Night Sky Observation (Moon Illusion)

On Thursday, June 7, 2012, I went outside so that I could observe the Moon.  I checked beforehand online as to when the Moon was supposed to start rising, which was at 11:11 PM.  By the time that I saw the Moon it was 11:23 PM.  It had a  coloring to it.  It took up 7 lines on the Moon ruler.  The altitude of the Moon was extremely small, roughly around 3-4 degrees.


Below is a drawing of what the Moon looked like the first time and second time that I observed it.  I'm so sorry for my drawing though, I'm a horrible artist, but at least I tried!

I then went out a few hour later repeated the observation that same night (technically on June 8, 2012, because it was after midnight, but pretty much the same thing).  I went out at around 1:47 AM.  The Moon had a  coloring to it.  It took up 8 lines on the Moon ruler.  Lastly, it had a much larger altitude at this time, being about 25-26 degrees.


Below is a drawing of what the Moon looked like the second time I observed it.

The Search for Life Beyond Earth

Another podcast that I recently listened to was about life beyond Earth.  The podcast, from Space Boffins, was simply entitled, "Podcast4".  The podcast was about the search for life on Mars, Venus, Titan, and Enceladus.  The podcast was also about why this search for life beyond Earth matters. 

I found this article both interesting and educational.  It was interesting, because everyone does wonder if there is life on other planets out there.  It was also very educational, because they discussed every planet (listed above) and talked about their conditions.

Below is a link to the podcast:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/519698-space-boffins-podcast4#t=1m51s

Concept Map on Chapter 8

So I wanted to do a concept map for the last chapter, however I couldn't find a place to make one online, so I just made handmade one.  I hope it's not too horrible!

Can Trash Convert to Energy?

After one of our discussions during class the one day about all of environmental issues that are present today, I started to look at podcasts talking about this matter.  I found a blog entitled, "Euro Trash Powers Sweden ".  This article is about how Sweden is taking all of their trash and converting it into energy and providing electricity  to thousands and thousands of households.


I found this article both interesting and educating.  Their program is too successful that they have run out of all of the trash in their country, and now have to import trash from other countries to keep the energy going.


The link for the podcast is below:


http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=12-P13-00025

The Solar System

I looked at a couple different videos on YouTube about the Solar System, and the one that I chose to post was "The Solar System - Space School".  I really liked this video because it was short, sweet, and to the point along with it interesting and educational.  The video explains all of the planets in the Solar System, Dwarf planets, the Kaiper Belt, and most importantly why Pluto was denounced its planet title, 


Below is the link for the video.


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_RAEESmsrs

Earth Shadow and Belt of Venus

On Tuesday, June 26, 2012, I went outside around 5:13 AM and began to observe the Earth's shadow and the Belt of Venus.  The picture below shows the Earth's shadow (the blue-grey band) just before it disappeared below the horizon.  It disappeared around roughly 5:28  AM.  The Earth's shadow had a altitude of around 3-5 degrees before disappearing.

The picture below shows the Belt of Venus (the band of pink that is on top of the Earth shadow) a few minutes before it disappeared from the horizon.  The belt disappeared roughly around 6:01 AM.  In my opinion, the altitude of the belt was around approximately 7-10 degrees.

As you can see from the pictures, the atmospheric conditions during my observation were very good.  It was very clear, with little to no clouds in the sky.  It was around 54 degrees so it was a little chillier that it has been.

For what I witnessed, this phenomena lasted approximately  47 minutes.

Quiz on Chapter 1

1.  How many regions (constellations) is the sky divided into?

     A.  88

     B.  64

     C.  33

     D.  121

2.  True of False: The Earth rotates around an axis from the north pole to the south pole once a day?

3.  Why do we have seasons? (Bonus Question: How many degrees is it away from the perpendicular?)

4.  When are the two times that both days and nights are 12 hours long all over the world?

     A.  December 21 and June 21

     B.  March 21 and September 22

     C.  September 22 and June 21

     D.  December 21 and March 21

5.  How long does it take for the Moon make a complete orbit?

     A.  1 year

     B.  10 weeks

     C.  4 weeks

     D.  2 years

6.  In chronological order, list the Moon's phases.

      A.  New moon, waning crescent moon, first quarter moon, waning gibbous moon, full moon, waxing gibbous moon, third quarter moon, and waxing crescent moon.

     B.  New moon, waxing gibbous moon, first quarter moon, waxing crescent moon, full moon, waning crescent moon, third quarter moon, and waning gibbous moon.

     C.  New moon, waning gibbous moon, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous moon, full moon, waning crescent moon, third quarter moon, and waning crescent moon.

     D.  New moon, waxing crescent moon, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous moon, full moon, waning gibbous moon, third quarter moon, and waning crescent moon.

7.  What is the differences between a sidereal month and a synodic month?

8.  What is a lunar eclipse and when do they occur?

9.  What is a solar eclipse?

10.  Why isn't there an eclipse ever month?

Answers to Questions

1.  A

2.  True.

3.  Tilt. 23 1/2 degrees. 

4.  B

5.  C

6.  D

7.  A sidereal month is the amount of time it takes for the Moon to complete one full orbit of the Earth and is measured in respect to the stars.  A synodic month is the amount of time it takes the Moon to complete one cycle of phases and is measured in respect to the Sun.

8.  When the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, and when the Moon is full.

9.  When the Earth passes through the Moon's shadow.

10.  Because the orbit is tilted and not in line.