A northern Minnesota lake reflects a large meteor fireball. Credit: Luke Arens.
[/caption]
Northern Minnesota is famous for its bountiful lakes, and clear, dark skies. This beautiful astrophoto combines both — and more — as photographer Luke Arens captured a big meteor fireball reflecting off a northern Minnesota lake just as the Milky Way core rose above the scene. Luke took this image over the weekend as part of a timelapse sequence, which he says will be available soon. Update: see the timelapse below!
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
San Souci lighthouse and the perigee Moon, in the Dominican Republic. Credit: Goku Abreu.
[/caption]
We asked for ’em, and you sent ’em in: here are great images of the perigee Moon on May 5, 2012, the largest full Moon of the year taken by our readers.
The perigee Moon as seen in Opelika, Alabama USA. Credit: Jacob Marchio. The Supermoon on a finger, as seen in Aguilas, Murcia Spain. Credit: Tapani IsomäkiAn artist's view of the 'Supermoon.' Credit: Omer Sidat.Largest Full Moon for 2012 from Dayton, Ohio USA. Credit: John Chumack.Perigee Moon on May 5, 2012 from Altamonte Springs, Florida USA. Credit: Austin Russie.A shy supermoon from Brick Landing, North Carolina USA. Credit: Tavi Greiner.The supermoon from Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Credit: jimctu on FlickrPreparing for a Supermoon, on May 3, 2012 from Wauseon, Ohio. Credit: Bill Schlosser.A lovely Moonrise at Soldier's Beach off the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Credit: Kerry Middlemiss'Taken from the Marin Headlands with about 573 other photographer friends. I used my Orion ED Refractor telescope for a lens,' said photographer Ted Judah. Supermoon over the Pacific, taken at Goblets Beach in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Credit: Jonathan Vail. Full Super Moon rising over UC Berkeley Sather Tower Campanile and International House. Credit: Ira Serkes.Super full Moon over Tucson, Arizona, USA. Credit: 'Sifted Reality' on Flickr.Digiscope of the 2012 Supermoon, São Paulo, Brazil. Credit: Monica, 'MoniBR' on Flickr. The perigee full Moon from Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA. Credit: Jamie Rich.The perigee Moon from Toronto, Canada. Credit: Rick Ellis. The Moon on May 6, 2012 in Mandan, North Dakota, USA. Credit: Jola Boehm
And speaking of images from ‘around the world,’ here’s one from the International Space Station:
The perigee full Moon on May 5, 2012, as seen through Earth’s atmosphere, which bends the light from the Moon, making it appear squished. Credit: Andre Kuipers/ESA/NASA
Thanks to everyone who sent in their images and posted them to our Flickr page. See more images and find more from our contributors at Universe Today’s Flickr page.
Yellow aurora under purple skies - an explosion of color! Credit: Brendan Alexander.
[/caption]
This gorgeous and unusual aurora display was captured by Brendan Alexander from the North Coast of Donegal, Ireland. “We were treated to an absolutely stunning aurora display on the morning of the 24th of April 2012,” Brendan wrote on our Flickr page. “Easily the best I have seen in my eventful four years of sky watching. The display started off strong at nightfall (22:00 UT) with intense and almost static rays. However shortly after magnetic midnight the aurora came to life, complete with waving curtains, shimmering rays, vivid colours and pulsating heart. A spellbinding and enrolling time was endured from dusk to dawn. A Stunning display to remember during the bright summer months ahead.”
Brendan used a Canon 1000D camera with a Sigma 20mm F1.8 lens. Exposure: 8 – 11 sec ISO 1600
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Markarian's Chain of galaxies. Credit: Richard Richins
[/caption]
What a great view of Markarian’s Chain! Amateur astronomer Richard Richins took this image with a 300mm Canon f/4 lens (mounted to a Canon T2i). Look closely, as Richard says there are well over 100 galaxies in this image! Click the image for a larger, better view of Markarian’s Chain, which is a stretch of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. It is called a chain because, when viewed from Earth, the galaxies appear almost linked together in a curved line. It was named after the Armenian astrophysicist, B. E. Markarian, who discovered their common motion in the early 1960s. Some of the galaxies seen here include M84 (NGC 4374), M86 (NGC 4406), NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435. How many can you find?
