Star Clusters

1. What other star clusters in Puppis have a planetary nebula?

I may be way off Base on this, but there is a rather obscure and small open cluster near the eastern border of Puppis where Pyxis and Vela meet. It's designation is: SAC Cr185 it is in the Saguaro Ac catalog. The cluster itself is Mag 7.8 Coordinates RA 08:22:30 (Epoch 2000) DEC -36:10:00 In the center of the cluster is a small nebulosity which has several times been identified by observers as a Planetary. However, it is not named in any catalog as such and has no designation of it's own as far as I can find. No Mag is given for the Nebulosity. Adolph

2. what are the different types of telescopes and which one can be used to look at star clusters?

You can see clusters (open clusters and globular clusters) with a pair of binoculars, or relatively small telescope (4 inch mirror or smaller). If you get a 4 mirror, you'll also have a good shot at planets and larger galaxies. You can't get a great scope for $200, but try the Discover Channel store for ideas, or a refurbished Meade or Celestron (check out their websites). I hate to recommend WalMart, but with a budget like that and small expectations, it might be worth a shot.

3. Measuring the Combined Magnitudes of Star Clusters?

I'll not do the math for you, but point you in the right direction. Each A star (mag=0) gives 1/100 the light of either O star (mag=-5). You get that from the fact that a difference of 5 magnitudes is = to 100X the light. (1 mag is the fifth root of 100, or 2.512..., 2 mags is the 2/5 root, or 6.3X, etc) Since there are 50 A stars, they add the equivalent of 1/2 of an O star. Do the same sort of calculation for the G and K stars (note you left out the abs mag for the Ks), and sum the results.

4. What 2 star clusters were recently incorrectly identified on the original printing of a 72 penny stamp?

not sure what the error was, but the stamps in question were The Sky At Night series, issued 13 February 2007 here's a photo link: http://www.norvic-philatelics.co.uk/2007/images/070213-skynightset.jpg

5. i need a project to do with star clusters?

Star clusters are group of stars that are gravitationally bound and formed roughly at the same time. They are very useful for astronomical study because we can tell their distance and age from their Magnitude - Temperature Diagram (Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram). I suggest you start to do some web research about clusters to get the general idea and see different types of cluster. Here are some interesting question that can get you started: 1. Cluster evolution: Will a cluster stays gravitationally bounded or will it eventually disperse? What are their condition for staying bounded or dispersal? 2. H-R Diagram: How can we use a cluster's H-R Diagram to determine its distance and age? What are the pitfalls, difficulties, and challenges for this determination? How can we improve it? 3. Membership: How can we determine which star is a member of this cluster? In a tight gravitational bound like Globular Cluster, this might be easy, but in a loosely bound cluster like Galactic Cluster or Association, it might be difficult. What are the techniques to determine cluster membership? How good it is and how can we improve it?

6. can star clusters or a planet with multiple moons cause a reflection that is VISIBLE TO PEOPLE ON EARTH?

Any such light originating from objects at tens of parsecs away, first gets swamped by surrounding star light that are million times brighter, is indistinguishable from the latter light. Even otherwise such a light by the time it reaches Earth is too feeble to register on the retina, if it is not attenuated by the atmosphere. That feeble light must be above the noise level at the retina so as to be registered as a 'point of light'.

7. elliptical galaxy vs star clusters?

the difference is their size and distance to us. a star cluster, such as a globular cluster is composed of hundreds of thousands of stars, and most stars can be seen distinctively. they are also close or within the milky way. an elliptical galaxy is completely outside the milky way, millions or billions of light years away. they are composed of billions or trillions of stars, like the milky way. they share the general property that they are both spherical in shape.

8. Can someone tell me about star clusters - open and globular?

open clusters are cool. my fave is m11, the wild duck cluster. globular clusters are cool. my fave is omega centauri. what else did you need to know?

9. How do active galatic nuclei influence the rate of star formation in galaxy clusters?

Outflows either through bubbles or jets, are common from AGNs. The outflowing material can be a source of hot gas to the intracluster medium. For a long time it has been known that massive galaxies in clusters are accreting cool gas from the intracluster medium which have been called cooling flows. These cooling flows elevate the star formation rate in the galaxies accreting the gas. Simulations have shown that it is possible for some of the hot gas to sufficently cool down to be a source for the cooling flows. So the basic picture is that hot gas ejected into the intracluster medium by the AGN over time cools, where it can be accreted by another galaxy. This accreted gas provides the material for the star formation. Another possible way for AGNs to affect the star formation rate in galaxy clusters is that sometimes the outflows are vigourous jets which may induce star formation by slamming into a nearby galaxy. The star formation is produced by the resulting shock waves which comes about from the tranfer of jet kinetic energy into the material it meets. This is just a sketch of the answer your professor probably wants. Yes, I work in the area of AGNs.

10. Me again, Why can't I see star clusters, galaxies, nebulas or planets with my telescope?

please take the caps off the lenses.

