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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0410/PerseusCluster_misti.jpg

 

Explanation: Here is one of the largest objects that anyone will ever see on the sky. Each of the fuzzy blobs in the above picture is a galaxy, together making up the Perseus Cluster, one of the closest clusters of galaxies. The cluster is seen through the foreground of faint stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. It takes light roughly 300 million years to get here from this region of the Universe, so we see this cluster as it existed before the age of the dinosaurs. Also known as Abell 426, the center of the Perseus Cluster is a prodigious source of X-ray radiation, and so helps astronomers explore how clusters formed and how gas and dark matter interact. The Perseus Cluster of Galaxies is part of the Pisces-Perseus supercluster of galaxies, which spans over 15 degrees and contains over 1000 galaxies.

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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0206/eagle_kp09.jpg

 

Explanation: From afar, the whole thing looks like an Eagle. A closer look at the Eagle Nebula, however, shows the bright region is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. Through this window, a brightly-lit workshop appears where a whole open cluster of stars is being formed. In this cavity tall pillars and round globules of dark dust and cold molecular gas remain where stars are still forming. Already visible are several young bright blue stars whose light and winds are burning away and pushing back the remaining filaments and walls of gas and dust. The Eagle emission nebula, tagged M16, lies about 6500 light years away, spans about 20 light-years, and is visible with binoculars toward the constellation of Serpens. The above picture combines three specific emitted colors and was taken with the 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona, USA.

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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0410/titan1_cassini.jpg

 

Explanation: What are these surface features on Titan? This planet-sized moon of Saturn had much of its south polar surface imaged during an initial flyby by the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft back in early July. The above image mosaic was digitally stitched together from pictures taken at a very specific color of polarized infrared light, a color not absorbed and little scattered by Titan's methane haze. Visible are light and dark regions that are not yet understood. Surface features as small as 10 kilometers are resolved from about 340,000 kilometers away. The white region near Titan's South Pole, left of center, is unusually thick clouds also thought to be composed of methane. Today Cassini will swoop to within 1,500 kilometers above Titan and may return data and images that help humanity better understand this strange world.

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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/ngc7023_misti_c1.jpg

 

Explanation: Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023, this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers. Still, the beautiful digital image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries in impressive detail. Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a massive, hot, young star in its formative years. Central filaments of cosmic dust glow with a reddish photoluminesence as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Yet the dominant color of the nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. Dark, obscuring clouds of dust and cold molecular gas are also present and can lead the eye to see other convoluted and fantastic shapes. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula may contain complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. As shown here, the Iris Nebula is about 6 light-years across.

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QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 4 2004, 11:02 AM)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/ngc7023_misti_c1.jpg

Explanation: Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023, this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers. Still, the beautiful digital image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries in impressive detail. Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a massive, hot, young star in its formative years. Central filaments of cosmic dust glow with a reddish photoluminesence as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Yet the dominant color of the nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. Dark, obscuring clouds of dust and cold molecular gas are also present and can lead the eye to see other convoluted and fantastic shapes. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula may contain complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. As shown here, the Iris Nebula is about 6 light-years across.

That is an awesome shot!

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QUOTE (Snowdog @ Nov 5 2004, 07:46 AM)
QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 4 2004, 11:02 AM)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/ngc7023_misti_c1.jpg

Explanation: Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023, this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers. Still, the beautiful digital image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries in impressive detail. Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a massive, hot, young star in its formative years. Central filaments of cosmic dust glow with a reddish photoluminesence as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Yet the dominant color of the nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. Dark, obscuring clouds of dust and cold molecular gas are also present and can lead the eye to see other convoluted and fantastic shapes. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula may contain complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. As shown here, the Iris Nebula is about 6 light-years across.

That is an awesome shot!

That one is probably from the Hubble - I think most of these are... Man, I hope we don't ditch the Hubble sad.gif

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QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 5 2004, 09:06 AM)
QUOTE (Snowdog @ Nov 5 2004, 07:46 AM)
QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Nov 4 2004, 11:02 AM)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0411/ngc7023_misti_c1.jpg

Explanation: Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023, this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers. Still, the beautiful digital image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries in impressive detail. Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a massive, hot, young star in its formative years. Central filaments of cosmic dust glow with a reddish photoluminesence as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Yet the dominant color of the nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. Dark, obscuring clouds of dust and cold molecular gas are also present and can lead the eye to see other convoluted and fantastic shapes. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula may contain complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. As shown here, the Iris Nebula is about 6 light-years across.

That is an awesome shot!

That one is probably from the Hubble - I think most of these are... Man, I hope we don't ditch the Hubble sad.gif

Kind of puts things in perspective. How small we really are and all that.

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RR, I didn't know you were into astronomy. I own a few very nice telescopes, one of which is my Celestron Ultima2000 8" computerized with all the goodies! I love it to death, just don't get to use it enough.

Here is a photo of a Triple Eclipse on Jupiter, very rare indeed!

http://www.mikekreidel.com/triplejupiter.jpg

Edited by launchpad67a
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QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 09:29 AM)
RR, I didn't know you were into astronomy. I own a few very nice telescopes, one of which is my Celestron Ultima2000 8" computerized with all the goodies! I love it to death, just don't get to use it enough.
Here is a photo of a Triple Eclipse on Jupiter, very rare indeed!
http://www.mikekreidel.com/triplejupiter.jpg

You took that shot????

