Orchard Hill Observatory
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Orchard Hill Observatory
The Orchard Hill Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at the highest point on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. Constructed in 1965, the observatory is a red brick building with a 16-inch Cassegrain reflector optical telescope. It is used for several community events. History Originally, the observatory was home to a 20" telescope, given to the department by an avid amateur who lived in central Massachusetts. It was a scale model (loosely) of a larger 200" scope. Eventually, a crack was spotted during one of the re- aluminizings of the 20" mirror, and the scope was decommissioned. In the meantime, the department had been granted money—associated with its move from Hasbrouck to the Graduate Research Tower—to buy a small telescope and install it on top of the GRC. The GRC had a small "isolation" pad built onto its roof, which was supposed to be a mount for the scope, accessible via a small open elevator. However, the GRC had terrible noise and gross ...
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Orchard Hill Observatory
The Orchard Hill Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at the highest point on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. Constructed in 1965, the observatory is a red brick building with a 16-inch Cassegrain reflector optical telescope. It is used for several community events. History Originally, the observatory was home to a 20" telescope, given to the department by an avid amateur who lived in central Massachusetts. It was a scale model (loosely) of a larger 200" scope. Eventually, a crack was spotted during one of the re- aluminizings of the 20" mirror, and the scope was decommissioned. In the meantime, the department had been granted money—associated with its move from Hasbrouck to the Graduate Research Tower—to buy a small telescope and install it on top of the GRC. The GRC had a small "isolation" pad built onto its roof, which was supposed to be a mount for the scope, accessible via a small open elevator. However, the GRC had terrible noise and gross ...
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Cygnus (constellation)
Cygnus is a northern constellation on the plane of the Milky Way, deriving its name from the Latinized Greek word for swan. Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Cygnus contains Deneb (ذنب, translit. ''ḏanab,'' tail)one of the brightest stars in the night sky and the most distant first-magnitude staras its "tail star" and one corner of the Summer Triangle. It also has some notable X-ray sources and the giant stellar association of Cygnus OB2. Cygnus is also known as the Northern Cross. One of the stars of this association, NML Cygni, is one of the largest stars currently known. The constellation is also home to Cygnus X-1, a distant X-ray binary containing a supergiant and unseen m ...
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Astronomical Observatories In Massachusetts
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the past, astronomy included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars. Nowadays, p ...
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List Of Radio Telescopes
This is a list of radio telescopes – over one hundred – that are or have been used for radio astronomy. The list includes both single dishes and interferometric arrays. The list is sorted by region, then by name; unnamed telescopes are in reverse size order at the end of the list. The first radio telescope was invented in 1932, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean Space-based Under construction or planned construction Proposed telescopes Gallery of big dishes File:FastTelescope*8sep2015.jpg, alt=Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope under construction, The 500 meter Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), under construction, China (2016) File:GBT.png, alt=Green Bank Telescope, The 100 meter Green Bank Telescope, ...
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List Of Astronomical Observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in operation. While other sciences, such as volcanology and meteorology, also use facilities called observatories for research and observations, this list is limited to observatories that are used to observe celestial objects. Astronomical observatories are mainly divided into four categories: space-based, airborne, ground-based, and underground-based. Many modern telescopes and observatories are located in space to observe astronomical objects in wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that cannot penetrate the Earth's atmosphere (such as ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays) and are thus impossible to observe using ground-based telescopes. Being above the atmosphere, these space observatories can also avoid the effects of atmo ...
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Mizar
Mizar is a second-magnitude star in the handle of the Big Dipper asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has the Bayer designation ζ Ursae Majoris ( Latinised as Zeta Ursae Majoris). It forms a well-known naked eye double star with the fainter star Alcor, and is itself a quadruple star system. The Mizar and Alcor system lies about 83 light-years away from the Sun, as measured by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, and is part of the Ursa Major Moving Group. Nomenclature ''ζ Ursae Majoris'' ( Latinised to ''Zeta Ursae Majoris'' and abbreviated to ζ UMa or Zeta UMa) is Mizar's Bayer designation. It also has the Flamsteed designation 79 Ursae Majoris. The traditional name ''Mizar'' derives from the Arabic ' ' meaning 'apron; wrapper, covering, cover'. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 ...
