Click title to read what our fav astronomy and physics professsor at CMC's Alpine Campus and to say on the visible constellations this week. Click his credit link to go to his amazing website for more.
Showing posts with label Astronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astronomy. Show all posts
April 11, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Bootes, the Bear Watcher"
All credits: Jimmy Westlake
Click title to read what our fav astronomy and physics professsor at CMC's Alpine Campus and to say on the visible constellations this week. Click his credit link to go to his amazing website for more.
Click title to read what our fav astronomy and physics professsor at CMC's Alpine Campus and to say on the visible constellations this week. Click his credit link to go to his amazing website for more.
April 3, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Look into infinity and beyond"
What does a guy like Jimmy Westlake dream of?
Stars? Planets? Or the mysteries of infinity and beyond?
Be sure to click title, read the entire article and marvel at his amazing astrophotography talent.
Jimmy Westlake:
"Steamboat Springs — In space, there is no up or down, no top or bottom. On Earth, gravity defines our “down” as toward the center of the Earth and our “up” as the direction opposite that, but these have no meaning once you are away from the Earth’s influence.
So, when considering our pancake-shaped Milky Way galaxy, the terms “top” and “bottom” are completely arbitrary. If we choose the “top” of our galaxy to be the side toward which the Earth’s north pole happens to point, then spring is the time of year when we are able to look right up out of the “top” of the Milky Way and into the depths of intergalactic space. At about midnight in mid-April, or 10 p.m. in mid-May, the hazy band of the Milky Way temporarily encircles us along the horizon such that when we lay on our backs and stare straight up, we are gazing into infinity...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Stars? Planets? Or the mysteries of infinity and beyond?
Be sure to click title, read the entire article and marvel at his amazing astrophotography talent.
Jimmy Westlake:
"Steamboat Springs — In space, there is no up or down, no top or bottom. On Earth, gravity defines our “down” as toward the center of the Earth and our “up” as the direction opposite that, but these have no meaning once you are away from the Earth’s influence.
So, when considering our pancake-shaped Milky Way galaxy, the terms “top” and “bottom” are completely arbitrary. If we choose the “top” of our galaxy to be the side toward which the Earth’s north pole happens to point, then spring is the time of year when we are able to look right up out of the “top” of the Milky Way and into the depths of intergalactic space. At about midnight in mid-April, or 10 p.m. in mid-May, the hazy band of the Milky Way temporarily encircles us along the horizon such that when we lay on our backs and stare straight up, we are gazing into infinity...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 27, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: My favorite stars: Mizar, Alcor"
Professor Jimmy Westlake is ranked in the top four of 'SandBox Nanny's' most fav Colorado columnists and contributors.
He weaves tales of intrigue, suspense, war, love, anger and the fury of the Gods and Fates every Tuesday.
And his astrophotography skills? Amazing
Up and over on Steamboat Today.
Jimmy Westlake:
"In 1650, when astronomers first aimed their telescopes at the famed Horse and Rider, they were astonished to discover that the Horse itself appeared double. Almost any small telescope will reveal the twin stars of Mizar, called Mizar A and B. Modern astronomers have used sophisticated techniques to discover that each of Mizar’s twin components is again double. This amazing quintuple star system is located about 80 light-years from Earth.
My favorite story concerning the star Alcor comes from Viking mythology, where we find that the constellation of Orion the Hunter was called Orwandil the Giant, and the bright star Rigel represented the giant’s foot. Once, when Orwandil was crying like a baby because his toe was frostbitten, the god Thor grew tired of his whining and snapped off the frozen toe. He then threw it into the northern sky where we can see it today shining right beside Mizar as our little star Alcor...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
He weaves tales of intrigue, suspense, war, love, anger and the fury of the Gods and Fates every Tuesday.
And his astrophotography skills? Amazing
Up and over on Steamboat Today.