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QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Nov 5 2004, 10:10 AM)
QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 09:29 AM)
RR, I didn't know you were into astronomy. I own a few very nice telescopes, one of which is my Celestron Ultima2000 8" computerized with all the goodies! I love it to death, just don't get to use it enough.
Here is a photo of a Triple Eclipse on Jupiter, very rare indeed!
http://www.mikekreidel.com/triplejupiter.jpg

You took that shot????

NO......hell no. I wish I could get shots like that.

This is from the Hubble.

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QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 10:15 AM)
QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Nov 5 2004, 10:10 AM)
QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 09:29 AM)
RR, I didn't know you were into astronomy. I own a few very nice telescopes, one of which is my Celestron Ultima2000 8" computerized with all the goodies! I love it to death, just don't get to use it enough.
Here is a photo of a Triple Eclipse on Jupiter, very rare indeed!
http://www.mikekreidel.com/triplejupiter.jpg

You took that shot????

NO......hell no. I wish I could get shots like that.

This is from the Hubble.

I was gonna say! You mentioned your scope and then showed that photo....kinda misleading! rofl3.gif

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I must admit.... I don't know a damn thing about astronomy. But these pictures are awesome. So much amazing power out there that does not need a spec of intervention. And here we sit staring at plastic and scratching ourselves. Really puts it into perspective. Thanks for sharing these.
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QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 09:29 AM)
RR, I didn't know you were into astronomy. I own a few very nice telescopes, one of which is my Celestron Ultima2000 8" computerized with all the goodies! I love it to death, just don't get to use it enough.
Here is a photo of a Triple Eclipse on Jupiter, very rare indeed!
http://www.mikekreidel.com/triplejupiter.jpg

I am recently into it - cannot wait for the winter skies - I recently purchased an Orion Dobsonian with a 10" aperature, 1200mm focal length. The whole thing is about 100 lbs. so I recently put it on locking casters to make it easier to roll out of the garage. It also has a computer for tracking (but no drives on a Dobsonian sad.gif ) that can pinpoint 14,000 objects. It is simply to align for the computer also - all you do is set it to true vertical position, hit <ENTER>, then find two stars that you know, enter those, then it knows all 14,000 celestial objects and tells you where to turn with pinpoint precision... Very cool adn I can't wait until winter...

 

YOU live in the perfect palce for astronomy - I would LOVE to get this telescope out to Nevada desert or Arizona to view, but I would be afraid of the have it go on airplane for fear of the entire mirror system being un-aligned (if you are into these, you know how important alignment of the mirrors is and how tough it is to re-align all 3 parts to perfection).... OR even worse, the main 10" mirror breaking, which would cost a fortune to fix...

 

I hope to upgrade again if I get intot his to a equatorial mount with drives, as taking a picture of a nebula or other deep space objects requires long exposuress, which of course due to the movement of the earth, requires drives to keep it centered and pinpointed automatically...

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Yep, you know exactly what it takes. It's a very patient hobby, not for everyone. What's so funny about astronomy is, you invite friends over for a viewing party. You find some cool object that mabey some of them have seen or heard about before. Then you show them through the eyepiece and they always say "well that doesn't look like the pictures I've seen". Because most every picture published nowdays comes from the Hubble. Taken over the course of many hours. And of course, no telescope on earth can get photos anywhere near that quality. Plus, they're all Photoshopped to make them pretty.

ie:The planet Saturn is WHITE...not all colorful like everyone thinks!

 

Here is my Ultima 2000 8" w/2" eyepiece

http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope1.jpg http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope2.jpg

 

"Keep looking up"!!

Edited by launchpad67a
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QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 11:50 AM)
Yep, you know exactly what it takes. It's a very patient hobby, not for everyone. What's so funny about astronomy is, you invite friends over for a viewing party. You find some cool object that mabey some of them have seen or heard about before. Then you show them through the eyepiece and they always say "well that doesn't look like the pictures I've seen". Because most every picture published nowdays comes from the Hubble. Taken over the course of many hours. And of course, no telescope on earth can get photos anywhere near that quality. Plus, they're all Photoshopped to make them pretty.
ie:The planet Saturn is WHITE...not all colorful like everyone thinks!

Here is my Ultima 2000 8" w/2" eyepiece
http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope1.jpg http://www.mikekreidel.com/Scope2.jpg

"Keep looking up"!!

Those 2 " eyepieces aren't cheap are they!

 

Is that a Smith-Cassegrain?

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No, the 2" aren't cheap at all. The one in the pic is a TeleVue Nagler 9mm, about $300 on sale.

It's called Schmidt-Cassegrain. This scope is still looked upon as one of the best astrophotography scopes on the market. With the 'Faststar' system you can attach a digital camera right to the front of the scope (on the front mirror). It's a revolutionary system. And the electronics and optics are world class. I love it!

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QUOTE (launchpad67a @ Nov 5 2004, 12:58 PM)
No, the 2" aren't cheap at all. The one in the pic is a TeleVue Nagler 9mm, about $300 on sale.
It's called Schmidt-Cassegrain. This scope is still looked upon as one of the best astrophotography scopes on the market. With the 'Faststar' system you can attach a digital camera right to the front of the scope (on the front mirror). It's a revolutionary system. And the electronics and optics are world class. I love it!

Excellent (Yes, I knew schmidt, not smith, typed without thinking hahah) - That is probably what I will look at for my next one....

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