Thanks to Richard for sharing his image with Universe Today. See more of his work at his website, Enchanted Skies.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Saturn on April 3, 2012 with the moons Dione (Top-Left) and Tethys (Bot.-Right) as the ringed planet approaches opposition.Credit: Efrain Morales.
[/caption]
Now is the time to take a look at the planet Saturn, as the ringed planet will be at opposition this weekend, making its closest approach to Earth on April 15, 2012. Its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun, so get out those telescopes, binoculars and your imaging equipment! We want to see your photos! Efrain Morales from the Jaicoa Observatory took this image of Saturn and some of its moons on April 3.
The giant planet’s rings are now optimally angled at over 13 degrees, revealing them better than they have appeared in the past five years. To see the rings of Saturn during opposition, in the northern hemisphere point your telescopes east to southeast at nightfall and south around midnight. For reference, Saturn will be near the bright star Spica, in the constellation Virgo. In the southern hemisphere, Saturn will be above the eastern horizon at 10pm local time, still near Spica.
If the skies aren’t clear in your area, the Slooh Space Observatory will broadcast a free, real-time feed of Saturn at opposition. Their coverage will begin on Sunday, April 15th, starting at 6:30 p.m. PDT/9:30 p.m. EDT/01:30 UTC (April 16th). Slooh will provide two distinct observatory feeds — one from a remote location in South Africa and the second from their world-class observatory site in Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The broadcast can be accessed at Slooh’s homepage or by visiting Slooh’s Google+ page, where you will be able to see a panel of experts interact live via G+ Hangouts On Air.
The experts include Duncan Copp, producer of many astronomical documentaries, including “In the Shadow of the Moon”; Amanda Hendrix, Cassini’s deputy project scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Bob Berman, author of numerous astronomy books and contributing editor and monthly columnist for Astronomy Magazine.
“In 40 years of observing the heavens and watching people’s reactions to celestial glories, I’ve found that no object elicits more amazement and sheer wonder than Saturn. I am thrilled to be part of Slooh’s live close-up visit to that magnificent planet,” said Bob Berman.
Send us your images of Saturn by joining our Flickr group, or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain when and where you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
An unusual false color view of our Moon. Credit: César Cantú
[/caption]
Recognize this? Yes, it is our own Moon, but using Photoshop, the photographer, César Cantú from the Chilidog Observatory in Monterrey, Mexico extracted the Moon’s colors and exaggerated them just a bit. “Although exaggerated, the color components are the real highlights,” César said, “with blue indicating a significant amount of titanium, and the orange areas with little iron or titanium. These colorful images are more easy to perform That thanks to digital cameras that detect colors — where with analog cameras, it is still impossible.”
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Venus at The Seven Sisters, M45 Pleiades on 04-04-2012. Credit and copyright John Chumack.
[/caption]
The past several evenings, Venus has been snuggling up to one of the most famous star clusters, the Pleiades. Universe Today readers have taken some beautiful images of that event, and they have generously shared them with us. Above is John Chumack’s stunning view from Ohio in the US; see below for more images from around the world!
The Pleiades, also known at the Seven Sisters, is a beautiful bright blue open star cluster 440 light years from Earth. Only once every eight years does this conjunction take place.
Venus within the Pleiades on April 4, 2012, as seen from New Jersey in the US. Credit and copyright John Anton.
John Anton took this pretty image from New Jersey in the US. “It was a beautiful sight,” he said.
Astronomers say that the relative tightness of the cluster indicates this is a young group of stars, and the member stars were formed about 100 million years ago and will probably travel together through space as a bound cluster for another 250 million years before the gravity of the Milky Way breaks up the cluster into individual field stars.
