Week of April 21st

This week, we just finished our poster for the Research Symposium. It took awhile and many drafts, though. No new information was found, it was just the process of scaling and copying everything we had learned onto a poster. We decided our future discussions would consist of fixing the magnification effect in our photos. There should be a way to do that somewhere, it will just take some finding. The poster includes our abstract, introduction, procedure, discussion and future works, along with our literature cited. It is pretty much a condensed version of the paper. That being said, I am glad to say it is finally all set and behind us.

Week of April 14th

This week we were able to do all the finishing Mars measurements. We calculated the difference between the size of Mars before and after. Unfortunately, we found that Mars before was larger. This is clearly impossible, Mars cannot be bigger a month before opposition, than on opposition. We believe that this was due to the magnification effect on the horizon. So, we needed to change the theory of our project, essentially. Instead, we just took the pictures of Mars from opposition in order to compare the size and distance from Earth. In our project, we decided to talk about the magnification effect and what our original project would have been. So, although it did not turn out the way we thought, it still worked out. The pictures from opposition still worked as an accurate size and distance measurement. We just could not do the comparison that we wished to do.

Week of April 7th

This week, on the 8th, we were able to get our pictures of Mars at Opposition. Along with Mars, we also took pictures of Mizar A and B. The on issues we originally had was that one of the camera adapter rings was screwed off. there are two different rings of different lengths. So, we had to take new pictures of a star set just to make sure we were comparing correct lengths, in case the previous star set pictures were different. After we got the pictures, we were able to start calculations. This week we only got up to averaging the opposition pictures together and finding the pixel measurements. This was along with the star set.

Week of March 31st

There was not much we could do this week. We finished pretty much anything we could do with our last Mars pictures. The opposition is not until next week. Then we will have more material to actually work with.

Week of March 24th

This week we found the measurements of Mars. It took a long time to figure out how to get the pixels to show up on the computer in order to measure the width of Mars in the photos. We probably spent a whole class just trying to figure out that dilemma until it was finally solved. When it was, we were able to take width and height pixel measurements for each image of Mars, as well as for the entire picture itself. They were then averaged out in order to find the average distance and size at that time. We did all the pictures because we wanted a very accurate reading. We can't do anything else in terms of measurements now until the opposition. Then we can find the distance using both measurements of the stars and Mars from start and opposition.

Week of March 17th

Last week we did not do much because it was spring break, so there wasn't anything to write about. This week we did mostly calculations for the project. We found out that the stars we took pictures of were not Castor, they were just near Castor. We found the stars on a map and printed out the picture. We were able to measure the distance of the stars that way using trigonometry. The map allowed us to put in the day and time we wanted to see the stars at, so it is just as accurate as our pictures. Professor Kern explained all the math to me and what we were doing because I was totally lost. Math isn't my strong suit. I sort of get it a little better now, but it is still difficult. We figured out all the calculations for the stars, but did not get to Mars this week.

Week of March 3rd

This week, we were finally able to continue our project and take pictures. On Thursday we were able to get pictures of Castor and Mars to measure distance. The sky was very clear and great to take pictures. Castor rose fairly early so we were able to take a picture of it a little after. We went over how to take pictures and how to use all the equipment that went along with the telescope. Before Castor, we also took flats in order to measure for any dirt or excess from the telescope in the picture.

After Castor, the other group that was with us took their pictures. I had to leave at 7, which didn't matter since Mars did not even begin to rise until around 9:45. I came back around them and we waited until after 10 so we could just see Mars to take a distance picture. Although the sky was still clear, it was bitterly cold which was unfortunate. We tried to get the picture as fast as possible to get out of there and warm up.

Since we just needed distance pictures, at least for now, we didn't have a difficult time. We would like to get some better pictures of Mars but in order to do that we would need to stay up pretty late, so I'm not sure what we will do. The best pictures will be at opposition and I do not believe that Mars even rises until past 10. This would mean we would have to wait until very late for Mars to rise high enough to get good pictures.

Past Two Weeks

The past couple weeks, I have had little to blog about. We got to the point in our project where we just needed to take pictures and had nothing else to do or research. We continuously tried to take pictures, but it just didn't work out. The weather has not cooperated and it has been very frustrating. Doing an astrophotography project, we need to be able to see through the telescope. That is not possible when it is even cloudy, never mind it being so snowy and rainy. So, things have not worked out the way we planned and it has been a little slow and boring.

Astronomy Post 2

My partner and I have found the binary stars we will use in order to measure the distance of Mars. We decided on using Castor A/B with Castor C. Cast A and B are too close together to measure them effectively, but C is not too far and not too close to both A and B. This will give us a good measurement so we can accurately measure the change in distance from start to finish for Mars.

Right now, we are pretty much done with our research. We have been waiting to take pictures and learn the equipment. The weather has not been good at all, which has been an issue and probably will continue to be an issue.

That being said, we also came up with a plan just in case we can't see Mars at opposition. Obviously, that would ruin our entire project. So, we just decided we would focus on the photos in that case and use what we have. There will still be a difference in distant from the first to last. If the weather is also good the day before opposition, we might take pictures then, just in case. 

I am doing the astro-photography research project with my partner, Kolin Campbell. We have been figuring out what our project will be and doing preliminary research for the first couple of weeks. We have now decided that we plan on tracking the opposition of Mars through photographs. The opposition happens on April 8th, which will give us 6 weeks of photos beforehand, if we start next week (the week of the 16th). We would like to look at the difference in our ability to see Mars, and take a clear picture, from the first picture to the last (opposition). When Mars is at opposition, it is the closest it can be to Earth.

In terms of research question or goals, we would like to find the difference in the distance of Mars from Earth. This would be accomplished by finding and taking a picture of a pair of stars, involving a binary one, that will not move. That way we will have an accurate scale to compare distance with. Also, being an astro-photography project, we would like to accomplish and figure out how to take better pictures of Mars than the previous students.

We are waiting to learn how to find Mars and use the equipment in the lab soon in order to take the best photography possibly. After that, we will at least have a better picture on where our project is going and how to handle it