"Deep Thoughts" In Astronomy

"Astronomy taught us our insignificance in nature" --Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.seasky.org/quotes/space-quotes-astronomy.html

I really like this particular quote because whenever I think about space/astronomy, I'm conflicted with how important the Earth is to us and humans' actions, but in the big picture, we are very insignificant.  There is activity going on millions of lightyears away without bounds, things happening that we as humans cannot even fathom. 

Astronomy Magazines

The sky map toward the middle of the magazines was easier to understand and had more information in the Astronomy magazine.  I believe the Astronomy magazine also covered more news topics in the first few pages.  In the Sky and Telescope magazine, there were more advertisements, which could be good or bad depending on what your preferences are.  The Astronomy magazine also had a larger reader gallery with more pictures from various readers, and the quality and ease of readability of the writings and illustrations was better.  I felt that with the two editions I read, the feature articles in the Astronomy magazine were better, but Sky and Telescope beat out Astronomy with their regular monthly columns.  I think it's pretty clear that of the two competing magazines, I liked Astronomy more, simply because of the more interesting content, creative layout and overall a higher appeal.

Spectra Scavenger Hunt

Neutral metals like Na or even some molecules like TiO produce the precise absorption lines in cool red stars.  In hot blue stars, Hydrogen is most responsible. 

Ionized Oxygen gives planetary nebulae strong green light.

Hydrogen atoms are ionized by nearby ultraviolet radiation to produce emission nebulae's red color. 

In the sky, clouds appear white because their droplets are larger than visible wavelengths, and when reflectors are larger than the wavelengths being reflected the efficiency is nearly independent of the wavelength. Since all colors are uniformly reflected, clouds appear white.  

Broad emission lines in a quasar appear because of a thin gas that is strongly heated as it falls toward the black hole.

Emission lines in a comet appear as broad bands because molecule fragments are excited by sunlight and emit radiation as they return to lower energy levels, the broad bands being characteristic of molecules. 

How do we get sunburned?

http://www.physics.sjsu.edu/tomley/objectspectra/spectralforms.html