The Emergence Of Nebulae In The 19th Century

Have you ever looked up at the sky on a clear night and wondered, “what else is out there?”. What could possibly lie beyond the beautiful blanket of stars that we see with our naked eye? Nebulas are one of many galactic phenomena that lie beyond the Kuiper belt. Mysterious and fascinatingly beautiful sights to behold, they have more of a purpose than just painting the galaxy backdrop with color. I’m not a diehard fan of astronomy and to be perfectly honest I find it difficult to follow most of the information I have learned. However, when I came across pictures and information on nebulas I was instantly fascinated. From how and why they’re formed, to what they do for the galaxy, I’m excited to take you on an intellectual journey though nebulas.

The structure of “How the Milky Way Was Made” by Natalie Diaz represents the flow of a river. Rhythm and stressed and unstressed words represent the surface of the water and using dashes emphasize the flow of a river runs continuously. This river, which is the Colorado river, we can easily identify because she uses accurate numbers, such as “shattered by fifteen dams” (line 5) and “over one-thousand four-hundred and fifty miles” (6). These accurate numbers represent the real world because she does not use an overstatement or understatement. She also uses accurate numbers such as “the hundred-thousand light year” (33), which is the size of the milky way (wikipedia).

During the first millennium B.C. scientists realized that astronomy had to become more scientific. Middle Eastern and Chinese cultures started studying the Sun, stars and the planets more closely in an attempt to learn more about our position in the universe.. Star positions also became important tools in understanding directions, and helping with navigation. One philosopher stated in 434 B.C. that the Sun was a ball of fire 60 kilometres in diameter, hovering 6500 kilometres above Earth’s surface. Around 130 B.C., Ptolemy wrote Almagest, which was a huge collection of astronomical data which included mathematical models, information about eclipses, and planetary and stellar positions and movements. It remained a major go to book for astronomy for hundreds of years, and was not seriously challenged until Copernicus disputed the geocentric model of the solar system in the 1500’s

The solar system was created 4.6 billion years ago by a gravitational collapse. A solar system is a star that has planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids travel around it. The solar system contains eight known planets which are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. There is around several hundred dwarf plants but only five are currently recognized. The solar system has about 181 moons which orbit around the planets in the solar system. There is also about 150 million asteroids and 3,406 comets also in the solar system.

Understanding of the processes of stellar evolution came as a result of twentieth century advances in both astronomy and atomic physics. Advances in quantum theory and improved models of

Curtis correctly noted that spectral lines could be seen within the spiral nebulae, and that they were generally consistent with the nebulae in the form of large assembled star clusters. These clusters supported Curtis's argument that these were in fact stellar systems, which are comparable to our Milky Way

While researching “pre-industrial astronomical accomplishments,” it seemed that a good majority of the accomplishments being highlighted were those of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Feeling that these topics may be over-researched, I decided to turn my attention towards the accomplishments of those in a different area of the world. After switching my focus to the pre-industrial astronomical feats of ancient Greek scientists, I have found that in many cases, these scientists contributed more than one idea, finding, or apparatus to the field of astronomy. For this research, I decided to hone in on the contributions made by Greek scientist Hipparchus. Throughout his magnificent life, and all before the implementation of modern technology,

Galileo was first to have the use of a telescope to observe celestial bodies, which helped him greatly in making new discoveries. He was able to not only study the motion of other planets, but was able to observe the satellites orbiting those planets. Galileo also discovered an enormous amount of stars by observing the Milky Way giving way to theorizing that there is more to our universe then what was previously thought. Galileo later found himself in trouble with the Catholic Church for publicly announcing his findings, which went against the Church’s held beliefs of the Earth’s place in our universe. Sadly, Galileo had to essentially denounce his findings and was forced to keep his discoveries private for the rest of his days.

Bode has many other contributions to astronomy. He found, in total, four different celestial bodies and “rediscovered” three others. He discovered M81, a spiral galaxy in Ursa Major; M82, an irregular galaxy also in Ursa Major; M53, a globular cluster in Coma Berenices; M92, another globular cluster, in Hercules; M64, a spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, this one was discovered by Edward Pigott then Bode rediscovered it 12 days later; M48, an open cluster in Hydra, discovered by Charles Messier; and IC4665, an open open cluster in Ophiuchus, discovered by De Cheseaux. Also, in 1776 Bode created his version of the theory of the solar constitution. Later in 1795, Sir William Herschel created his theory of the theory of the solar constitution by tweaking Bode’s version to fit his beliefs. Bode is the man whom came up with the planet name “Uranus” and it has been called that ever since.

This program is being presented in over 750 planetariums around the world as part of the “International Year of Astronomy”. Basically, it has been four hundred years since Galileo Galilei invented the telescope and planetariums are celebrating the invention with this presentation. This program was well worth the time to see because it provided a relaxed and interesting learning experience for all in attendance.

A second key detail from the debate is the discovering of what nebulae really are and where they are located as well. This is important because it allows us

The Cone Nebula (NGC 2264) is found in the constellation, Monoceros. This dazzling nebula is part of a much larger star-forming region, called the Christmas Tree Cluster. Both, fall under the name of NGC 2264.

The Orion Nebula contains one of the brightest star clusters in the night sky. With a magnitude of 4, this nebula is easily visible from the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months. It is surprising, therefore, that this region was not documented until 1610 by a French lawyer named Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. On March 4, 1769, Charles Messier inducted the Orion Nebula, M42, into his list of stellar objects. Then, in 1771, Messier released his list of objects for its first publication in Memoires de l'Academie.1

In 1609, Galileo Galilei, using “spyglass” which allowed one to see things closer than they appeared, made an early version of the telescope. With it, he observed the skies in a way no one had before. He discovered the moon isn’t perfectly globular, it has craters, the Sun has sunspots, Venus orbits the Sun (contrary to widespread belief in his time), and then he observed four “stars” around Jupiter (“Our Solar System”). Within

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, and astrological practices of pre-history: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with public and governmental astronomy, and not completely disentangled from it until a few centuries ago in the Western World . In some cultures astronomical data was used for astrological prognostication.