CygnusX

CygnusX is a very active region of space as this image shows.

Take Two:

Two pictures of different planets. Mesopheric clouds here on earth and a shot from Mars. Mesosphic clouds are formed from ice crystals and are up to 55 miles above earth's surface, these clouds are seen just after sunset and the picture was taken from space. The Mars picture is from one of the rovers, you can see the dust buildup on the solar panels.

Landing on Mars

7 minutes of Terror!!! Landing on Mars

This is a nice little video of what it will be like for the latest Mars rover to land on the planet.

My days as an Astronomer

When I attended college, I majored in Astronomy which is not a common major indeed. In fact there were about 45 students in the department, under and upper grad level, which was actually great because of the close working and teaching relationships with the staff. The university operated an observatory in Southern California and with so few students; anyone could work and use the facilities. Most students were research assistances to a professor and worked on several project of their own.

I was no different; I worked as an assistant and did a number of projects myself. All of the projects were on Eclipsing Binary star which were in a mass transfer phase. One project I worked on was the star V356 in Sagittarius. The period of orbit was about 14 days, so every 7 days or so there was an eclipse, one star passing in front of the other. The stars are given designations A and B, so A eclipse B then 7 days later B eclipses A.

During the eclipse we can study each star separately and we can see what is happening in general in the system. In this case, one star is shedding gas and the other is collecting it. In some cases, one star may pull gas off the other. But the effect is that the gas forms a cloud around one star and may obscure it from view or the gas may heat up and emit light from nuclear reactions taking place. What is seen is a changing amount of light based on the orientation of the stars and the cloud and the amounts of energy emitted.

This diagram shows many days of observation on one plot, the deep trough is from one eclipse and the shallow dip is the second. The gas cloud blocks the light of the second and that is why one eclipse is so great.

Mars

This morning I found this picture of Mars at Sunrise. Well it is from an orbiting spacecraft so there are many 'sunrises' per day. But still this is a nice image.

Saturns moons

I was looking at some pictures on the NASA site and saw a set of pictures of Titan and Dione, both moons of Saturn. Titan has a very thick atmosphere which gives the moon a yellow appearance. Titan is being studied by the Cassini probe and there have been rivers and lakes seen on the surface, though it is not water but hydrocarbons. In any case, the system of moons is very interesting to look at.

 

Titan and Dione



Titan behind Dione



Dione in false color

 



Titan behind the rings with Enceladus in front



14 Auriga, my old Star

I was surprised to find this picture, it is of 14 Auriga. I studied this star 20 years ago, can't believe it has been so long. This is actually a Binary Star System, two stars orbiting very close together in a relatively short time. While in College I studied Binary stars and this was one of my subjects. We did differential photometry, collected light and studied the star by the changes in brightness.

M81

This is a dwarf galaxy in the M81 group. Found on the NASA site and it is from a Hubble Space Telescope image. This small galaxy is made up of many young bright stars that will only last a few million years, then they will blow up as super nova. Maybe we will see one sometime, maybe not...

The ISS

I found this picture of the ISS on the NASA site. I saw it fly by the other night and was surprised at how bright it was and the shape. You can see that it is elongated and not just a point of light. You can find a viewing time on the NASA site and find a day to go out and see it. You may think it is an airplane at first, but it will be the brightest thing in the sky, moving fast from west to east (could be North West or South West) and be visible for up to 6 minutes.

Sailing, continued....

The next morning we took the boat to the dock and tied up, then went up to use the facilities. We were going to head across to Tiburon and get some food at Sam’s, a great place that is a favorite of sailors and has a dock to tie up to. A good Bloody Mary and some good food is a nice relaxing way to start a day before we sail for the day. It is always nice to arrive by boat for breakfast, once finished we headed for the boat and out we go into the bay.

Even though it was still kind of early, the wind was already blowing at or near 15 knots. We would sail with just the main up, it is easier and with the wind there was no need to more sail area. The view is always great and it was again this time with a clear sky and no fog. The wind was almost too much so we just circled Angel Island and headed up into the North Bay.

Once in the northern bay, the wind was more like a breeze and it was warmer. We slowly sailed and just relaxed as we head north towards San Rafael. We decided to anchor for lunch so we headed to a little park area were we could drop the line and stop and eat. Once the anchor was set, we fired up the BBQ and just hung out on deck. It was so nice and quiet with just the sound of birds flying by and the breeze through the rig. It was getting late afternoon so we pulled the anchor and headed for the dock. Once we boat was asleep and everything was back in the car, off for a change of clothes and get ready to head into the city for dinner.

It was decided that we would eat in town and as we drove to the city we could see the fog and knew it would be cold… San Francisco is notorious for being cold and windy in summer, most people think it is nice and sunny and warm, they get quite a shock when the fog comes over the hills. But we know that it is that way so we had jackets ready, into

Clement Street

and we decided that we would get pizza. There is so many pizza or Italian places in the city with great food, but this place was Giorgio's Pizzeria not the best. I had wanted Viet or Thai food, but it was not to be. The one thing I hate is doughy pizza, this was it, they didn’t cook it in a hot enough oven and not long enough either. Basically it was crap, worst service or I should say no service. But this isn’t a restaurant review so let’s just say dinner was bad.

Back across the GG and finish the night relaxing with some good wine then to bed. Next morning would be a long lazy affair, then out for some food. A good place is the Marin Farmers Market, lots of food stalls and just interesting things to see. Oyster BBQed with butter and garlic, pork tacos and Falafel Sandwiches. No more needed after that. We then drove to a hole in the wall bar in Sausalito and had another Bloody Mary and played shuffle board till we had to head to the airport. Fun way to end a trip...

Sailing in San Francisco

Weekend sailing in San Francisco is always a fun and relaxing time, this past weekend was no different. With nice clear days and warm temperatures, moderate evenings and lots of good food and drink, couldn’t ask for more. Flew into Oakland Friday afternoon and within an hour was at the boat loading provisions.

The original plan was to sail around but the wind was strong and we wanted to get a good spot to tie up for the night, so we headed to Angel Island and did the mooring dance. I say dance because it takes some skill to do the navigating and positioning to grab the mooring. We had a nice tool to set the line on the mooring and on the second pass got it. The first pass was a little off and we had to circle around but the second pass got it. Now for the back mooring, we reversed to the mooring but the wind was blowing us sideways so we tied the line. This meant someone would have to go over and help redo the mooring line. We had a dingy so I climbed in and worked my way to the mooring, tied a second line and untied and set the main line. Then I followed the line back up to the boat, but we had to pull the boat close to the mooring so we could tie off. It was a little harder than planned but all went smoothly and it was just a little more effort.

On the hook

Morning at Angel Island

Once the boat was secure, we took the dingy to the island a wondered around a bit, since it was Friday late afternoon most people were gone. The rangers and a few campers were the only ones there. The island has a number of trams and since on one was around we climbed on and took some funny pictures of us pretending to drive around. Was more childish than anything but what else can you do, just have fun. After a bit we went back to the boat and settled in for some drinks and dinner.