The Herschel Siblings and their Influence on Astronomy

David Singapogu

Classical Conversations, Challenge B

Astronomy

21 October 2021

The Herschel Siblings and their Influence on Astronomy

    WIlliam and Caroline Herschel were a brother-sister pair who discovered many objects in space, including comets, nebulae, galaxies and the planet Uranus. Their influence on astronomy lives on to this day as research and space exploration continues through what they discovered.

    WIlliam Frederick Herschel was born on November 15, 1738, and Caroline Lucretia Herchel was born March 16, 1750. Following in his fathers footsteps, William was a musician, playing in the band of the Hanoverian Guards. Even after the French occupation, he composed and taught music in England! Caroline was not so fortunate as a child, however. At the age of ten she was diagnosed with typhus, a disease that stunted her growth. As a result, her growth topped out at four feet three inches. Her mother also opposed the idea of her going to school,so instead she helped out in the household. However as she grew up, she did develop her skills in singing. Although their early life was nothing extravagant, it prepared them nevertheless, for what was to come.

     When William started getting interested in astronomy, he would look at the moon, sun and stars. However he quickly became discontented with this and wanted to look at more distant bodies such as nebulae and other galaxies. The only problem here was that there were no telescopes that powerful in his day, and although it was possible to fashion one with the current technology, other manufacturers of telescopes were not willing to collaborate with him to create one for a reasonable price. But William would not be stopped, he ground his own mirrors. At first it was hard, and after many failed attempts even he accepted defeat, but after a while he grew discontented and took another stab at it and was able to create a telescope that was better than the telescopes used at the Greenwich Observatory. But on the other side of the story Caroline was just as hard at work. In 1783 she discovered three new nebulae on her own, and in 1786 she became the first woman to discover a comet! But she did not stop there, and eleven years later she spotted seven more comets, making her the first professional female astronomer. In the meantime William was pondering space with his newly contrived telescope, the best in the world! He had been closely tracking a certain star's progress over a couple days and suddenly it struck him that its movement was not that of the other neighboring stars. And wait… is it a star? After watching it for several more days he realized it was a new planet--it was Uranus, well sort of… Originally, William wanted to call it ”Gorgium Sidus” or “George’s Star.” However, after realizing that wasn't practical, he decided on the name Uranus. After discovering Uranus, William, not surprisingly, received a lot of attention. Unfortunately, William died at the age of 83 on August 25, 1822. However, soon after his death, Caroline finished a catalog which she named The New General Catalogue which contained observations including over two thousand five hundred nebulae, and many star clusters! Their discoveries were ground-breaking, and to this day are acknowledged by astronomers around the world.

    The Herschels’ legacy is still in motion to this day. William’s telescopes have been replicated and have been found to be some of the best. And many astronomers after them built off of their work. On May 14, 2009 NASA launched the Herschel Space Observatory to continue their legacy.

    William and Caroline Heschel were intrepid astronomers who set out to conquer the farthest unsearched corners of the universe. To this day their legacy lives on in their work, their influence on the science, and the Herschel Space Observatory!

Works Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Caroline Herschel". Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed 17 October 2021.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "William Herschel". Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed 17 October 2021.

Herschel, Caroline Lucretia.” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Jan. 2018, p. 1

“Herschel, Sir William.” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Jan. 2018, p. 1

“"William Herschel." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 29 Jan. 2021.

 

 

Where the Red Fern Grows

David Singapogu

Challenge B

LTW Essay 5

October 27, 2021

 

Have you ever been torn between two sides? In the book Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy had to make one such decision. Everyone agrees that Billy loves his dogs, However some people believe that he should have called off the hunt while others believe that he should not have called off the fight and  continue on to find the dogs.

 

Billy should have called off the hunt after they saw the storm coming for three reasons: Billy should make a safe decision, should consider family and should display responsibility. 

 

The first reason Billy should have called off the hunt is that he should make a safe decision. . Even though Billy put all of his hard earned time and money into the hunt, human beings with souls, especially his family members, are far more important than the dogs. Leaving would be a safe choice for everybody, they would not have to worry about communicating or staying together, and the people back at the camp would not have to be worried about their safety.

