Starship Asterisk*

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Please click on each image for best viewing; please click on the link below the
image title for more information about the image. Thank you!
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<- Previous submissions


Sundogs and Upper Tangent Arc
Copyright: Paul Chrastina; processing: Ken Gacioch
[attachment=2]sundogs - colors2.jpg[/attachment][/i]


Milky Way over Mount St Helens
http://www.AstroPics.com
Copyright: Wally Pacholka
[attachment=1]MtStHelens-9773-850wp.jpg[/attachment][/i]


M16: The Eagle Nebula
http://www.astrophoto-sv.com/index.php?p=1_66
Copyright: Sergi Verdugo (Larger image avialable at URL listed.)


M8: Lagoon Nebula Core
http://www.starkeeper.it/M8Core.htm
Copyright: Leonardo Orazi (Larger image avialable at URL listed.)


The Deerlick Group and Stephan's Quintet
http://www.pbase.com/dsnope/image/126452973/original
Copyright: Dave Snope
[attachment=0]126452973.F8SdZDsP.NGC7331_54pct.jpg[/attachment][/i]
(Additional images avialable at URL listed.)


Iris Nebula NGC 7023
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryhancock/4718132822/
Copyright: Terry Hancock (Larger image avialable at URL listed.)

I like the image of Stephan's Quintet and the Deer Lick Group. My understanding is that NGC7320, the interloper member (or non-member) of Stephan's Quintet, is at about the same distance from us as the large galaxy NGC 7331. The other members of Stephan's Quintet are at more or less the same distance from us as the galaxies of the Deer Lick Group. What is so interesting about this is that it says something about the relative sizes of galaxies. If NGC 7331 and 7320 are at more or less the same distance, then NGC 7331 is of course much larger than NGC 7320. But if the other members of Stephan's Quintet are at about the same distance as the members of the Deer Lick Group, then the other members of Stephan's Quintet as well as the Deer Lick Group may be about as big as NGC 7331.

Interesting!

Ann

Blue and Green Flashes
Copyright: Juan José Manzano
[attachment=1]El rayo azul.jpg[/attachment][/i]
[attachment=0]El rayo azul II.jpg[/attachment][/i]

M7 in Scorpius
http://www.schursastrophotography.com
Copyright: Chris Schur
[attachment=0]m7rgbf1600.jpg[/attachment][/i]

M4 & VdB104
http://www.skymonsters.net/immagine.php ... VdB104.jpg
Copyright: Nicola Montecchiari

Very Young Crescent Moon
Captured 16 hours after the total solar eclipse 2010
Copyright and credit: Wei Loon Chin and Space Physics Laboratory, Physics of Department, University of Malaya
[attachment=0]img_0081s.jpg[/attachment][/i]

I love the blue and green flashes! Thanks, Juan José Manzano!

The very young Moon is fascinating, too. Somehow this brings home the idea of how dark the Moon really is. In Wei Loon Chin's image, the thin crescent of the Moon is not a one-dimensional line but a fully two-dimensional feature, having width as well as length. If the Moon had been lighter-colored, with a higher albedo, I think this narrow curving band would have looked quite bright in the sky, instead of being almost invisible, as the case is now.

Ann

Blue flashes are extremely rare and there are not many photographers who have captured them.
The thin moon is also impressive as it has an illumination of only 0.5%.

I really like the 16 hour crescent moon shot - but heres a question - If I use an IR filter to get an even younger moon, such as 4 hours old, am I cheating?

Chris

Chris, sometimes, one has to make one's own rules.

There's a very young moon on this thread, too, last image:
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 76#p119407