Astronomy Picture of the Day

Pictured here is the eastern section of the Veil Nebula. This nebula is the remnants of a supernova and can be seen over the constellation Cygnus. Emissions from hydrogen atoms cause the red coloring and emissions from oxygen atoms caused the blue-green tints. I thought this nebula was perfect for Halloween; there seems to be a ghastly apparition in the larger vertical section of the nebula! :)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Pictured here is the Crab Nebula, or Messier Object (M) 1. It is the debris left over from an exploding star: a supernova. The birth of this star was documented by astronomers by 1054 and is still expanding today. In our sky, it can be seen by the constellation Taurus. I really enjoy the colors of this nebula.

Astronomer Biography: Christian Sorensen Longomontanus

Christen Sørensen Longomontanus, also known as Christen Severin, was born in Longberg, Denmark in 1562. He was born into a poor family and when his father died, his education was continually interrupted. Longomontanus eventually ran away to Viborg to finish schooling. In 1590, Longomontanus began working as Tycho Brahe's primary assistant at his observatory, Uraniborg.  After eight years of work with Brahe, Longomontanus left the island observatory to further study at various German universities. Later, in 1600, he joined Brahe again to complete work on Brahe's Lunar Theory. It is difficult to delineate what work was Brahe's and whose was Longomontanus' because they worked together so closely. Johannes Kepler, another of Brahe's more well-known assistants, eventually took on most of the research after Brahe's death. Longomontanus rejected most of Kepler's theories and left the observatory. Longomontanus went on to get a masters degree at Rostock and was employed by the chancellor of Denmark. He was elected to rector of the Viborg and later became a professor at the University of Copehnagen. He eventually became chair of mathematics there and held that position until his death in 1647.

Longomontanus is not a necessarily celebrated astronomer because of the lack of documentation of his research, it is agreed that he helped promote a lot of Brahe's theories. He helped synthesize data on the motion of planets that ultimately completed Brahe's work, with more contribution from Kepler. While Lognomontanus was not an extremely revolutionary thinker, Brahe might not have had such success without his aid. 

Observation

Observation Log Entry:

Date: October 15, 2013

Time:  9:00 - 11:00 PM

Place: My Backyard

Sky Conditions: Mostly clear skies with some passing clouds. Waxing gibbous moon.

Instruments Used: binoculars (10X50)

Planets: Venus

Bright Stars noted: Deneb,  Altair, Polaris, maybe Antares?

Constellations noted: parts of Cygnus and Aquila, 

Binary Stars: none

Deep Sky Objects: none clearly visible with binoculars

Other:

The Milky Way faintly visible 

Observation

Observation Log Entry:

Date: October 13, 2013

Time:  8:00 - 10:00 PM

Place: My Backyard

Sky Conditions: Mostly clear skies. Waxing gibbous moon.

Instruments Used: binoculars (10X50)

Planets: Venus

Bright Stars noted: The Summer Triangle was visible in the northwestern parts of the sky. Polaris.

Constellations noted: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Hercules, faintly observed Pegasus

Binary Stars: none

Deep Sky Objects: none clearly visible with binoculars

Other:

The Milky Way faintly visible through Scorpius, Sagittarius, Aquila, and Cygnus.

Astronomer Biography Sources

Source 1: "364 (Dansk Biografisk Lexikon / X. Bind. Laale - Løvenørn)." 364 (Dansk Biografisk Lexikon / X. Bind. Laale - Løvenørn). N.p., n.d. Web. <http://runeberg.org/dbl/10/0366.html>.
Source 2: "Christen Sørensen Longomontanus." Leksikon. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Naturvidenskab_og_teknik/Astronom/Christen_S%C3%B8rensen_Longomontanus>.
Source 3: "Christen Sørensen Longomontanus." Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/272994>.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

This image shows dust covering Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. The blue light seen is being given off by very hot stars in the center nebulae. A globular cluster can also be observed in the right corner. I love the combination of nebulae and clusters in this photo.