Comments and questions about the
APOD on the main view screen.
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APOD Robot
- Otto Posterman
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by APOD Robot » Fri Mar 22, 2013 4:06 am
Comet Castle
Explanation: The broad dust tail of Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) has become
a familiar sight for many northern hemisphere comet watchers, as the comet fades but rises higher above the
western horizon after sunset. This view of the
popular comet may seem a little fantastic, though.
Sweeping away from the Sun and trailing behind the comet's orbit, the curving dust tail also seems to stream away from a shining
mountaintop castle. Comet Castle might be an appropriate name in this scene, but its traditional name is
Castle Hohenzollern. Taken on March 15 with an extreme telephoto lens,
the Comet Castle image was captured in exceptionally clear skies about 80 kilometers away from Stuttgart, Germany.
[/b]
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Beyond
- 500 Gigaderps
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by Beyond » Fri Mar 22, 2013 4:10 am
INCOMEING!! DUCK!!
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.
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Moonlady
- Selenian
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by Moonlady » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:13 am
A magic picture, I love it!
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saturno2
- Commander
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by saturno2 » Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:48 am
The Comet and the Castle
Very good image
A good topic for a book of fiction
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emc
- Equine Locutionist
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by emc » Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:38 am
Great picture!
I wonder if they keep horses at the castle.
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fausto.lubatti
- Ensign
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by fausto.lubatti » Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:53 am
Excellent shot!
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MargaritaMc
- Look to the Evenstar
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by MargaritaMc » Fri Mar 22, 2013 12:09 pm
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1868877? ... op_version
Hale-Bopp comet above Plumlov castle in March 1997
http://500px.com/photo/21510545
Unnamed comet (according to caption by the photographer - is it actually a meteor?) and the Moon over Castle Imola.
Just for interest!
Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
— Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS
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ColCampbell
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by ColCampbell » Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:54 pm
The perspective makes it appear as if the comet is aimed at Schloss Hohenzollern. As an aside, I have visited that castle many, many years ago. It is magnificent, especially the approach as it sits on a hilltop that is isolated in a rolling countryside making it visible for miles.
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Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
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by Chris Peterson » Fri Mar 22, 2013 2:29 pm
MargaritaMc wrote:
http://500px.com/photo/21510545
Unnamed comet (according to caption by the photographer - is it actually a meteor?) and the Moon over Castle Imola.
There are no comets and no meteors in that image.
We could be seeing a spotlight or laser from the ground, but it also could be a contrail, given the sort of clouds I see around the Moon. My vote is on a ground-based light source, though.
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Case
- Commander
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by Case » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:12 pm
The Earth Science Picture of the Day for March 22 also has a nice zoomed-in image with comet Panstarrs and a jet contrail:
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/03/comet ... trail.html
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bystander
- Apathetic Retiree
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by bystander » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:17 pm
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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Boomer12k
- :---[===] *
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by Boomer12k » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:29 pm
Nice picture. Gotta get me a more professional camera that can take longer exposures.
:---[===] *
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LocalColor
- Science Officer
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by LocalColor » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:34 pm
Very nice photo Stefan Seip! We are having cloudy skies (and snow.)
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Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
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by Chris Peterson » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:36 pm
Boomer12k wrote:Nice picture. Gotta get me a more professional camera that can take longer exposures.
The majority of these images are made with exposures of just a few seconds at most. Any longer requires active tracking. The best pictures are made with cameras having low readout noise- newer DSLRs, especially those with large pixels. A large aperture telephoto lens is also helpful.
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askywok
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by askywok » Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:07 pm
May it be, the explaining text under the grandiose picture of the day (from Stefan Seip) is not correctly in a statement of the comets tail?:
"Sweeping away from the Sun and "trailing behind the comet's orbit", the curving dust tail also seems to stream away from a shining mountaintop castle."
I think the dust trail of comet PanSTARRS is in nearly same direction as it moves away from our solar system, thus more prograding directed? The pictured comet seems to move down, but he is moving up!
What is right? Even yesterday I have discussed with my wife about this phenomenon, shall I be on the false road?
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fred_76
- Asternaut
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by fred_76 » Sat Mar 23, 2013 10:18 pm
Chris Peterson wrote:Boomer12k wrote:Nice picture. Gotta get me a more professional camera that can take longer exposures.
The majority of these images are made with exposures of just a few seconds at most. Any longer requires active tracking. The best pictures are made with cameras having low readout noise- newer DSLRs, especially those with large pixels. A large aperture telephoto lens is also helpful.
Hi! This is not really necessary. Or almost.
I have shown here a 1 min exposure time picture :
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 00#p195769
This picture doesn't show any star trail AND the landscape is not blurred. But this is a composition of 15 pics of 4 seconds each and a long time to process them with a dedicated astronomy software (Iris) and a photo editor.
As a result you not only get a picture without trailing stars, but an almost noise-less background.
Fred
www.sahavre.fr
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anniekapn4040
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by anniekapn4040 » Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:21 am
Lovely. At the site, the photo of entry with three or four lights was a difference. Annie
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Anthony Barreiro
- Turtles all the way down
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by Anthony Barreiro » Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:09 pm
Lovely picture. The crepuscular rays behind the castle are a nice touch. It's too bad Walt Disney is dead, he would have loved this!
May all beings be happy, peaceful, and free.
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Chris Peterson
- Abominable Snowman
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by Chris Peterson » Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:14 pm
Anthony Barreiro wrote:Lovely picture. The crepuscular rays behind the castle are a nice touch. It's too bad Walt Disney is dead, he would have loved this!
They are not crepuscular rays, but rather come from spotlights on the ground.
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Anthony Barreiro
- Turtles all the way down
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by Anthony Barreiro » Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:36 pm
Chris Peterson wrote:Anthony Barreiro wrote:Lovely picture. The crepuscular rays behind the castle are a nice touch. It's too bad Walt Disney is dead, he would have loved this!
They are not crepuscular rays, but rather come from spotlights on the ground.
Even better. The spirit of Walt lives on!
May all beings be happy, peaceful, and free.
