APOD: On the Beach with Mars (2019 Jun 08)

[APOD Robot]

On the Beach with Mars

Explanation: At the end of last year's northern summer, after its dazzling opposition, Mars still shone brightly in the night. The celestial beacon easily attracted the attention of these two night skygazers who stood still for just a while, but long enough to be captured in the sea and night skyscape from Big Sur, planet Earth. Its central bulge near the southwestern horizon, the Milky Way runs through the scene too, while the long exposure also reveals a faint blue bioluminescence blooming in the waves along Pfeiffer Beach. Now much fainter, Mars can be spotted near the western horizon after sunset, but this month Jupiter is near its closest and brightest, reaching its own opposition on June 10. Night skygazers can spot brilliant Jupiter over southern horizons, glaring next to the stars toward the central Milky Way.

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[Boomer12k]

I hope it is a nice night here on the 10th...I will try to get a picture...

:---[===] *

[neufer]

So... where's the Moon

(I've been told that the Moon is part of Mars.)

[george k]

No way that picture was taken from Big Sur, California, USA. The central section of the Milky Way never appears that perpendicular to the horizon from mid-northern latitudes.

[orin stepanek]

Nice; gonna hang it on my PC as a background!

[neufer]

---

No way that picture was taken from Big Sur, California, USA. The central section of the Milky Way never appears that perpendicular to the horizon from mid-northern latitudes.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180720.html

A view of the Milky Way toward the constellation Sagittarius as seen from the Black Rock Desert, Nevada (~4.5° North of Big Sur). The bright object on the lower right is Jupiter, just above Antares.

[Cousin Ricky]

The celestial beacon easily attracted the attention of these two night skygazers who stood still for just a while, but long enough to be captured in the sea and night skyscape from Big Sur, planet Earth.

Big Sur, Monterey County, California, United States of America, North America (Turtle Island), planet Earth (Sol III), Sol star system, Orion-Cygnus Arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local (Milky Way-Andromeda) Group, Virgo Supercluster.

[Cousin Ricky]

No way that picture was taken from Big Sur, California, USA. The central section of the Milky Way never appears that perpendicular to the horizon from mid-northern latitudes.

A quick check with an on-line planisphere belies that claim. Try 2018 September 20 at 10 p.m. PDT from latitude 36 N, longitude 122 W, facing southwest.

[ETA] Try a week earlier to get rid of the Moon.

[Chris Peterson]

No way that picture was taken from Big Sur, California, USA. The central section of the Milky Way never appears that perpendicular to the horizon from mid-northern latitudes.

12 September 2018, 22:18 local, Big Sur, CA. (A little earlier, around 22:00, it was perfectly vertical, crossing the zenith.)
_

bigsur.jpg

[alter-ego]

No way that picture was taken from Big Sur, California, USA. The central section of the Milky Way never appears that perpendicular to the horizon from mid-northern latitudes.

The previous posts certainly confirm validate the APOD.
Here's my attempt to recreate the image. Same FoV from the beaches west of Big Sur at the same time (8/14/18 11:24PM PST)
 

APOD Stellarium 14 Aug 2018.png

[Ann]

Would Saturn be the object near the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula in today's APOD?

On a whimsical note: I looked at the man with the dog, then looked at the caption of the APOD, and thought, Oh, the guy is on the beach with his dog Mars. Cool.

I love the blue bioluminescence in the ocean. What a surprise.

Ann

[alter-ego]

...
Would Saturn be the object near the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula in today's APOD?

Yes, forming a right triangle with Saturn and M8 at the hypotenuse end points.