APOD: Anticrepuscular Rays at the Planet... (2024 Jul 19)

[APOD Robot]

Anticrepuscular Rays at the Planet Festival

Explanation: For some, these subtle bands of light and shadow stretched across the sky as the Sun set on July 11. Known as anticrepuscular rays, the bands are formed as a large cloud bank near the western horizon cast long shadows through the atmosphere at sunset. Due to the camera's perspective, the bands of light and shadow seem to converge toward the eastern (opposite) horizon at a point seen just above a 14th century hilltop castle near Brno, Czech Republic. In the foreground, denizens of planet Earth are enjoying the region's annual Planet Festival in the park below the Brno Observatory and Planetarium. And while crepuscular and anticrepuscular rays are a relatively common atmospheric phenomenon, this festival's 10 meter diameter inflatable spheres representing bodies of the Solar System are less often seen on planet Earth.

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[Ann]

APOD Robot wrote:

In the foreground, denizens of planet Earth are enjoying the region's annual Planet Festival in the park below the Brno Observatory and Planetarium.

Anticrepuscular Rays at the Planet Festival. Image Credit & Copyright: Pavel Gabzdyl

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So, the observatory, is that the building on top of that wooded hill at right, right below where the anticrepuscular rays appear to converge?

Anyway. Brno. I don't know about you, but I was bored with geography at school, and if we were ever told about Brno, I most definitely didn't pay attention. So I needed a map to know where the motif of today's APOD is located. Here it is (and I'm sorry that all the names are in Swedish):

Okay. Brno is in the Czech Republic (and "Prag" is Prague). As for the other names, let's go from left to right to translate. "Storbritannien" is Great Britain. "Frankrike" is France. "Belgien" is Belgium. "Nederländerna" is the Netherlands. "Schweiz" is Switzerland. "Tyskland" is Germany (and "München" is Munich). "Italien" (you can barely read it) is Italy. "Venedig" is Venice. "Österrike" is Austria (and "Wien" is Vienna). "Kroatien" is Croatia. Budapest is located in Hungary. "Polen" is Poland (and "Warszawa" is Warsaw). "Serbien" is Serbia. "Litauen" is Lithuania. "Rumänien" is Romania. "Moldavien" is Moldavia and "Ukraina" is Ukraine (and "Kiev" is at least sometimes known as Kyiv in English).

Okay, now we know where we are on the Earth! But when I looked at that "Astrosphere" of the night sky, I sure don't know where I am in the sky! Can you recognize any of the nebulas?

Okay! That red arc at lower right with some red stuff inside it and a red blob to the upper right of it is undoubtedly Barnard's Loop and Orion. And the other red stuff still higher above Orion is undoubtedly the Rosette Nebula and the Cone Nebula/Christmas Tree Cluster complex.

212 hour Orion, with the Rosette Nebula and the Cone Nebula/Christmas Tree Cluster to the left of it. Credit. Stanislav Volskiy

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And the large red "fishhook" at left? That's the Gum Nebula in Vela and Puppis!

The Gum Nebula. Credit: Alan Dyer.

So, yes, I guess that was a nice festival. If I had been there I would have walked round that Astrosphere and tried my very best to identify the nebulas to the extent that I might have forgotten about the festival!

People would have to tear me away from the Astrosphere to make me look at the anticrepuscular rays, I suppose.

Ann

[johnnydeep]

And here's another nice pick of the side of the "Astrophere" - from https://www.instagram.com/p/C9NY0tUMGrz/

Click to view full size image

Some more nice shots of "Astrophere" and the other spheres can be found here:

https://www.festivalplanetbrno.cz/nase-modely/

[illexsquid]

Wow! That Astrosphere is really well done! Thanks for the additional info. I was wondering what planet the black sphere with the red spots was supposed to represent!