The main objectives of this lab, Astronomy on the Internet, are to become more familiar with researching and presenting various astronomical information using the internet. By giving students the task to find specific information, it allows one to practice their research skills and expand their knowledge. The main tasks of this lab are to find information about a telescope, find two different images of objects in our solar system along with information about each of these images, as well as find information about a past or present space mission from NASA’s website. The information gathered should be used in conjunction to answer a series of questions from each section. In order to complete the section titled “Information about telescopes …show more content…
The specific website is for ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory. I used a couple of the links from the website to answer the series of questions from the worksheet. The Herschel Space Observatory was originally called "FIRST," which stood for "Far InfraRed and Submillimeter Telescope.” As the original name implied it studied the “Universe by the light of the far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the spectrum” and through this, it revealed “new information about the earliest, most distant stars and galaxies, as well as those closer to home in space and time.” The Herschel Space Observatory is a space-based telescope that “orbited around a special point in space (called 'L2') located about 1.5 million km from Earth in the direction opposite to the Sun.” Herschel is approximately 9 meters high and 4.3 meters wide with a launch mass of about 3.25 metric tons. It is equipped with a primary mirror 3.5 meters in diameter making it the largest infrared telescope ever launched. The …show more content…
This image piqued my interest initially because I thought it resembled that of a jellyfish reflection, but when I took a closer look at it, the image appeared to resemble more of a butterfly than a jelly fish. Due to its butterfly like appearance, it earned the name “Butterfly Nebula.” “The thick dust belt constricts the star's outflow, creating the classic "bipolar" or hourglass shape displayed by some planetary nebulae.” Within this hourglass shape, it is colorful; colors such as red, white, orange, pink, and purple can be seen. “What resemble dainty butterfly wings are actually roiling cauldrons of gas heated to more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The gas is tearing across space at more than 600,000 miles an hour—fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in 24 minutes!” With a surface temperature of about 400,000 degrees Fahrenheit, it is one of the hottest known stars in our