Jimmy Westlake:
"In 1650, when astronomers first aimed their telescopes at the famed Horse and Rider, they were astonished to discover that the Horse itself appeared double. Almost any small telescope will reveal the twin stars of Mizar, called Mizar A and B. Modern astronomers have used sophisticated techniques to discover that each of Mizar’s twin components is again double. This amazing quintuple star system is located about 80 light-years from Earth.
My favorite story concerning the star Alcor comes from Viking mythology, where we find that the constellation of Orion the Hunter was called Orwandil the Giant, and the bright star Rigel represented the giant’s foot. Once, when Orwandil was crying like a baby because his toe was frostbitten, the god Thor grew tired of his whining and snapped off the frozen toe. He then threw it into the northern sky where we can see it today shining right beside Mizar as our little star Alcor...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 13, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today/Jimmy Westlake "My Favorite Stars: La Superba"
Jimmy Westlake:
"Note: Throughout the next year, I will share with you in this column some of my favorite stars — stars that you, too, can observe and perhaps add to your list of favorites. They are presented in no particular order other than when they are best observed.
Have you ever seen a red star? No, I mean a really red star. Tucked in under the handle of the Big Dipper is one of the reddest stars in the sky, named La Superba.
With a name like that, it had better be pretty impressive, and it is. La Superba is the brightest carbon star in the sky. With a surface temperature of only 3,500 degrees F, it also is one of the “coolest” naked eye stars and, for a star, cool means red...." (Read more? Click title.)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Note: Throughout the next year, I will share with you in this column some of my favorite stars — stars that you, too, can observe and perhaps add to your list of favorites. They are presented in no particular order other than when they are best observed.
Have you ever seen a red star? No, I mean a really red star. Tucked in under the handle of the Big Dipper is one of the reddest stars in the sky, named La Superba.
With a name like that, it had better be pretty impressive, and it is. La Superba is the brightest carbon star in the sky. With a surface temperature of only 3,500 degrees F, it also is one of the “coolest” naked eye stars and, for a star, cool means red...." (Read more? Click title.)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
February 21, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake Time to take up the slack"
Jimmy Westlake:
"Have you ever wondered why February has only 28 days most years but occasionally has 29 days, as it does this year? This whole leap year thing started back in the days of the Roman Empire under the reign of Julius Caesar. Even that long ago, astronomers realized that there weren’t a whole number of days in a year.
The Earth rotates 365 and one-quarter times in a year. Because it wouldn’t make any sense to have the last day of the year be only six hours long, Julius Caesar decreed in 44 B.C. that we would let the quarter-days days accumulate and then add in one whole day — a leap day — every fourth year. This would take up the slack between our calendar and Earth’s actual orbit around the sun. This calendar reform by Caesar assumed that the year was exactly 365.25 days long, but it isn’t. It’s really 365.2422 days long, about 11 minutes and 14 seconds shorter than Caesar assumed. So, using Caesar’s method, we were adding in too many leap days throughout the years. By the 1500s, all those 11 minutes and 14 seconds had added up to a full 10 days on the calendar, causing the vernal equinox, or first day of spring, to shift from March 21 to March 11.
If that error continued, we’d eventually be celebrating the first day of spring in December..."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Have you ever wondered why February has only 28 days most years but occasionally has 29 days, as it does this year? This whole leap year thing started back in the days of the Roman Empire under the reign of Julius Caesar. Even that long ago, astronomers realized that there weren’t a whole number of days in a year.
The Earth rotates 365 and one-quarter times in a year. Because it wouldn’t make any sense to have the last day of the year be only six hours long, Julius Caesar decreed in 44 B.C. that we would let the quarter-days days accumulate and then add in one whole day — a leap day — every fourth year. This would take up the slack between our calendar and Earth’s actual orbit around the sun. This calendar reform by Caesar assumed that the year was exactly 365.25 days long, but it isn’t. It’s really 365.2422 days long, about 11 minutes and 14 seconds shorter than Caesar assumed. So, using Caesar’s method, we were adding in too many leap days throughout the years. By the 1500s, all those 11 minutes and 14 seconds had added up to a full 10 days on the calendar, causing the vernal equinox, or first day of spring, to shift from March 21 to March 11.
