The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth.
It was a little bit of hunting finding the Orion Nebula since my finder found the belt, but it's still not quite dialed to perfection. But, there it was (at least I think that's what we saw). Four stars in the middle of this cloud. I cannot wait to be out there when there is no moonlight.
Oh! And, yes, I went over to Sirius. Very Cool!!! Like a spotlight with 4 points coming off of it with the same Wide Field 30mm lens.
What would be the single best EP to really get me into the heart of the Orion Nebula, or others..? A zoom, perhaps?
And, the Moon looked fantastic tonight, as well!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon, well not the side that cannot ever be seen from Earth, but the rest of the moon when it's a crescent. Not to be confused with the Pink Floyd album of the same name.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Green Comet approaching Earth
APPROACHING COMET: Green comet 103P/Hartley 2 is approaching Earth for a close encounter on Oct. 20th. At that time, the comet will be only 11 million miles (0.12 AU) from our planet and should be dimly visible to the naked eye from dark sky sites. It already looks great through backyard telescopes.
NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is en route to this comet for close-up studies and a daring flyby on Nov. 4th.
Periodic comet 103P/Hartley 2 is classed as a young, dwarf comet, with a nucleus roughly 1.14 kilometers across. It belongs to the Jupiter family of comets (comets with periods less than 20 years). The comet was discovered in 1986. Although it then had an orbital period of 6.3 years, an analysis of its orbit reveals the period had been longer in the recent past. During the early decades of the 20th century, the orbital period had been 9.3 years. A close approach to Jupiter in August 1947 (0.22 AU) reduced the period to 7.9 years, while another close approach during April 1971 (0.09 AU) reduced the period to 6.1 years. The comet has been seen at every return since its discovery. The 2010 return is exceptional, as the comet will pass 0.12 AU from Earth on October 20. The Deep Impact space craft will pass about 1000 kilometers from the comet on November 4.
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 will pass 0.12AU from Earth, a mere 11 million miles in October of this year. The near approach allowing even a modest comet to become quite bright. Predictions are that the comet will be brighter than 5th magnitude, easily visible to the unaided eye from a dark site.
NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is en route to this comet for close-up studies and a daring flyby on Nov. 4th.
Periodic comet 103P/Hartley 2 is classed as a young, dwarf comet, with a nucleus roughly 1.14 kilometers across. It belongs to the Jupiter family of comets (comets with periods less than 20 years). The comet was discovered in 1986. Although it then had an orbital period of 6.3 years, an analysis of its orbit reveals the period had been longer in the recent past. During the early decades of the 20th century, the orbital period had been 9.3 years. A close approach to Jupiter in August 1947 (0.22 AU) reduced the period to 7.9 years, while another close approach during April 1971 (0.09 AU) reduced the period to 6.1 years. The comet has been seen at every return since its discovery. The 2010 return is exceptional, as the comet will pass 0.12 AU from Earth on October 20. The Deep Impact space craft will pass about 1000 kilometers from the comet on November 4.
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 will pass 0.12AU from Earth, a mere 11 million miles in October of this year. The near approach allowing even a modest comet to become quite bright. Predictions are that the comet will be brighter than 5th magnitude, easily visible to the unaided eye from a dark site.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Biggest Saturnian Moons
Biggest Saturnian Moons
A darkly defined Rhea passes before the fuzzy orb of Titan in this Cassini view of Saturn's two largest moons.
A darkly defined Rhea passes before the fuzzy orb of Titan in this Cassini view of Saturn's two largest moons.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Northern_skies full moon
There are loads of pictures of the full moon available and with simple instructions any amateur astronomy follower can make their own but this one is particularly evocative.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
WISE Captures the Unicorn's Rose
A new cosmic image taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) shows the Rosette nebula located within the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn.
This flower-shaped nebula, also known by the less romantic name NGC 2237, is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our Milky Way galaxy.
We're just blogging this at astronomy for beginners because it's such a beautiful image.
This flower-shaped nebula, also known by the less romantic name NGC 2237, is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our Milky Way galaxy.
We're just blogging this at astronomy for beginners because it's such a beautiful image.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Fireball on Jupiter
FIREBALL ON JUPITER: An amateur astronomer in Japan has video-recorded a fireball on Jupiter. This marks the third time in only 13 months that amateur astronomy buffs have detected signs of something hitting the giant planet. Will the latest impact leave behind a visible cloud of debris? . SPACE STATION and SPACE PLANE FLYBYS: This is a good week for satellite watchers in the USA and Canada. Both the International Space Station and the US Air Force X-37B space plane are making a series of favorable passes over North American towns and cities. The spacecraft are easy to find using our Simple Satellite Tracker--an app for iPhones and Android. Visit http://simpleflybys.com for downloads and more information.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Perseid Meteor Shower Peak August
PERSEID METEOR SHOWER
The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway. Earth is passing through a wide stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and each time a fleck of comet dust hits Earth's atmosphere - flash! - there is a meteor. Forecasters say the shower will peak on Thursday, August 12th, and Friday, August 13th. You can see Perseids flitting across the sky at any time between about 10 pm on Thursday evening and sunrise on Friday morning. Observers who get away from city lights can expect to count dozens of meteors per hour, especially during the dark hours before dawn.