Venus and the Pleiades from San Diego, USA. Credit: Paul MillerVenus and the Pleiades from the UK. Credit: Dave Liddicott.
“An old SLR 70-210mm zoom lens on my DMC-G10. 5 second exposure, 1600 ISO. Tree illuminated partly by a neighbours light and partly by the built in flash on the camera,” says Dave Liddicott.
The view of Venus and the Pleiades from Norway. Credit: Sirrka Stephens
Sirrka Stephens from Norway took her image using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-F62, Leica 35mm, 30 sec., f/2.8, ISO 80, rotated to the left.
The Venus-Pleiades conjunction from Lebanon.Credit: Space Weed
“Space Weed” from Beirut, Lebanon took this image on April 3, 2012. “2 second exposure, ISO 1600, f 5.9, Stack of 40 images and 18 dark frames, Level correction in Photoshop,” Space Weed reports.
Venus shines brilliantly as it passies by the Pleiades star cluster on April 2, 2012. Credit: Tavi Greiner.
Tavi Greiner on the east coast of the US took this lovely image on April 2, 2012.
Venus and the Pleiades on April 3, 2012. Credit: Austin Russie
Another beautiful view from Austin Russie. “A luminous Venus passes directly between Earth and an elusive cluster of stars known as the Pleiades,” he says.
A double exposure, showing how Venus shifted in two hours' time. Credit: L. Laveder - TWAN
Laurent Laveder from France sent in this unusual image showing the shifting of Venus in the Pleiades in two hours’ time.
Image of the conjunction between Venus and M45 Pleiades in the middle of the trees, taken in Fonte-de-Telha, a small pine forest in Portugal. Credit: Miguel Claro
The final image is by Miguel Claro from Portugal, who can be seen enjoying the stars with binoculars “in a peaceful moment,” he said.
There are more images on UT’s Flick page, so check them out!
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Editor’s note: Apologies for the irregular formatting of this article — we’re working to fix it!
Mosiac of the conjunction of Jupiter, the Moon and Venus on March 25, 2012. Credit: Rick Ellis
[/caption]
Last night (March 25, 2012), Jupiter, Venus and the Moon put on quite a show, and Rick Ellis from Toronto, Canada captured it — over two dozen times. This composite image was created from 31 frames taken five minutes apart, each with an exposure time of 5 seconds. Thanks to Rick for creating this image “just for the gang at UT.” Check out his earlier image of the Venus-Jupiter conjunction from March 13
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
The Cone and Christmas Tree Nebula. Credit: {link url="http://www.astrophoto.com.mx/index.php?"}César Cantú{/link}. Click for higher resolution version.
[/caption]
Astrophotographer César Cantú from the Chilidog Observatory in Monterrey, Mexico calls this image “Pulp Fiction” for its violent areas of hot, deadly gases being expelled by the young stars, solar windstorms, huge accumulations of cosmic dust. But the two features show here are actually are named after things much more peaceful in nature: The Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster. This open cluster of stars was discovered by William Herschel in 1785 and is cataloged as NGC 2264 and lies at a distance of 2,600 light years from our solar system.
“This is an H II region located in the constellation Monoceros,” César says, “a region with much stardust. The picture shows also the Hubble Variable Nebula, like a little flash at the top right. This is a vast field reached with the telescope and focal reducer FSQ106, which gives a focal length of 385mm with great resolution. The camera used was the FLI8300, with 4:30 hours of exposure.”
Click the image for access to a higher resolution version on César’s website.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
Multiple images of the Venus-Jupiter conjuction on Mar. 13, 2012 from Toronto, Canada. Credit: Rick Ellis.
[/caption]
It’s poetry in motion! Rick Ellis from Toronto, Canada created this 27 frame-composite of the conjunction between Venus and Jupiter on March 13, 2012, with 6 second exposures five minutes apart. Rick used a Canon A460, ISO 80.
Beautiful!
Check out Rick’s website for more poetry — seriously — and more images.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.
