APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:06 am

Image Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau

Explanation: Sometimes, if you wait long enough for a clear and moonless night, the stars will come out with a vengeance. One such occasion occurred earlier this month at the Piton de l'Eau on Reunion Island. In the foreground, surrounded by bushes and trees, lies a water filled volcanic crater serenely reflecting starlight. A careful inspection near the image center will locate Piton des Neiges, the highest peak on the island, situated several kilometers away. In the background, high above the lake, shines the light of hundreds of stars, most of which are within 100 light years, right in our stellar neighborhood. Far in the distance, arching majestically overhead, is the central band of our home Milky Way Galaxy, shining by the light of millions of stars each located typically thousands of light years away. The astrophotographer reports waiting for nearly two years for the sky and clouds to be just right to get the above shot.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>
[/b]

Mactavish
Ensign
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:56 pm
Location: California

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Mactavish » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:23 am

The astrophotographer reports waiting for nearly two years for the sky and clouds to be just right to get the above shot.

Well worth waiting for, and very well done! Beautiful!

User avatar
Case
Commander
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2007 10:08 pm
Location: (52°N, 06°E)

Typo

Post by Case » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:01 am

APOD Robot wrote:Far is the distance, ...
Typo -- should be: “Far in the distance, ...”

Fixed now.
Last edited by Case on Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
ritwik
Science Officer
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:53 pm

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by ritwik » Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:20 am

scenery lives up to the name of island

Guest

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Guest » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:57 am

Why does the central band of the Milky Way typically appear arching? I would think that from Earth it would appear as a flat line since we are looking at the disc straight on.

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:45 am

Love today's Milky Way Picture! I also liked the picture of the patient dog waiting for someone!
290246_083dd1c185c588824d700a38cbdd0601_large.jpg
290246_083dd1c185c588824d700a38cbdd0601_large.jpg (27.75 KiB) Viewed 6898 times
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
Beyond
500 Gigaderps
Posts: 6889
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:09 am
Location: BEYONDER LAND

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Beyond » Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:15 pm

Oh, i missed the 'waiting' link. Well, it was about 2:00am when i looked. :mrgreen:
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by neufer » Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:30 pm

Mactavish wrote:
The astrophotographer reports waiting for nearly two years for the sky and clouds to be just right to get the above shot.
How long did he have to wait for the stars reflected in the lake
to be brighter than the stars in the sky? (Or are those fireflies?)
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
geckzilla
Ocular Digitator
Posts: 9180
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 pm
Location: Modesto, CA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by geckzilla » Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:11 pm

neufer wrote:
Mactavish wrote:
The astrophotographer reports waiting for nearly two years for the sky and clouds to be just right to get the above shot.
How long did he have to wait for the stars reflected in the lake
to be brighter than the stars in the sky? (Or are those fireflies?)
Most likely they were brightened a sharpening filter.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

Tszabeau

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Tszabeau » Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:44 pm

This is a very wonderful photograph. Absolutely lovely. One reason I find it so appealing is that it mimics a human eye (closed). The arc of the Milky Way traces the upper arc of the eye, the green vegetation traces the lower arc of the eye and the shorline of the lake traces the line between the closed lids. There's even a notch for the tear duct.

briandonohue

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by briandonohue » Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:53 pm

Stars don't do vengeance; that is, so far as we know, an exclusively human phenomenon.

biddie67
Science Officer
Posts: 483
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 9:44 am
Location: Possum Hollow, NW Florida

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by biddie67 » Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:23 pm

Beautiful photograph ~~ kudos to the photographer for his persistance! And does the dog belong to the photographer? It looks like he's as patient as his possible owner.

lup974
Ensign
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:33 pm

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by lup974 » Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:43 pm

neufer wrote:
Mactavish wrote:
The astrophotographer reports waiting for nearly two years for the sky and clouds to be just right to get the above shot.
How long did he have to wait for the stars reflected in the lake
to be brighter than the stars in the sky? (Or are those fireflies?)
This consideration is right. So, I checked one of the original raw files (there are 12 to compose this panorama). I had a doubt about the quality of my post processing. But I confirm, on the originals, the stars are brightest in the water than in the sky. God knows why...

Luc Perrot

User avatar
geckzilla
Ocular Digitator
Posts: 9180
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 pm
Location: Modesto, CA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by geckzilla » Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:51 pm

lup974 wrote:
neufer wrote:
Mactavish wrote:
The astrophotographer reports waiting for nearly two years for the sky and clouds to be just right to get the above shot.
How long did he have to wait for the stars reflected in the lake
to be brighter than the stars in the sky? (Or are those fireflies?)
This consideration is right. So, I checked one of the original raw files (there are 12 to compose this panorama). I had a doubt about the quality of my post processing. But I confirm, on the originals, the stars are brightest in the water than in the sky. God knows why...

Luc Perrot
Could it be that over the time of the exposure the movement of the water made the brightest stars appear elongated and seem brighter?
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by neufer » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:01 pm

briandonohue wrote:
Stars don't do vengeance; that is, so far as we know, an exclusively human phenomenon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza#Etymology wrote:
<<The word Influenza comes from the Italian language meaning "influence" and refers to the cause of the disease; initially, this ascribed illness to unfavorable astrological influences. Archaic terms for influenza include epidemic catarrh, grippe (from the French, first used by Molyneaux in 1694), and sweating sickness. The 1918 flu pandemic (the "Spanish flu") was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Most victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks, which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or weakened patients. The pandemic lasted from January 1918 to December 1920, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. Between 50 and 130 million died.>>
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18102
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Chris Peterson » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:04 pm

lup974 wrote:This consideration is right. So, I checked one of the original raw files (there are 12 to compose this panorama). I had a doubt about the quality of my post processing. But I confirm, on the originals, the stars are brightest in the water than in the sky. God knows why...
I can think of a couple of possibilities. In a long exposure, bright stars tend to saturate, so their apparent brightness in the image is less than their actual brightness. But the reflected stars have their light spread around on more pixels (because the water isn't perfectly still), so the total intensity can be higher, even if no individual pixel actually is brighter.