BONUS: If you go outside a little early on Thursday evening, around sunset, you'll see a beautiful gathering of planets in the sunset sky--Venus, Mars, Saturn and the crescent Moon. It's a nice way to start a meteor watch.
The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway. Earth is passing through a wide stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and each time a fleck of comet dust hits Earth's atmosphere - flash! - there is a meteor. Forecasters say the shower will peak on Thursday, August 12th, and Friday, August 13th. You can see Perseids flitting across the sky at any time between about 10 pm on Thursday evening and sunrise on Friday morning. Observers who get away from city lights can expect to count dozens of meteors per hour, especially during the dark hours before dawn.
BONUS: If you go outside a little early on Thursday evening, around sunset, you'll see a beautiful gathering of planets in the sunset sky--Venus, Mars, Saturn and the crescent Moon. It's a nice way to start a meteor watch.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Saturn's small moons Beyond Rings
Two of Saturn's small moons can be seen orbiting beyond the planet's thin F ring in this Cassini spacecraft image
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Prometheus Between Rings
Saturn's A ring appears bright compared to the thin F ring, which is shepherded by the moon Prometheus, in this view from the Cassini spacecraft.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
WISE 'First-Light' Image
This infrared snapshot of a region in the constellation Carina near the Milky Way was taken shortly after NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) ejected its cover. The "first-light" picture shows thousands of stars and covers an area three times the size of the moon. WISE will take more than a million similar pictures covering the whole sky.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Portrait of Bright Spokes
The moons Mimas and Pandora join bright B ring spokes in this Cassini captured scene.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
First Star Trail Attempt
Here's a great demonstrationn of how beginners can take pictures of star trails with no special astronomy equipment::
Clever stuff on the astronomy for beginners group.
To achieve this photo I used the following:
My K7
No tripod (I just sat the camera on the ledge)
16 shots in raw plus one dark frame (turned off slow frame NR, then turned it back off tor the dark frame)
ISO 500
f6.3 (Pentax DA16-45)
30" Shutter
Cable Release (I found interval timer inbuilt didn't work properly for some strange reason, I think because of the buffer limits)
Photoshop CS4
Lightroom (to process the raws)
Star Trails (this app really suprised me, its amazing)
Vertus fluid mask
Believe it or not I used absolutely no noise reduction software.
Clever stuff on the astronomy for beginners group.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Astronomy for beginners Smithsonian Photography Call
Smithsonian click! Photography Call for Entry | |
Because of our group Astronomy For Beginners interest particularly in astrophotography, please help us spread the word about the Smithsonian Photography Initiative’s call for entries for click! photography changes everything – an online exhibit that invites the public to consider ways in which photography influences every aspect of our lives. |
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Too cloudy to see Comet Lulin
It's been far too cloudy for the past three days to see Comet Lulin where I live. How about you?
Thunderstorms are expected to drown out one of the most exciting evenings for local astronomers.
Suzanne Willis, interim chair for the Department of Physics, said Comet Lulin, discovered in July of 2007, will be most visible to the naked eye tonight between the hours of 8 and 10 p.m.
Willis said Lulin, which is located near the orbit of Saturn, will make its nearest pass by earth before leaving our range of visibility for good. Sadly for the Midwest region, Lulin will not be easily detectable through the storms this evening.
“Lulin is now observable to us for the first time, and it will be the last in a matter of a few weeks,” Willis said. “Comets are on very long orbits often for periods of 100 years, Halley’s Comet included.”
Visibility of Comet Lulin is best achieved with a very dark sky and binoculars to enhance details of the comet, Willis said.
According to National Geographic Daily News, Lulin could be on its first pass by the sun.
“As the object is exposed to the sun’s heat for the first time, its ices will vaporize, possibly causing the comet to brighten rapidly or even break apart,” the Daily News reported.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Solar Prominence
Solar Prominence 20 January 2009, 10:35UT. Taken with 40mm Coronado PST, x2 Barlow and SPC900NC webcam. Inset: image taken by the Pic di Midi Observatory which measures the angular extent of the prominence to be about 23 degrees.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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