe what light pollution problems were to be had in the town I live in; Royersford.  First and foremost is light trespass.  Not only does the streetlight outside my window come right into my room, but the houses on my street are very close together, and my neighbors have a motion sensor light- apparently set on the "sun" setting.

We have glare when cars go down the road after dark, but this is a problem I have to deal with more while driving around at night, as it is very hard with my astigmatism to see with glare.  I do not have urban glow where I live, in fact there are a few places where we can get a very good view of the night sky if you are out on a trail, however when I grew up in Norristown, there was urban glow there as well as Philadelphia.

How Many Stars?

For this assignment, I had both weather and light pollution in my way and only averaged 3.76 stars.  This meant that my night sky only had 373.368 visible stars, which is clearly low.  I am including my word file for this via email for anyone wishing a copy, feel free to ask.

Spacebirds Predictions

In preparing for my Spacebirds observations, I wanted to give you all a few predictions on some upcoming sightings!  Using www.heavens-above.com I searched for where I wanted to see sightings around where I live.  This puts my latitude at 40.1843 and my longitude at -75.5380.  My altitude is 63 meters.  I am planning to look Sunday evening, based on this here are several options of Spacebirds I can view that night.  

1. Cosmos 2278 is a brightness of 4.2 with an altitude between 10 and 42 degrees N to NE, as it goes across the night sky.  This will happen between 7:32-7:43 pm.  

2. SL-3 Rocket is a brightness of 4.5 with an altitude between 10 and 17 degrees N to NE, as it goes across the night sky. This will happen between 7:39-7:42 pm.

3. S3 is a brightness of 4.4 with an altitude between 10 and 80 degrees S to E, as it goes the night sky.  This will happen between 7:40-7:53 pm.