 

The second reason Billy should have called off the hunt after they saw the storm coming is that he should consider the feelings of his family. It was dangerous for him and his relatives would be depressed if anyone died. His Mom had already been hesitant and would probably die if she found out he had not survived. Billy was only a small boy and had not lived his life to the fullest yet. If he died, he would not be able to bring the promised trophy back to his adorable little sister at home.

 

The third and final reason Billy should have called off the hunt after they saw the storm coming is that he should display responsibility. As the leader, he should recognize that it would be foolish for them to stay. The frightening, growing and threatening storm clouds quite clearly portrayed the impending doom coming near  pand Billy should have displayed wisdom by calling off the hunt. It was time for Billy to move forward and take the risk or to stay back and play it safe. Another supporting reason is that Billy did not know when the storm might go away, it could stay the whole night! And all three of the wiser people with him said that he should call off the hunt and it would be very naive of him to disobey.

 

Billy should have called off the hunt after they saw the storm coming because Billy should make a safe decision, should consider family and should display responsibility. This matters to people who are torn between two difficult choices because wisdom in those times is crucial.

 

A Captivating Story, and a Fascinating Man

David Singapogu

Classical Conversations Challenge B

13 October 2021

A Captivating Story, and a Fascinating Man

    Benjamin Banneker was an influential person whose informal “Just for fun!” observations changed the way we think about solar eclipses. Unlike many African-American of his time, he was born free. His parents were freed before he was born, giving him the opportunities which he took advantage of to study the solar eclipses. He studied the different parts of the eclipses, the inner corona, the chromosphere, the Baily’s Beads and prominences. He learned about how the sun is 400 times bigger than the moon, yet they seem the same size, due to the fact that the moon is 400 times closer to the sun which causes the solar eclipse. He studied the diamond ring effect, which is created by the solar flares of the sun as the moon comes in front of it, creating brilliances that look like diamonds. Other than that, not much is known about Banneker’s life. He died in his sleep unexpectedly at a young age. Strangely, at his funeral, which was in his front yard, right as it was finishing up, his house was burned down. The cause of this has not been discovered to this day. Because of his influences in the study of solar eclipses and the vagueness of his life,  Benjamin Banneker’s captivating story makes him a fascinating man!

Works Cited

“Newton, Sir Isaac.” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Jan. 2018, p. 1.

“Benjamin Banneker.” Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 28 Dec. 2020.

 

Kepler

 

David Singapogu

 

16/9/21

 

CH B

 

 

 

            Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer who spent many years looking at the prbits of planets and trying to explain things that we had been wondering for years. He was born in the town of Weil der Stadt in Germany. As a kid he was always fascinated with astronomy and loved looking at the stars at night. His fascination with astronomy did not die down as he grew older.

 

            Over the years Kepler came up with three laws that went hand in hand with each other. The first on is that planetary orbits are ellipses. His idea was that the planets’ orbits were not circular but rather ellipses where the sun was off-center.

 

            His next idea was that since the orbits of the planets were ellipses, the planets distance to the sun changed every so often. So, some parts of the year the earth was closer to the sun while at other parts the earth was quite far away, thus explaining why winter was colder than summer.

 

            The final idea that Kepler presented was the idea that the smaller the orbit is, the faster a full rotation of it is. In other words, mercury’s orbit is faster than ours because it is closer to the sun.

 

            Kepler’s ideas have been developed to what we know today. In fact Nasa had a telescope in space called the Kepler space telescope! It helps us find planets orbiting other stars—but that another story for anther time…!

 

"Johannes Kepler." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2021.

“Kepler’s Laws.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, Mar. 2021, p. 1.

“Kepler, Johannes.” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Jan. 2018, p. 1

 

 

Space travel timeline

 

1^st telescopic observation of the night sky by Galileo

1610

Galileo creates a large magnifier using two lenses.

 

Robert H. Goddard launches first rocket

1926

Robert H. Goddard designs a liquid-powered rocket that burns for 20 seconds and lifts off the ground.

Frist V-2 rocket launch

1944

A V-2 Rocket is designed by Germany to bomb Great Britain in World War II.

 

First dog in space

1951

Laika, a stray dog off the streets of Moscow, is the first dog to be launched into space. Unfortunately, Liaka dies after when the cabin overheats.

