Friday, January 30, 2015
APOD 3.1
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Observation 3
On day 3 of my observation binge, I was greatly aided by the notice of the Iridium Flare sent through the class text. I didn't feel like setting up the telescope tonight, so I simply used my binoculars. It probably wouldn't have helped to see the Iridium Flare anyways. Although, without my telescope's GPS system, it took me about a half an hour to find the right coordinates. I spent some time just looking at the stars, noting the fact that I'm going to have to educate myself on the new winter sky, before the flare came. I spent another hour looking up at the Pleiades and the northern constellations- the binary star in Vega is a treat to the eyes in binoculars. Campy as it is, I actually have been writing poetry about the stars, for which I have only this class to thank the inspiration for.
In the skies that rest so gently on high
The stars, they shine with brilliance aglow
Against the black heavens of the dark night;
They’ve moved me to wonder since long ago
Oh, stars, must I vacate your heavenly glow?
For seasons turn, as does the diamond sky
And take with them the stars of their abode
As months and years, they pass, so fleeting, by,
And in so, leave my only wish to know
Oh, stars, why now must you depart me so?
I’ll miss the gleams of winter in the spring,
The beams of light as summer turns to fall
And though new skies arrive with Earth’s great swing,
Those I’ve come to love flee from all below,
Abdicate their glorious shine and glow...
Oh, stars, I yearn for your returning show!
Joseph Lagrange
Joseph-Louis Lagrange, born on January 25, 1736, was an Enlightenment era mathematician and astronomer. Notable for his contributions to celestial mechanics, and having created a celestial coordinate system known as the Lagrangian point system, he spent the first 30 years of his life in Turin, Italy, before working for the Berlin Academy from 1766 and 1787, and then spending the final 26 years of his life in Paris before his death in 1813.
Lagrange's father held charge of the Italian king's military chest in Turin at the time, and had planned for his son to become a lawyer, which he first accepted wholeheartedly. He studied at Turin College, where he found Greek mathematics to be quite dull. However, at the age of 17, he accidentally stumbled upon a paper by Edmond Halley, who inspired a pursuit of mathematics for the young Lagrange. After only a year of study, he was appointed an assistant professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy of the Practice of Artillery in 1755 to teach calculus to an army testing ballistics theories of the time, technically making him the first person to ever teach calculus in an engineering school.
During his time at Turin, Lagrange established a society that became known as the Turin Academy of Sciences, where he discussed with pupils and colleagues scientific theorems of the time. Discourse in the society led to a 5 volume work known as the Miscellanea Taurinensia, in which most of his early findings on calculus and celestial movement. In his third and fourth volumes, he expounds upon differential equations of motion for three celestial bodies and effectively explains the Moon's libration.
Leonhard Euler, one of the men whose theorems Lagrange taught in the Royal Military Academy of the Practice of Artillery, saw his raw mathematical talent and attempted to persuade him to come to Berlin, but he had no such intention- it was implied that Lagrange had a distaste for Euler and his theories. He was eventually convinced by Frederick of Prussia to come and be the resident mathematician of his court, asking to have "the greatest mathematician in Europe" in his court. In 1766, Lagrange began his stay in Berlin, where he completed his greatest work- the Mécanique analytique- a further expounding on mechanics and calculus. Following his wife's death in 1783 and the death of Frederick II, Berlin became less feasible of a living option for Lagrange.
After weighing offers from the royal courts of Spain and Naples since 1786, he eventually accepted an invitation from Louis XVI to come to Paris in 1792. He was immediately awarded marks of distinction, special apartments in the Louvre, and membership into the French Academy of Sciences, which became part of the Institut de France in 1795. During the Reign of Terror, a decree was issued that all foreigners were to leave France- but Lagrange was explicitly exempted from that decree. In fact, upon the beginning of Napoleon's reign, in 1799, Lagrange was appointed a Senator by Napoleon himself. After two short teaching stays in the École normale, which only existed in 4 months, and the École Polytechnique, where he was appointed professor of mathematics, he spent the remainder of his days revising the Méchanique analytique. He completed about 2/3 of his revision before his death on April 10, 1813.
Lagrange's father held charge of the Italian king's military chest in Turin at the time, and had planned for his son to become a lawyer, which he first accepted wholeheartedly. He studied at Turin College, where he found Greek mathematics to be quite dull. However, at the age of 17, he accidentally stumbled upon a paper by Edmond Halley, who inspired a pursuit of mathematics for the young Lagrange. After only a year of study, he was appointed an assistant professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy of the Practice of Artillery in 1755 to teach calculus to an army testing ballistics theories of the time, technically making him the first person to ever teach calculus in an engineering school.
During his time at Turin, Lagrange established a society that became known as the Turin Academy of Sciences, where he discussed with pupils and colleagues scientific theorems of the time. Discourse in the society led to a 5 volume work known as the Miscellanea Taurinensia, in which most of his early findings on calculus and celestial movement. In his third and fourth volumes, he expounds upon differential equations of motion for three celestial bodies and effectively explains the Moon's libration.
Leonhard Euler, one of the men whose theorems Lagrange taught in the Royal Military Academy of the Practice of Artillery, saw his raw mathematical talent and attempted to persuade him to come to Berlin, but he had no such intention- it was implied that Lagrange had a distaste for Euler and his theories. He was eventually convinced by Frederick of Prussia to come and be the resident mathematician of his court, asking to have "the greatest mathematician in Europe" in his court. In 1766, Lagrange began his stay in Berlin, where he completed his greatest work- the Mécanique analytique- a further expounding on mechanics and calculus. Following his wife's death in 1783 and the death of Frederick II, Berlin became less feasible of a living option for Lagrange.
After weighing offers from the royal courts of Spain and Naples since 1786, he eventually accepted an invitation from Louis XVI to come to Paris in 1792. He was immediately awarded marks of distinction, special apartments in the Louvre, and membership into the French Academy of Sciences, which became part of the Institut de France in 1795. During the Reign of Terror, a decree was issued that all foreigners were to leave France- but Lagrange was explicitly exempted from that decree. In fact, upon the beginning of Napoleon's reign, in 1799, Lagrange was appointed a Senator by Napoleon himself. After two short teaching stays in the École normale, which only existed in 4 months, and the École Polytechnique, where he was appointed professor of mathematics, he spent the remainder of his days revising the Méchanique analytique. He completed about 2/3 of his revision before his death on April 10, 1813.
Biography Sources
"Joseph-Louis Lagrange." Lagrange Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. pp. 559-573. retrieved 30 May 2013.
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. pp. 559-573. retrieved 30 May 2013.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Observation 2
Day 2 of my observation binge began with heeding the advice given in class earlier this morning to observe Venus around 6:30 tonight. After setting up my telescope since 5:30 (it is quite a burden, the telescope is very outdated and difficult to calibrate), I tried to observe Venus from 6:30 onwards- only to be disappointed to find that Venus was located in the 35-40 degrees of declination in my yard covered by trees (the 60 degrees alluded to in yesterday's report was an exaggeration, though the trees are quite dastardly obstacles to observing the horizon line). For the next hour, I calibrated the telescope to view, if I'm not mistaken, the Pleiades star cluster. That cluster has caught my eyes and I've spent an hour before looking at its majesty through binoculars with my sister. I find the Pleiades spectacular for some reason.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Observation 1
Recently, I was informed that my family actually owns a telescope. Since I need observation hours, I thought I would test it out. I spent about an hour setting my telescope up, setting its navigation system to fit the parameters of my backyard (we have a lot of tall trees, making everything from about 60 degrees up beautiful but making it near impossible to get anything on the horizon line). I spent another hour particularly on the circumpolar constellations- Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Draco.
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