APOD 2.01-- It's the End of the World As We Know It....

And I feel fine.

In this "picture" the Universe's end is discussed-- the theory of the "Big Rip" is brought to the fore. (A mysterious repulsive phantom energy.) Too much dark matter in the universe will make the outward force from the Big Bang too massive to contain, and the universe will no longer be able to support itself. (Previous to this theory, the fate of the universe was centered on the theories of the Big Crunch or the Big Freeze.)

Observation #1
8/20, 8/21
roughly 9:00 PM both days
Observed the moon and it's relative position to the 1st magnitude star Antares and the planet Jupiter. Noted how Jupiter and Antares position seemed to remain the same due to their extreme distance, while the moon seemed to be the only celestial body that was moving across the sky. Light pollution was minimal at my location, but it was somewhat cloudy.

Observation #2
Current phase of the year
early morning (roughly 6:30-6:45)
Noted specifically the constellation Orion each morning as I get up and head outside. (Assuming not a large amount of cloud cover. Light pollution is rarely a problem.) Also generally visible is Venus, which appears to be one of the brightest points in the sky at the time.

No instruments were used-- only the naked eye.

Giovanni/Gian (Jean-Dominique) Domenico Cassini

Born on June 8, 1625- Cassini was an Italian-French Astronomer of enormous importance; one who established himself as an astrologer, an engineer, and an astronomer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, which is known today as the Republic of Genoa. Early in life, Cassini was already showing interest in the cosmos; however it was not as an astronomer. Cassini started his career as an astrologer, (one who interprets information about celestial bodies in the hopes that the gleaned information would be practical in terrestrial affairs) which some theorize gave him a start in his eventual shift to astronomy. It should be noted that as Cassini aged, he moved so dramatically away from astrology that he denounced it completely, preferring to work solely on astronomy. Astrology however, is what landed Cassini his first job as an astronomer. In 1644, Cassini was invited to Bologna by its senator- Marquis Cornelio Malvasia to work in the Panzano Observatory which he was having constructed. He spent 21 years there- (1648-1669) until the King Louis XIV of France sent Cassini a grant to come head the then under construction Observatory of Paris, which would open in 1671. While in France, Cassini became a French citizen (and interestingly embraced France so warmly that he became known as Jean-Dominique Cassini) and worked with the opulent Louis XIV as his court astrologer/astronomer. While he fulfilled all aspects of his obligations to the king, he spent the vast majority of his time on astronomy. Some major highlights of his career include the discovery of the Cassini Divide, (a gap between rings A and B of Saturn) the Discovery of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. He was also responsible for the discovery of four of Saturn’s moons- which he named collectively: Sidera Lodoicea, or Louisian Stars. Today however, the moons are named individually; Iapetus (1671), Rhea (1672), Tethys (1684), and Dione (1684). Amazingly, Cassini is also responsible for giving us the first “accurate” measure of scale in our galaxy. By sending an assistant to French Guiana to make simultaneous observations of Mars—he was able to use parallax to determine the planet’s distance. In approximately 1690, Cassini noted differential rotation in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Giovanni Cassini had a huge impact on astronomy in his time, indeed his impact was profound enough to carry over to modern times.

1.07 ...Counting is hard?

Bright Planets, Crescent Moon: Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
This high resolution photograph, taken by Jay Ouellet contains several planets (Venus and Saturn), as well as the crescent moon in a tiny 5 degree field. The photograph also contains the celestial bodies Regulus and Titan. Interestingly, "Earthshine" illuminates sections of the darkened mono that we normally would not be able to see. Not shown in this photograph-- Mars; described as "a brilliant red-diode" by Jay Ouellet.