If that error continued, we’d eventually be celebrating the first day of spring in December..."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
January 24, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: The sweet influences of the Pleiades"
"Steamboat Springs — High overhead as darkness falls on cold January evenings is a tiny cluster of stars that is often mistaken for the Little Dipper.
Although it does have a dipper shape, with a tiny little bowl and a tiny little handle, its real name is the Pleiades star cluster. It is the 45th object in Charles Messier’s famous catalog of comet look-alikes (M45), and is popularly known as the Seven Sisters. In Japan, it is called the Subaru. A likeness of the Pleiades star cluster adorns every Subaru car out there on the road.
A person with average vision should have no difficulty in seeing the six brightest stars in the Pleiades and a bit of careful searching should reveal a seventh faint star, as well. A person with exceptional eyesight might make out as many as eight, nine or even 10 stars with their unaided eye. How many can you see?..."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Learn more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
Although it does have a dipper shape, with a tiny little bowl and a tiny little handle, its real name is the Pleiades star cluster. It is the 45th object in Charles Messier’s famous catalog of comet look-alikes (M45), and is popularly known as the Seven Sisters. In Japan, it is called the Subaru. A likeness of the Pleiades star cluster adorns every Subaru car out there on the road.
A person with average vision should have no difficulty in seeing the six brightest stars in the Pleiades and a bit of careful searching should reveal a seventh faint star, as well. A person with exceptional eyesight might make out as many as eight, nine or even 10 stars with their unaided eye. How many can you see?..."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Learn more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Solar storm sweeps toward Earth"
'SandBox Nanny' knew if she waited that Bob Berwyn would have the best coverage (and photos) of the infrequent solar storm that is "sweeping toward earth".
A solar flare and coronal mass ejection on the sun are likely to trigger a geomagnetic storm on Earth beginning Tuesday morning. PHOTO COURTESY NASA SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY. (Read the article? Click title. Comment to discuss)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
January 13, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Viewing Venus"
"Steamboat Springs — Venus, the lovely evening star, is dominating our evening sky right now. She is the first “star” that you’ll see pop out of the evening twilight, so feel free to make a wish on her. The only other object that you might confuse for Venus is the planet Jupiter, which is halfway across the sky from Venus and not quite as bright.
Venus appears so dazzling in our sky for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, Venus is covered in very reflective clouds so that she gleams like a mirror in the sunshine. Second, Venus is relatively close to Earth right now, just more than one astronomical unit away. That distance will decrease during the coming weeks, and Venus will become even brighter in our sky — a blazing star in the evening twilight.
Here are some of the celestial highlights involving Venus this winter and spring while she is in our evening sky:...."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read the rest? Click title. Comment to discuss)
Venus appears so dazzling in our sky for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, Venus is covered in very reflective clouds so that she gleams like a mirror in the sunshine. Second, Venus is relatively close to Earth right now, just more than one astronomical unit away. That distance will decrease during the coming weeks, and Venus will become even brighter in our sky — a blazing star in the evening twilight.
Here are some of the celestial highlights involving Venus this winter and spring while she is in our evening sky:...."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read the rest? Click title. Comment to discuss)
January 1, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake's 2012 Cosmic Calendar of Celestial Events"
It's here!
Every year, we wait for Jimmy Westlake's cosmic calendar of Celestial Events to be posted on the Boat.
Still haven't picked up one of Westlake's annual calendars, complete with incredible photography?
Better change that...
(Read more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
Every year, we wait for Jimmy Westlake's cosmic calendar of Celestial Events to be posted on the Boat.
Still haven't picked up one of Westlake's annual calendars, complete with incredible photography?
Better change that...
(Read more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
November 15, 2011
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Tales of 2 clusters"
"Stars are born in clusters — families of dozens to hundreds of stars that share the same age and chemical makeup — but they don’t remain in clusters their entire lives. Like fledgling birds, stars eventually leave the nest in which they were born to roam the galaxy alone...."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read more? Click title. Comment to start discussion)
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read more? Click title. Comment to start discussion)
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