Frist artificial satellite in space

1957

Russia launches the Sputnik I into orbit around the earth.

First human in space

April 1961

The USSR sends Yuri Gagarin into space.

 

First human piloted

space flight

May 1961

 

The USA sends Alan B. Shepard into space piloting the Mercury Freedom 7.

Frist man on the moon

1969

Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon.  He travels to the moon in the Apollo 11 along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

First space station

1971

 

The Salyut I, launched by the USSR is the first space station launched into space.

First untethered space walk

1984

Bruce McCandless II conducts the first untethered spacewalk.

Challenger explosion

1986

The USA Challenger mission explodes 70 seconds after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.

Cassini-Huygens mission launched

1997

The Cassini-Huygens mission orbits and studies Saturn.

 

Kepler mission launched

2009

The Kepler mission is sent with the purpose of surveying our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone.

Completion of Cassini-Huygens mission

2017

The Cassini is destroyed when it is intentionally sent by NASA on a final mission to view Saturn’s rings as it it’s last rations of fuel are used.

First car in space

2018

Elon Musk sends his personal car, a cherry red Tesla roadster, into space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Britches

 

David Singapogu September 23, 2021 Challenge B LTW

Have you ever been presented with a decision that would affect many lives? In the book, Little Britches, Ralph’s parents were faced with this very decision! Ralph’s family should have left after they saw the house for three reasons. They had a rough start, they could very easily die, and It would not set the kids up for a good future.

The first reason Ralph's family should have left after they saw the house is that they had a rough start. They had been deceived, they would have to restore it and it would be hard. And they had a better chance in the city.

The second reason Ralph's family should have left after they saw the house is that they could very easily die. There was a very small margin of error out west. One basic mistake could mean the difference between life and death. They also did not have experience. They had spent most of their life living out in the city, and now they were making an abrupt switch. Because of this, they did not know what new set of challenges they would be faced with, and there were many new issues they did not have experience on and did not know how to handle them.

The third and final reason Ralph's family should have left after they saw the house is that it would not set the kids up for a great future. Kids need safety. The children could not develop social skills. And there were no resources for good education out west.

Ralph's family should have left after they saw the house because They had a rough start, they could very easily die and it would not set the kids up for a good education. This matters to those in authority because their choices affect others.

Debate: Affirmative Team 2

 

Would you have enough courage to stand up against your country? Many famous people in history were faced with this daring decision.

It is better to side with a just cause rather than with one’s own country for these three reasons: Robert E Lee had a good influence on others, urging them to make the better decision rather than agreeing with their country, Samuel Houston shows that to help others, he does not necessarily need to obey the government, The government does not always agree with Christians and what is right.

The first reason it is better to side with a just cause rather than with one’s own country is that Robert E. Lee had a good influence on the others, urging them to make the better decision rather than agreeing with their country. As a leader, Robert E. Lee is proving that he is not just "bandwagoning". He is doing it for the better benefit of others and for truth. Robert is a good role model.

The second reason it is better to side with a just cause rather than one’s own country is that Sam Houston shows that to help others, he does not necessarily need to obey the government. He gathered up enough courage to make the decision to fight for freedom, He proved his people how to make good, logical decisions for their better, And he showed the people that you don’t always have to agree with everyone else, but you can make your own decisions.

The third reason it is better to side with a just cause rather than one’s own country, is that the government does not always agree with Christians and what is right. Christians will always have a different viewpoint from the rest of the world. We should be able to make our own choices. Why should the country decide our every move or choice? It isn’t right, we have the freedom to make our own decisions to what we think is best for the benefit of ourselves and our family. The government doesn’t always make the best choices for everyone and we need to follow God’s decisions over the government’s.

It is better to side with a just cause rather than with one’s own country because Robert E Lee had a good influence on others, urging them to make the better decision rather than agreeing with their country, Samuel Houston shows that to help others, he does not necessarily need to obey the government, The government does not always agree with Christians and what is right.

This matters to all people who have to make decisions against their country, because they should know that the government is not always right and they need to make the best decision for themselves and others.

Therefore, inconsideration of all this, please vote for Affirmative.