Category: Astrophotos

When you gaze towards a clear moonless night sky, the stars appear as points of light – most are colorless. There are a few exceptions, however: Mars, Aldebaran and the star at the heart of the constellation Scorpius, Antares, can be seen to have a very slight reddish hue. Through a small telescope, star and planetary colors become more apparent but galaxies and nebulas remain un-pigmented and monochromatic. These objects begin to take on a greenish ting when viewed through very large telescopes but rarely show the rainbow of hues seen in many deep space pictures, like the one shown here.
Continue reading “Astrophoto: Just North of Antares by Steve Crouch”

Scientists have known the universe is expanding for over eight decades. During this period, many speculated that gravity would eventually slow and halt the expansion then the universe would probably start to contract. This common view held that the universe repeatedly oscillated between Big Bang and Big Crunch. Then, in the late 1990’s, some scientists realized that the brightness of exploding stars in very remote galaxies were not following the predicted theoory. They concluded that the expansion of the universe was not decelerating. It is speeding up.
Continue reading “Astrophoto: M83 by Michael Sidonio”

Around midnight this time of year it’s possible to witness the fires that smolder at our galaxy’s core. Northern star gazers can see this by looking to the south, just above the horizon. Folks in the southern hemisphere should look closer overhead. Regardless, it’s a view that should not be missed, if possible. This picture offers a tantalizing close-up that’s part of the scene.
Continue reading “Astrophoto: Sagittarius Wide Field View”

I just wanted to draw your attention to the Astrophotography section of the Bad Astronomy/Universe Today forum. Members have been posting tons of amazing images every day; too many for me to feature in Universe Today. Here’s the catch, though. You have to be a member of the forum to see the photos. Membership is totally free, just register from this page.

And speaking of the forum, one of our members, parallaxicality, recently wrote up an article on Wikipedia that was recently featured as one of the best articles on the site. Read about the Definition of a Planet, and then give your congrats to parallaxicality.

Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today

P.S. The American Astronomical Society is having its annual meeting in Calgary this year, and they’re generating enormous amounts of news. Universe Today is going to be pretty big for the next few days. Enjoy.

M13 by Cord Scholz
In 1938, television was still an experimental curiosity but three out of four homes owned a radio. This was a time when its power as a form of communication had yet to be fully recognized. That started to change on the evening of October 31 when a small cast of radio performers, lead by Orson Wells, convinced a lot of people that the United States was being invaded by creatures from somewhere other than our planet with his modern update of H.G. Well’s The War of the Worlds.

Almost seventy years ago, radio was exciting. People were still adjusting to its instantaneous connection with events from around the world as soon as they happened. Therefore, many listeners believed the dramatic presentation, presented as news during the radio play, was real. The broadcast has been followed by countless books, television shows and motion pictures which, combined, helped the notion of intelligent alien life to take firm roots in our culture. Science was also invaded by the possibility of extraterrestrial beings. In 1974, a carefully crafted message was transmitted from the world’s largest radio telescope and directed towards stars in M13, pictured here, in hopes someone or something would be listening.

M13 is one of the most prominent and best-known globular clusters in the night sky. It is the brightest that can be easily seen with a small telescope or pair of binoculars from most places in the northern hemisphere. Located in the constellation of Hercules, M13 is visible this time of year. It is twenty thousand lights years from Earth and its 100,000 stars form a ball so immense that it takes light 150 years to travel from one side to the other. The age of M13 is estimated at about 14 billion years.

The 1974 three minute message to M13 was beamed into space from the Arecibo Radio Telescope, in Puerto Rico, and was spearheaded by Dr. Frank Drake, a leading SETI proponent and colleague of the late Carl Sagan. A much longer three-hour message to other carefully selected stars was subsequently transmitted in 2001 from a radio telescope in the Ukraine. Of course, if anyone is around when our 1974 message arrives at a hypothetical planet orbiting a star in M13, their response will not return here until fifty thousand years have transpired.

This dazzling 1.2-hour exposure of M13 was produced by Cord Scholz from his imaging location in the northern German town of Hannover, which was also the birthplace of Wilhelm Herschel, the astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus. This image was taken with a 12.5 inch corrected newtonian telescope and an eleven mega-pixel camera. It also worth noting the number of far more distant galaxies that also fills this colorful picture.

Do you have photos you’d like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them, and we might feature one in Universe Today.

