Sunday, February 16, 2020

Charles Messier's Butterfly Cluster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Charles Messier's Butterfly Cluster - Essay Example He actually searched for comets and to avoid confusion between comets and Messier objects, he and his colleagues compiled them in a list in 1771. It was a remarkable achievement. The list is known as the Messier Catalog or Messier Object List. The list contains a total of 110 objects. The list contains nebulae, galaxies and star clusters. Body During the process of these observations, the first object they observed was the Crab Nebula (M1). A total of 103 objects were listed by Messier and his colleagues (Burnham 73). The Crab Nebula is a ball of gas left over from a supernova explosion. M2 is a globular cluster of stars in Aquarius, M3 is located in Canes Venatici, and Messier 4 to Messier 7 are located in the constellation of Scorpius. The Butterfly Cluster is Messier 6. This object can be seen by telescope clearly, and in the grayish color by naked eye. The Butterfly Cluster existence was first noticed by Giovanni Battista Hoderna in 1654. Ptolemy discovered it while he was observ ing M7, and declared it as a part of M7. After that, Phillips Loys de Cheseaux (1945-1946) observed it and recognized it as â€Å"a very fine star cluster.† And finally it was catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764 in the list of Messier objects (The Griffith Observer 259). The Butterfly Cluster is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius known as Messier 6 or the Butterfly Cluster as it resembles a flying butterfly with open wings and antennae. The stars of the cluster twinkle, and it looks very beautiful in the sky. It is visually a very rewarding object; the butterfly pattern is very visible and obvious. It has been placed in the 6th position in the list of Messier objects. Scorpio is located in the Milky Way and contains many massive objects other than M6 and Messier 7. The Butterfly Cluster has a magnitude of 4.2, an angular diameter of 25 arc minutes, and lies at a distance of 1,600 light years with a luminosity of 8,300 suns. The Butterfly Cluster is ab out 50 million years old and can be seen in summer nights clearly with binoculars. The objects (M6 and M7) are the summer’s finest and brightest clusters. Different astronomers have different opinions about M6’s age. According to Burnham, it is 100 million years old; WEBDA estimates its age to be around 95 million years, and 51 million years according to the Sky Catalogue 2000.0. Messier objects of the â€Å"Messier Summer Chart† are clearly visible on summer nights. Messier objects help astronomers to adjust the distance scale of the universe. The above image shows the view of M6 (outcropped). The image was taken through the Astrograph, Takahashi E-180. How Can It Be Seen? It can be seen about 3/ 1-2 degrees northwest of M7 which is located near the tail of Scorpius. It appears as a hazy patch in the dark sky but it should not be confused with Messier 7. Messier 7 is brighter than Messier 6. M7 is seen in between and the Butterfly Cluster is on its lower side. Messier 6 contains many other Messier objects such as M21, M23, NGC 6167, and NGC 6193. Its magnitude is fainter than M7, and fills the field of 25 angular diameter. One of the ways to find the Butterfly Cluster is to identify the two well-known asterisms of Scorpios and Sagittarius. It has two irregular loops of blue and white stars on both wings and at 40-50x, it has three bright stars in the butterfly’s body. The Butterfly Cluster contains almost 80 stars (Plotner 400) with B type blue (hottest) and K type orange stars (BM Scorpii, HD 160371). The brightest K type orange star is a semi-regular

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Their eyes were watching God has been called an awakening Essay

Their eyes were watching God has been called an awakening novel.Discuss the meaning of this term and relate it to janie - Essay Example Janie returns her hometown draggled and tired out. Everyone is astonished to see her in this condition. She becomes the subject of criticism for porch sitters who gossip outside her friend Pheoby and her husband Sam Watson’s home. However, Pheoby defends her and tries to comfort her by asking her what has happened during the last few months. She takes Janie to her house and offers her food and comfort and empathically listens to her story. A theme of judgment thus develops in the story. Porch sitters judged Janie in a wrong way by using harsh words and criticizing her past actions and current looks, whereas Pheoby, being a nice human and a good friend, chose to comfort her. Obviously Pheoby’s choice and actions were a lot better than those of the porch sitters. Janie begins telling her story from her early childhood when she used to live with her grandmother Nanny. One day she was in the backyard of her home when a boy named Johnny Taylor meets her and kisses her. After watching this grandma decides that Janie should get married to a capable man who can look after her and protect her. So she decides to marry her to Logan Killicks who is a much older man and can offer Janie protection and a potato farm. The author Hurston compares Janie’s life with a tree stating, "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done, and undone." (Chapter 2, Paragraph 1, Page 8) thus emphasizing the fact that Janie experienced sexual awakening in her grandma’s backyard as she is amazed at the blooming pear tree. Hurston uses metaphors for Janie to express her beauty by stating, "She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her." (Chapter 2, Paragraph 15, Page 11). In The Awakening, Edna is already married but she falls in love with another man, Robert. â€Å"There was Robert’s reproach making itself felt by a quicker, fiercer, more overpowerin g love, which had awakened within her toward him† (Chopin, 1899, pg219). After her marriage with Logan, Janie didn’t find the true love she was looking for. She visits her home seeking grandma’s advice saying, "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think" (Chapter 3, Paragraph 26, Page 23). But grandma just gives her a wait-and-see advice. This first marriage has only brought unhappiness and loneliness for Janie. At this point her dream of love and felicity dies and she begins to understand that "marriage did not make love." (Chapter 3, Paragraph 31, Page 25) Logan disregarded all of Janie’s feelings and desire for love and wanted her just to work on his farm like his first wife. Their relationship soon starts to get worse. Janie once told Logan, "If you can stand not to chop wood and tote wood Ah reckon you can stand not to git no dinner." (Page 45). Janie then meets Joe, a stylish and sophisticated man. After havin g been talking for many days they finally decide to run away and get married to each other. They arrive in town and get married. Soon Joe is elected as the mayor of the town and he gets himself busy in building and developing his new town, paying little or no attention to his wife’