Wednesday, May 31, 2017

APPROACHING THE BUBBLE NEBULA



Visualization Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, and L. Frattare (Viz 3D Team, STScI); 
Acknowledgment: T. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF, NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)


What would it look like to approach the Bubble Nebula? Blown by the wind and radiation from a massive star, this bubble now spans seven light-years in diameter. The hot star inside is thousands of times more luminous than our Sun, and is now offset from the nebula's center. The visualization starts with a direct approach toward the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635) and then moves around the nebula while continuing the approach. The featured time-lapse visualization is extrapolated from images with the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the WIYN telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona, USA. The 3D-computer model on which this visualization is based includes artistic interpretations, and distances are significantly compressed.

SUPERNOVA SN2017EAU IN IC3203 Taken by Pierre PONSARD on May 26, 2017 @ La Fosse (Manhay-Belgium)



Since the beginning of May, a supernova is in the IC3203 galaxy (a galaxy in Coma Berenice).
This is a picture taken the 26 May 2017.
Canon 60Da was on a 12 inches telescope.
66 minutes exposure (22 x 3 minutes) - 800 ISO.



COMET 71P CLARK Taken by Raffaele Esposito on May 30, 2017 @ ITelescope Siding Spring Australia



Comet 71P Clark APO 106/530 CCD FLI Microline 16803 L=2*300sec RGB 1*180 bin2 ITelescope Siding Spring Australia


AN EXPLOSION ON THE SUN


Today, May 30th, a long dark filament of magnetism is lifting off the surface of the sun.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is recording the action:





As the filament lashes through the sun's atmosphere, it could propel a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space--much like the one that sparked a strong geomagnetic storm on May 28th. This possibility is still hypothetical, however. Stay tuned for updates in the hours ahead as we monitor coronagraph images for evidence of a CME.

A KALAHARI SKY Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek




You wake up in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, Africa. You go outside your tent, set up your camera, and take long exposures of the land and sky. What might you see? Besides a lot of blowing dust and the occasional acacia tree, you might catch many sky wonders. Pictured in 2015 September, sky highlights include the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, the Pleiades Star Cluster, Barnard's Loop, and both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, to name just a few. Although most of these faded in the morning light, they were quickly replaced by a partial eclipse of the Sun.

AURORA SOUTHERN LIGHTS Taken by Minoru Yoneto on May 28, 2017 @ Queenstown, New Zealand






I remembered the solar activity peak period between 1989 and 1990, 2000 and 2001 during taking these pictures.

The Southerns Lights could already be seen during the astronomical twilight. This means this appearing was quite strong.

Camera: EOS 6D SEO-SP4 (Astro-modified = IR cut filter removed)
Lense: Sigma15mmF2.8, EF20mmF2.8, EF24mmF2.8, EF28mmF2.8 IS, Samyang35mmF1.4
ISO: 8000-20000
F3.5-F4.0
5-15s


BENEATH JUPITER Image Credit: NASA, Juno, SwRI, MSSS, Gerald Eichstädt & Seán Doran



Jupiter is stranger than we knew. NASA's Juno spacecraft has now completed its sixth swoop past Jupiter as it moves around its highly elliptical orbit. Pictured, Jupiter is seen from below where, surprisingly, the horizontal bands that cover most of the planet disappear into swirls and complex patterns. A line of white oval clouds is visible nearer to the equator. Recent results from Juno show that Jupiter's weather phenomena can extend deep below its cloud tops, and that Jupiter's magnetic field varies greatly with location. Juno is scheduled to orbit Jupiter 37 times with each orbit taking about six weeks.


NGC 6819 THE FOXHEAD CLUSTE Taken by Randy Carter on May 26, 2017 @ Elkin NC 28621



Telescope: Orion 6 f/4 Newtonian Astrograph Reflector Telescope
Celestron Advanced VX Equatorial Mount
Camera: REBELE T5i EOS 700D
Processing: Paint Shop Pro X5
Exposure:1x361.8.6 sec iso 1600.



AURORAS Taken by serge on May 27, 2017 @ Belgrano II base of Argentina in Antarctica.



The image speaks for itself. So bright. 77º51’S y 34º33’W.
Cell Phone. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional.


AURORAS Taken by Jim Schnortz on May 28, 2017 @ Illgen City, Minnesota



From the cliffs at Palisade Head over Lake Superior.
Intense greens with occasional purple, the best show Ive seen with my camera

Sony a7Rii with Zeiss Batis 18mm @ f/2.8, 6, ISO 5000


Saturday, May 27, 2017

COMET JOHNSON AND THE HERDSMAN Taken by Todd Bush on May 19, 2017 @ Banner Elk, NC USA



Comet Johnson-C/2015V2 near the double star Delta Bootis (in the constellation Bootes) Imaged with a Nikon 180mm lens at f3.2 ISO 2000 (Stack of 21 - 30 second exposures)

COMET JOHNSON V2 - SPECTACULAR ANTI TAIL Taken by Chris Schur on May 26, 2017 @ Payson, AZ



The comet is only a few days from orbital plane crossing,and the bright dust tail and thin dimmer gas tail are now nearly 180 degrees apart!

This was last night with a 10 f/3.8 Orion astrograph and a 2h exposure