Astronomers Without Borders Onesky I Need Your Op

Read each paragraph and give me your opinion if you agree or disagree with the paragraph

1.

What type of telescope would I use to observe a monster stellar flare and why?

I went to space.com to see a large stellar flare on video. They call these events megaflares. In what was previously thought to be impossible two small red dwarf stars only 60 light years away had one of these events (Wall. 2014). They put out energy more than 10,000 times more powerful than any we have recorded in our own Sun (Wall. 2014). They best way to view an event like this is to view it from an X-ray telescope (Wall. 2014). X-rays are not visible to the human eye. There would be a small flare of light coming from the stars if we were to observe them from our eyes. By using an X-ray telescope we can see the radiation in all its detail. The majority of the radiation coming from the megaflare is X-ray radiation. It makes sense to view it with an X-ray scope.

2.

You want to observe a “monster” stellar flare on a young star referred to as a megaflare with 10,000 times more energy than the most powerful explosion ever observed on the Sun. Such a powerful eruption heats the plasma to the temperature of 220 million Kelvins, which is more than 10 times hotter than the temperature at the Sun’s center.

What type of technology (telescope, detector) will you use to observe such an event? Defend your choice.

According to our textbook, X-ray telescopes, like the Chandra or High Energy Astronomy Observatories, use x-rays to see the energy of the explosion which would be found as shorter waves lengths. X-rays are absorbed rather than reflected back by the object/objects the X-rays are directed toward. High-energy emissions like flares emit high energy, therefore they are a shorter wave length. Because of this, X-rays and gamma-rays may appear as particles. X-ray telescopes have high-incidence angle mirrors, that form an image at the focal plane (p. 6.30) (Airapetian, 2014)

On NASA.GOV, they discuss the best coordinated solar flare observation from different observatories around the world. On March 29, 2014, on the west side of the sun a large flare erupted. This flare was seen by four different NASA Observatories. The NASA observatories that recorded the flare were:

NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA’s Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory’s Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento

3.

Respond to the following questions based on your review of the Sky and Telescope Web site and the other sites you explored about buying your first telescope:

What kind of telescope would you suggest, and why?

According to Popular Mechanics, your first telescope should actually be a pair of good binoculars. Their reasoning for this first step is that telescopes require patience, a good deal of knowledge, and an investment of time and money. A good pair of binoculars will allow you to see planets that are near, including Jupiter and the Orion Nebula. With binoculars, you can also use them for dual purpose: bird watching, and outdoor sports. Another recommendation before buying a telescope is to join a local astronomy club, where you can learn techniques, and try out all kinds of telescopes before you settle on one that works for you and your region.

After you have mastered looking at the stars with a binocular, you are ready for your first telescope. Popular Mechanics recommends a fairly inexpensive telescope (Astronomers Without Borders OneSky 130), priced at approximately $200. A review of the telescope is attached: