APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

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APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by APOD Robot » Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:12 am

Image Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch

Explanation: What's that in the sky? Although there was much to see in this spectacular panorama taken during the early morning hours of a day in late September, the brightest object in the sky was clearly the planet Venus. In the featured image, Venus was captured actually through a natural rock bridge, itself picturesque, in Spitzkoppe, Namibia. The planet, on the left of the opening, was complemented by a silhouette of the astrophotographer on the right. Above and beyond the rock bridge were many famous icons of a dark night sky, including, from left to right, the Pleiades star cluster, the Orion Nebula, the bright star Sirius, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. This week, Venus remains visible to the east in the pre-dawn sky, being complemented by Mars, which is angularly quite close.

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by Ann » Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:48 am

That's a gorgeous image! Wonderful composition and color!

Can't resist mentioning that the name "Spitzkoppe Arch" gives me some strange associations. It makes me thing of the Swedish word "spottkopp", a receptor of some sort where you, well, spit!

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by ozalba@aapt.net.au » Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:13 am

It is a lovely image (oh for the pleasure of stargazing under a Namibian sky). Some errata in the rollover annotations though:

• Musca should be Mensa
• Hydra should be Hydrus
• Horogolium should be Horologium

Not marked are the Barnard's Loop and lambda Orionis nebulae in Orion, and the Gum Nebula in Puppis/Vela.

Volans

Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by Volans » Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:14 am

Hate to be a pain, but the constellation labelled Musca is actually Mensa.

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by geckzilla » Tue Nov 03, 2015 11:51 am

Nice catches. The picture I used with the labels was super distorted and all I rushed through it. I sent in a corrected image.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by Guest » Tue Nov 03, 2015 1:06 pm

Is anyone else tired of seeing photos of the Milky Way as an arch? 95% of your Milky Way photos have it in an arch. Its not in an arch. In fact, if you have ever seen it stretched across the sky, its magnificent.
1- Believe it or not, some people go here to learn and you are doing them an injustice.
2- If the people who run this site are so bored with it that they do stuff like this, then let someone else run it.

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by neufer » Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:04 pm


Guest wrote:
Is anyone else tired of seeing photos of the Milky Way as an arch? 95% of your Milky Way photos have it in an arch. Its not in an arch. In fact, if you have ever seen it stretched across the sky, its magnificent.
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by Tszabeau » Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:17 pm

Guest wrote:Is anyone else tired of seeing photos of the Milky Way as an arch? 95% of your Milky Way photos have it in an arch. Its not in an arch. In fact, if you have ever seen it stretched across the sky, its magnificent.
1- Believe it or not, some people go here to learn and you are doing them an injustice.
2- If the people who run this site are so bored with it that they do stuff like this, then let someone else run it.
How long will we be waiting for your magnificent submission of a flat Milky Way?

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by Chris Peterson » Tue Nov 03, 2015 4:31 pm

Guest wrote:Is anyone else tired of seeing photos of the Milky Way as an arch? 95% of your Milky Way photos have it in an arch. Its not in an arch. In fact, if you have ever seen it stretched across the sky, its magnificent.
1- Believe it or not, some people go here to learn and you are doing them an injustice.
2- If the people who run this site are so bored with it that they do stuff like this, then let someone else run it.
Well, when we see it stretched out across the sky, it certainly appears as an arch. What else would you call something that rises from one place on the horizon, crosses the dome of the sky, and sinks behind a different place? Linear structures easily appear as arches, or appear to show curvature.

Short of taking a fisheye image with the Milky Way crossing the zenith, just how do you imagine capturing it such that it doesn't appear curved?
Chris

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by MarkBour » Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:03 pm

Guest wrote:Is anyone else tired of seeing photos of the Milky Way as an arch? 95% of your Milky Way photos have it in an arch. Its not in an arch. In fact, if you have ever seen it stretched across the sky, its magnificent.
1- Believe it or not, some people go here to learn and you are doing them an injustice.
2- If the people who run this site are so bored with it that they do stuff like this, then let someone else run it.
Dear Guest, feel free to click on any of these soothing images while you count to 10 and relax.
  1. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150904.html
  2. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150902.html
  3. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150825.html
  4. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150814.html
  5. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150813.html
  6. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150812.html
  7. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150803.html
  8. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150727.html
  9. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150608.html
  10. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150525.html
All of these recent APODs show the Milky Way looking pretty much straight, so I think you'll enjoy them.
Also, since you're here to learn, the correct punctuation is "it's magnificent". Otherwise, I quite agree with you that it is indeed.
Mark Goldfain

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by geckzilla » Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:16 pm

But Mark, that one with the Earth on top and bottom does an injustice to our magnificent planet. We all know that the Earth simply is not in whatever shape that shows.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by Ann » Tue Nov 03, 2015 11:59 pm

geckzilla wrote:But Mark, that one with the Earth on top and bottom does an injustice to our magnificent planet. We all know that the Earth simply is not in whatever shape that shows.
The concave hollow Earth.
Illustration: Joshua Cesa.

Maybe the concave hollow Earth hypothesis has finally been confirmed? :shock:

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Re: APOD: Seeking Venus under the Spitzkoppe Arch (2015 Nov 03)

Post by neufer » Sat Nov 07, 2015 5:34 pm

geckzilla wrote:
But Mark, that one with the Earth on top and bottom does an injustice to our magnificent planet.
We all know that the Earth simply is not in whatever shape that shows.
You need to ponder that looking up at the sky from a hillside with Stephen Colbert.
Art Neuendorffer

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