The other possibility is hardware dependent. Some cameras, like Canons, produce raw images that are nearly good enough for photometric purposes. Others, like Nikons, are notorious for the amount of internal processing that occurs, making them poor for many astronomical imaging applications.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

luigi
Ensign
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:59 pm

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by luigi » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:29 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
lup974 wrote:This consideration is right. So, I checked one of the original raw files (there are 12 to compose this panorama). I had a doubt about the quality of my post processing. But I confirm, on the originals, the stars are brightest in the water than in the sky. God knows why...
I can think of a couple of possibilities. In a long exposure, bright stars tend to saturate, so their apparent brightness in the image is less than their actual brightness. But the reflected stars have their light spread around on more pixels (because the water isn't perfectly still), so the total intensity can be higher, even if no individual pixel actually is brighter.

The other possibility is hardware dependent. Some cameras, like Canons, produce raw images that are nearly good enough for photometric purposes. Others, like Nikons, are notorious for the amount of internal processing that occurs, making them poor for many astronomical imaging applications.
Chris I think your first option is correct. When using a fog filter to make the stars diffuse I got the star colors and they seem much brighter. I think the water acts like a natural diffuser.

luigi
Ensign
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:59 pm

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by luigi » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:34 pm

And BTW Luc: Awesome photo and congrats! It's a beautiful nightscape. Sometimes beautiful is not enough as an adjective.

Lordcat Darkstar
Ensign
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:49 pm

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Lordcat Darkstar » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:09 pm

It could be that he exposed the landscape longer to bring out the colors. A good 30 plus seconds could have been necessary to bring out the greens, and in that amount of time the stars would have made short trails making them appear brighter.

User avatar
ThePiper
Ensign
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:16 am
Location: Swiss

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by ThePiper » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:13 pm

Why is the Pipe nebula BELOW the center of the Milkyway? Normally (in my brain) it shoud be on top! :?:
The worst scientific finding of mankind: "Everything points to eternal darkness being the ultimate fate of the Universe. Sorry about that." (cit. Chris L Peterson, APOD)

eltodesukane
Ensign
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:40 am

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by eltodesukane » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:23 pm

ThePiper wrote:Why is the Pipe nebula BELOW the center of the Milkyway? Normally (in my brain) it shoud be on top! :?:
Image was taken from the Piton de l'Eau on Reunion Island, which is in the southern hemisphere.

User avatar
Moonlady
Selenian
Posts: 666
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:06 pm

Re: Typo

Post by Moonlady » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:44 pm

Case wrote:
APOD Robot wrote:Far is the distance, ...
Typo -- should be: “Far in the distance, ...”

Fixed now.

I think "Far is the distance" is so poetic, that it fits with this stunning picture :D

User avatar
Ann
4725 Å
Posts: 13369
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Ann » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:58 pm

I admire the lovely composition and the wonderful tranquility and also majesty of the scene. And because I am a color nerd, I also admire the lovely colors of the Milky Way. Note the yellow color of the Large Sagittarius Star Cloud, the bright yellow patch at between ten and eleven o'clock. Note the blue color of the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud at about eleven o'clock. Note the pink color of the Lagoon Nebula to the left of the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud and M16 and M17 to the right of it.

Indeed, that's a lovely image!

Ann
Color Commentator

User avatar
Anthony Barreiro
Turtles all the way down
Posts: 793
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 7:09 pm
Location: San Francisco, California, Turtle Island

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Anthony Barreiro » Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:25 pm

Guest wrote:Why does the central band of the Milky Way typically appear arching? I would think that from Earth it would appear as a flat line since we are looking at the disc straight on.
You may have noticed that the Sun, Moon, and planets follow an arching path through Earth's sky. This happens because the plane of the Earth's rotation (the equator) is inclined about 23 degrees relative to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic).

The Milky Way follows a more pronounced arch through the sky because the plane of the Milky Way (the galactic equator) is inclined about 60 degrees relative to the Earth's equator. If you observe the Milky Way at midnight over the course of a year (one orbit of the Earth around the Sun), you will see that it appears low all around the horizon during spring (March and April in the northern hemisphere, September and October in the southern hemisphere) and highest overhead during summer and winter. At midnight during northern winter / southern summer we are looking out away from the galactic center, into the thinner part of the disk of the Milky Way. At midnight during northern summer / southern winter we are looking in toward the galactic center. Because the center of the Milky Way is south of the equator in Sagittarius, southern hemisphere observers are blessed to see all the rich star fields in and around Sagittarius crossing high overhead, whereas in the northern hemisphere the galactic center is low in the sky during the best observing months.

Because of light pollution many people live our whole lives without ever seeing the milky way with our own eyes, or it's a rare treat when we're on vacation. That's sad.
May all beings be happy, peaceful, and free.

Dan Schroeder

Re: APOD: Milky Way Over Piton de l'Eau (2012 Jun 25)

Post by Dan Schroeder » Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:35 pm

Fantastic photo. One quibble with the caption. Most of the naked-eye stars in the night sky are more than 100 light-years away (but less than 1000).

Post Reply