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Alcor (star)
Alcor () is a binary star system in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is the fainter companion of Mizar, the two stars forming a naked eye double in the handle of the Big Dipper (or Plough) asterism in Ursa Major. The two both lie about 83 light-years away from the Sun, as measured by the ''Hipparcos'' astrometry satellite. Nomenclature Alcor has the Flamsteed designation ''80 Ursae Majoris''. ''Alcor'' was originally Arabic , meaning either the 'forgotten' or 'neglected' one; notable as a faintly perceptible companion of Mizar. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included ''Alcor'' for 80 UMa. Mizar and Alcor With normal eyesight Alcor appears at about 12 minutes of arc from the second-magnitude star Mizar. Alcor is of magnitude 3.99 and sp ...
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Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere (less than 1% that of Earth's), and has a crust primarily composed of elements similar to Earth's crust, as well as a core made of iron and nickel. Mars has surface features such as impact craters, valleys, dunes and polar ice caps. It has two small and irregularly shaped moons, Phobos (moon), Phobos and Deimos (moon), Deimos. Some of the most notable surface features on Mars include Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and List of tallest mountains in the Solar System, highest known mountain in the Solar System and Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The North Polar Basin (Mars), Borealis basin in the Northern Hemisphere covers approximately 40% of the planet and may be a la ...
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Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of Australia). The Moon is a planetary-mass object with a differentiated rocky body, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term and larger than all known dwarf planets of the Solar System. It lacks any significant atmosphere, hydrosphere, or magnetic field. Its surface gravity is about one-sixth of Earth's at , with Jupiter's moon Io being the only satellite in the Solar System known to have a higher surface gravity and density. The Moon orbits Earth at an average distance of , or about 30 times Earth's diameter. Its gravitational influence is the main driver of Earth's tides and very slowly lengthens Earth's day. The Moon's orbit around Earth has a sidereal period of 27.3 days. During each synodic period ...
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Waxing Gibbous
''Waxing Gibbous'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Malcolm Middleton, released on 1 June 2009 on Full Time Hobby. Middleton has stated that following the release of this album, and its subsequent tour, he will put his career as a solo artist on hold: "I want to try something new and then come back to this later on." "Red Travellin' Socks" was released as a single on 18 May, on 7" vinyl. Middleton describes the track as his "own "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"." Release In April 2009, Middleton revealed on his MySpace that he planned to release a new album: My new record is ok, but I've just listened to ''Hysteria'' by Def Leppard and that's much better. I used to hate that album when I was sixteen but now I love it. I wonder when they changed it? Hold on, am I really trying to sell my album by saying it's not as good as Def Leppard? I should work for Saatchi & Saatchi. Anyway. Yes, my new album is called ''Waxing Gibbous'' and it'l ...
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Galilean Moons
The Galilean moons (), or Galilean satellites, are the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were first seen by Galileo Galilei in December 1609 or January 1610, and recognized by him as satellites of Jupiter in March 1610. They were the first objects found to orbit a planet other than the Earth. They are among the largest objects in the Solar System with the exception of the Sun and the eight planets, with a radius larger than any of the dwarf planets. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, and is even bigger than the planet Mercury, though only around half as massive. The three inner moons— Io, Europa, and Ganymede—are in a 4:2:1 orbital resonance with each other. While the Galilean moons are spherical, all of Jupiter's much smaller remaining moons have irregular forms because of their weaker self-gravitation. The Galilean moons were observed in either 1609 or 1610 when Galileo made improvements to his telescope, which ena ...
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Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth the mass of the Sun. Jupiter is the List of brightest natural objects in the sky, third brightest natural object in the Earth's night sky after the Moon and Venus, and it has been observed since Pre-history, prehistoric times. It was named after the Jupiter (mythology), Roman god Jupiter, the king of the gods. Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen, but helium constitutes one-quarter of its mass and one-tenth of its volume. It probably has a rocky core of heavier elements, but, like the other giant planets in the Solar System, it lacks a well-defined solid surface. The ongoing contraction of Jupiter's interior generates more heat than it receives from the Sun. Because of its rapid rotation, the planet' ...
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