Written by R. Jay GaBany

NGC 4631 by Bernd Wallner
People have populated the night sky with animals, mythical heroes, and scientific instruments by connecting the stars into constellations. Similar leaps of imagination have also led observers to give names to nebulas and galaxies based on their resemblance. Thus, M51 is called the Whirlpool Galaxy, M27 is named the Dumbbell Nebula and M57 is known as the Ring. NGC 4631 reminded someone of a Whale, complete with barnacles, and like a harpoon the name stuck to it.

NGC 4631 is an enormous spiral galaxy about the same size as the Milky Way but, by chance, it is turned to us so that we only see its edge. Vast veins of dark dust are visible crisscrossing its length. This matter is a fundamental ingredient to create future solar generations. Not surprisingly, the dark lanes are intermingled with the bright red and blue glows of young star clusters that have just left their nebula nests.

Slightly to the left of center is the golden tale-tale glow of this galaxy’s central region. It’s a side view that’s partially obscured by the front edge of spiral arms we see. Images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have shown that NGC 4631 has a halo of hot gases blown from clusters of massive stars in this area. The Milky Way has a similar halo, too.

NGC 4631 belongs to a group of galaxies that are approximately 25 million light years from Earth in the direction of the northern constellation Canes Venatici. The fourteen members of this gathering are located so close together that they interact with each other gravitationally. For example, the small oval shaped companion galaxy seen in this picture may have previously been much larger but lost matter to NGC 4631 as a price for approaching too close and being captured. Also, a slight warp, or curve, is noticeable in this galaxy’s profile. It is thought to be caused by the gravitational tug of other galaxies in this group. Even more noticeable is the effect this galaxy has on one of its neighbors, NGC 4656 (located close-by but outside this picture’s field of view). It is a galaxy so disturbed that it has been named the Hockey Stick.

Bernd Wallner took this beautiful picture of NGC 4631 over three late-April nights this year from his private observatory near Burghausen. Bavaia, Germany. Bernd used his 24-inch Cassegrain reflector telescope and an 11 mega-pixel camera to record 70 separate images that were digitally combined to form this eight and a half hour exposure.

Do you have photos you’d like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them, and we might feature one in Universe Today.

Written by R. Jay GaBany

The Whirlpool Nebula by Robert Gendler
Looking up into the midnight sky, with a faint cool breeze at your neck and the stars scattered like shards of glass caught in a spotlight, you can gain a sense of serenity. From gazing on the face of forever, your contemplations move from this bright star to that planet overhead. Yet, the universe is filled with routine violence on a scale that is unimaginably powerful and vast.

For example, untold numbers of objects fall to earth and are vaporized in a flash; mammoth tongues of flame leap from the Sun that would instantly incinerate our world we were any closer; and stars in the process of ending their useful lives suddenly implode and rip themselves into pieces during titanic blasts that briefly outshine the combined luminance of their home galaxy. These and many other events just as spectacular are common throughout the Universe. Safely tucked in our docile corner of the Milky Way galaxy, sequestered by a protective sea of air it’s easy to consider these events as abstractions that are curious but irrelevant to everyday life.

Perhaps our perspective would be quite different if our home planet was nestled within a galaxy that ventured too close to its neighbor, such as The Whirlpool Nebula (M51) or its yellow companion, NGC5195, pictured here. Our viewpoint about the nature of the Universe would most likely be quite different and we might quickly learn the consequences of trees falling in a forest even when no one was listening .

Placed within the northern constellation of Canes Venatici, this pair of entwined galaxies, 60 million light years distant, is one of nighttime’s most mesmerizing icons and a favorite target for sky gazers with binoculars or small telescopes. It’s a showpiece but light polluted skies wash away the view and render it unremarkable. But under dark skies hints of spiral structuring can be glimpsed with telescopes as small as 4 inches diameter.

The intense spiral arms of the larger galaxy are the result of its proximity to the smaller, more distant associate. When the two grew closer, the gravity of NGC 5195 induced ripples within the larger member. As these waves moved throughout the big spiral, the edge of each arm was squeezed and their original enormity was further accentuated. This energy formed storm clouds of gas and dark dust that eventually collapsed under their own gravity into dense areas of new star formation that are notably red. The stars these areas produced included massive short-lived members that terminated as supernovas. The winds blown from their massive explosions dissipated the clouds to reveal other new, bright clusters of stars that gave the arms a characteristic blue glow.