11. How to figure out the age of a star cluster?

By using the Mass-Luminosity Relation and an estimate of how fast a star uses up its fuel, one can develop a rough relationship between the age of a star in solar lifetimes and its mass M in solar masses. This formula is: T = 1 / M^2.5 'T' is age of star 'M' is mass of our sun

12. what nebulas and star clusters can we see through a 7*50 binoculars in light polluted cities?

Usually, city lights knock the visual magnitude from 6th magnitude down to 3 or 4. 7x50 binoculars will let you go down to 9th magnitude even in the city. It gives you back the milky-way. The Andromeda galaxy is easy as well as its little satellite galaxies. The Orion nebula shows color and shape in binocs and even the four biggest moons of Jupiter show up in binoculars. Right now, Comet Holmes has grown physically bigger than the sun and bigger than the sun in appearance in the sky. Binoculars will allow viewing this comet in the city. I live in a city of 1/2 million and used my 7x50s last night to see this comet in Perseus.

13. What is the astronomical significance of the Pleiades star cluster??

The only significance to astronomers is that the Pleides have long been known to be a physically related group of stars rather than any chance alignment. In 1767, John Michell calculated that the probability of a chance alignment of so many bright stars was only 1 in 500,000, and so correctly surmised that the Pleiades and many other clusters of stars must be physically related. When studies were first made of the stars' proper motions, it was found that they are all moving in the same direction across the sky, at the same rate, further demonstrating that they were related. There is more significance of this cluster in human history and folklore in many cultures around the world.

14. On my telescope I can't any nebula's, galaxies, star clusters, or planets just stars. Why?

There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to see some objects like that. Here is a list of reasons why... 1) Your telescope may not be powerful enough. There are a bunch of telescopes on the market which are designed to see the moon and not much else. 2) If you live in a city, your chance is worse. Cities produce what is known as light pollution in which the lights of the city itself reflect and bounce around in the atmosphere, blurring out some of the dimmer stars and celestial objects. 3) Your elevation on Earth. The higher your elevation the better observing you have. Why? Because you are looking through less of the atmosphere which can distort your view. This is why Hubble is in space... it is free from having to look through the atmosphere. 4) Time of year. Some objects appear in certain locations during the year and then dip below the horizon. Some objects may not even be visible at the time of night you are looking. Like Venus which is the morning star/evening star and can be seen best in the mornings a few hours before sunrise or in the evening a few hours after sunset. Also the position of the object in relation to the sun can make objects appear brighter or dimmer because of how much light is being reflected (I am talking about planets for the most part) 5) Moon pollution. Remember the bit on city light pollution? Well, the moon is a very strong emitter of light pollution too. Nights where the moon is out and is well lit (like at full moon) the light drowns out stars in the rest of the sky. So knowing all this, what and when is the best time for viewing. It is usually the best time to view at night/early morning at higher elevations away from the city. Avoid ordinary flashlights and use only the red light ones which will help your eyes adjust to the dark and make sure that pesky moon is no where to be seen. Then bring your star chart with you and make sure your telescope is powerful enough to view what you want to see. It is said that in the best conditions you can see several planets just with a set of binoculars. So get away from the lights and head for the mountains! Good luck at the star gazing!

15. if you know how to find galaxy's, neblas, star clusters ,or other messerer objects pls tell me how?

16. differences between solar system, constellations, star clusters, galaxies and universe?

solar system ---- planets orbit a star http://www.thejubileeacademy.org/marketing/media/solar_system1.jpg (solar really refers to ONLY our sun... there are other planetary systems, but they are not called solar) constellation --- stars that make a convenient recognizable pattern in the night sky.... the pattern looks flat but in actuality the stars maybe very far from each other in ALL directions (all constellations we see are stars in our galaxy) http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2231438/2/istockphoto_2231438_the_big_dipper_plough_constellation.jpg star clusters --- stars that are bunched close to each other. http://www.astrographics.com/GalleryPrints/Display/GP0053.jpg (most clusters are also in galaxies.... there are some stray ones that float between galaxies) galaxies ---- HUGE blobs of many many stars that orbit around the center....... usually around one or more blackholes http://www.le.ac.uk/ph/faulkes/web/images/galaxies.jpg universe ----- contains everything.... a large container mostly made of void space... the largest objects in universes are galaxies http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/universe/images/tour_ggs_hdf_l.jpg?Log=0 even the smallest specks of light in the distance are galaxies seen deep in our universe

17. Do you think this star is older or younger than the Sun? How do you know it?

18. Is Epsilon Eridani part of a star cluster?

Epsilon Eridani is not part of any star clusters, but it is the third-most closest star to Earth. There has been at least one planet detected orbiting this star. Here is a link to information about this star. http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/epseri.html It could be considered part of the local group of stars close to our sun, but the local group would not be considered a star cluster.

19. how can star clusters confirm theories of stellar evolution?

By showing the effects of aging on stars of differing masses when all were created at about the same time.

20. Where is the Pleiades star cluster in a map of the Milky Way?