Meanwhile, the smaller galaxy became disrupted as its material was both thrown into intergalactic space and pulled into the larger spiral. Over time, these two will further distort and eventually merge through an ongoing spectacle of events that would capture the attention of any civilization possibly existing within either.

This exceptional picture of The Whirlpool Nebula was the result of an epic 42-hour exposure by Robert Gendler. Earlier this year, 21 hours was devoted to capturing black and white luminance data and the same amount of time was used gathering color information. Rob images from his Nighthawk Observatory located in the south central Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico using a 12 and 20 inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope equipped with an 11 mega-pixel camera.

Do you have photos you’d like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them, and we might feature one in Universe Today.

Written by R. Jay GaBany

The Large Magellanic Cloud by John Gleason
In August 1519, a Portuguese admiral with five tall ships and a crew of 270 men departed from Spain on the first attempt to circle the earth by taking a route predominantly through the southern hemisphere. The admiral, named Ferdinand Magellan, didn’t return to Spain having died on the voyage during a battle in the Philippines and only one ship returned with eighteen tattered men three years later. The voyage was a milestone in human history by discovering the full scope of the Earth’s size, the need for an international date line and the two Clouds of Magellan, the largest one pictured here.

The Magellanic Clouds were actually known previously by the indigenous people living in the southern hemisphere. A Persian astronomer made the first written reference almost 600 years prior to Magellan?s discovery, but it was Magellan who made their existence part of western knowledge and thus they were named after him. The clouds are actually two out of thirteen dwarf satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The total number circling our island universe will probably grow since two new ones have recently been reported and additional ones are already suspected.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is the more massive and closer of the two named after the explorer and the second closest galaxy to our own. Located about 180,000 light years distant in southern constellation of Dorado, the Large Magellanic Cloud is estimated to span over 15,000 light years and contains about 60 globular clusters, 400 planetary nebulae, 700 open clusters, and several hundred thousand giant and supergiant stars. It is speculated that this satellite galaxy may have formerly been a larger spiral that ventured too close and was partially devoured by the Milky Way.

This spectacular portrait of the Large Magellanic Cloud is a mosaic of six separate images taken through a hydrogen-alpha narrow band filter. The filter rejects white light that is visible to the naked eye and only allows the very dark red radiation emitted by hydrogen gas, a primary component of nebulae, to pass onto the CCD.detector. The area of this image covers is several times the diameter of the full moon. The Large Magellanic Cloud is the glowing elongated object extending from the eleven o’clock position towards the center. Around it are dozens of nebulae, the most prominent of which is called the Tarantula, located to the upper right of the galaxy in this picture. This is also the vicinity where the closest supernova in 300 years was discovered in 1987- SN1987A.

Veteran astrophotographer John Gleason produced this picture earlier this year from the Sky Shed Observatory in Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia. John used a four-inch Takahashi FSQ astrograph and an 11 mega-pixel astronomical camera to record the twenty cumulative hours of exposures required to produce this striking deep space image.

Do you have photos you’d like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them, and we might feature one in Universe Today.

Written by R. Jay GaBany

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann by Sean Walker and Sheldon Faworski
Comets have always caused quite a stir throughout history. In the past, they were regarded as harbingers of misfortune and, in fact, our word “disaster” comes from the ancient belief in the calamitous influence of evil (“dis”) stars (“astra”). Until slightly more than one hundred years ago, mankind lit their nights by burning wax, oils and gases so that the sky was very black after sunset except, as today, in large cities. Therefore, comets that suddenly erupted in the heavens appeared much more dazzling than they do now – beautiful, mysterious and, to some, terrifying! This weekend, Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann will make its closest approach to Earth at roughly 25 times the distance to the Moon. Its inward trek from the outer solar system has been the source of increasing excitement from modern day sky watchers around the globe but not from fear or worry. This comet has been an eagerly anticipated source of wonder!

Comets are the snow-birds of the solar system; living most of their lives in the dark outer reaches then taking a notion, due to a variety of gravitational influences, to visit the warmer climes near the Sun, which they also eccentrically orbit. In the process of drawing near the inner solar system, they let their hair down to blow in the solar wind (the word comet means “hairy star” in many languishes) like many pleasure-seeking tourists. Today, we find such visions captivating, in more ancient times these things looked scary!

Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann will not be remembered as a brilliant naked eye comet. Visual observers under very dark skies have reported that it can be seen without optical assistance but it is not at all spectacular. However, through a telescope it becomes evident that this comet is falling to pieces and is actually a host of small comets. As an added bonus, the comet has passed near or overtaken several famous deep space objects. These photo opportunites have resulted in the memorable images that accompany this article.

Sean Walker and Sheldon Faworski studied the comet’s orbit and realized their Midwest imaging location in Elizabeth, Illinois, offered an opportunity to capture the comet very close to the Ring Nebula (M-57) earlier this week, during the final hours of May 8. They used a 14.5 inch Newtonian telescope and a 3 mega-pixel camera to capture this stunning image as the comet past directly over this popular planetary nebula in Lyra. Two separate images were combined to produce the final result- one of the comet and a separate one of the nebula. The comet was near the horizon when its picture was taken at 10:15PM CDT. 60 minutes of exposure were taken. The Ring Nebula image was captured earlier and represents three hours of exposure. The two pictures were then digitally combined.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann by Sean Walker and Sheldon Faworski
John Chumack had his sights to also take a picture of the comet near the Ring Nebula and his imaging location in Yellow Springs, Ohio offered a similar perspective. His beautiful picture was obtained through a 16 inch Newtonian reflector with ST-9 SBIG astronomical camera when the comet was also low to the horizon. Three 30-second exposures through red, green and blue filters were combined to produce this picture of the comet as it approached M-57. More spectacularly, John created a short animation of the comet in motion as it flew over.

Several days before Comet 73P shot across the Ring Nebula, astro-paparazzi Nicolas Outters caught the comet sneaking past M13, the Great Globular cluster in Hercules. This dramatic picture was taken on May 4 from his Orange Observatory, situated between Geneva and Annecy, Switzerland at an altitude of 1068 meters. Nicolas used a four inch FSQ astrograph with a 6 mega-pixel camera over a four-hour period. He also assembled each of 45 images taken into an animated movie that shows the comet passing the famous globular cluster.

image6Do you have photos you’d like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them, and we might feature one in Universe Today.

Written by R. Jay GaBany

Omega Centauri by Bernd Flach-Wilken and Volker Wendel
For thousands of years, we saw ourselves as the focal point of the Universe and the center of all things. Then, in the early 16th century, Copernicus revealed that this was not the case; humanity’s home was a huge globe spinning once every 24 hours circling the distant Sun on an annual basis. Over the next 400 years, this idea begrudgingly gained acceptance. But it was not until early in the last century, when Harlow Shapley measured the distance to several globular clusters like the one in this picture, that humanity next understood we were located far from the Milky Way’s center, then believed to be the center of the Universe, and therefore even less special in the grand scheme of things.

The Milky Way is surrounded by swarms of similarly aged stars held together by the mutual gravitational attraction of their individual constituents. These clumps of Suns are known as Globular Clusters and our galaxy has about two hundred of them orbiting its massive central region. About nine years after Shapley used globular clusters to determined we were not the center of the Milky Way Universe, Edwin Hubble proved that the Universe is filled with a hundred billion galaxies of which the Milky Way is but one example. His discovery was the latest demotion that mankind has suffered and around many of these distant island universes, swarms of globular clusters have also been observed hovering above their centers. Thus, the dazzling beauty of globular clusters has played a significant role in recent history by helping us understand our true place in the vastness of the Cosmos.

Of all the globular clusters associated with the Milky Way galaxy, none are larger or more luminous than Omega Centauri, located 15,000 light years away toward the constellation of Centaurus. This ball of light is estimated to contain about 10 million stars and is so large that it takes light 150 years to travel from a star on one side to a star on the other. In the local group of galaxies, only one other globular cluster, part of the Andromeda Galaxy, is larger. Under dark skies, Omega Centaurus can be seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy star and it is often mistaken for a new comet.

This incredibly sharp picture was taken under the very dark skies of rural Namibia, in southern Africa, by two astrophotographers who live in Germany named Bernd Flach-Wilken and Volker Wendel. Taken through a 16-inch f/8 Hypergraph telescope and a 3 mega-pixel camera, the core of Omega Centaurus is clearly resolved into individual points of light. There are many yellow-white stars that are smaller than our Sun, numerous yellow-orange Red Giants and more than a few hot blue straggler stars clearly visible. 15 5-minute exposures were combined digitally to create this stunning image from the astronomer’s summer 2004 visit.

Do you have photos you’d like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them, and we might feature one in Universe Today.

Written by R. Jay GaBany