Starship Asterisk*

Yeah, unfortunately that's what its looking like- RAIN!!!!! I cant even believe they are calling for snow late wed evening!!!!

Hey gang- Im hearing a lot about this lunar eclipse, which is slated to arrive in my neck of the woods at 3am EST, April 15th. Is a lunar eclipse something that happens quickly and dramatically- like a solar eclipse or is this something where the moon gradually changes color? Just curious if I shoul...

Here's another one I think is pretty cute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7kDbJDJf-M

At an apparent magnitude of just over +1, and being the 15th brightest star in the night sky. Spica is clearly Naked Eye visible Thank you for that. I feel like an accomplished star gazer now!! :D :D Spica will now hold a very treasured spot in my newborn star gazing career. Outside of the little d...

Very timely picture for me as I think I am beginning to apply some of the things I am learning from this forum to actual skywatching- I live in Pennsylvania- would Spica be visible to the naked eye? I believe it has been (when we've had clear skies) the last couple evenings. Could someone confirm th...

Just so I have this straight- Chariklo is an asteroid?????? and it has rings around it???? Im assuming these rings are in orbit or some kind of motion around Chariklo then? You have it straight. Nine rings were intended for Men, seven for Dwarves, five for the ice giants, four for Jupiter, three fo...

Just so I have this straight- Chariklo is an asteroid?????? and it has rings around it???? Im assuming these rings are in orbit or some kind of motion around Chariklo then?

I enjoy all types of music with the exception of most country and most modern rap. My primary go to music is heavy metal and I probably listen to way too much of it way too loud for a man of my age. :P Nontheless, I certainly wont try to sway anyone over to my bands but here is one song I think is l...

Ive always had a fondness for these little round mounds of cuteness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeXfVynR5Rc

Although I myself love colors, and find this picture very beautiful (because its colors are "enhanced", but not "false"), I certainly respect the fact that others don't share my sense of beauty. I would like to say this, though. The Orion Nebula probably is a quite violent place...

Looks very angry, very violent.

....Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago. Just curious but what would this mean here on earth 5,000 years ago? Does it mean that if the light reached during the day it would have been brighter for a period? Does it mean if it occured in the evening i...

....Light from the original supernova explosion likely reached Earth over 5,000 years ago. Just curious but what would this mean here on earth 5,000 years ago? Does it mean that if the light reached during the day it would have been brighter for a period? Does it mean if it occured in the evening i...

Beautiful picture- was the brightness of the stars enhanced do you think??

The thing that amazes me as a new person in this hobby is the numbers involved- I cant even wrap my mind around something that huge going that fast. Really awe inspiring.

Excellent picture and excellent narration. Easy to follow and as a newbie, I certainly appreciate that. :ssmile: Ok, someone square the new guy away- when I read statements like this: "At the estimated distance of the quintet's interacting galaxies, this field of view spans over 500,000 light-y...

Another really exciting picture. This quote has me pleased as I always feel like these images are beyond the threshold of mere mortals like myself:

"and visible through a small telescope"

WOW!! That is one beautiful picture. One of my favorites for 2014.

Wonder how much glade or endust would be required to clear all that dust???

I was wondering the same thing- i didnt see anyone in the picture either. This is a really exciting and timely picture. We are plannning to go to England and Iceland in early July. My wife and kids both asked me on friday night if we will see some northern lights in Iceland. I told them I didnt thin...

Case wrote:

APOD Robot wrote:... climbing team [at] night ...

Adding to the list of things that scare me if I were asked to do that : +Night rock climbing

Absolutely!!! You were quicker to the punch than I. Couldnt imagine hanging off the side of El Cap at night!!! or day for that matter!!

Is it me or does anyone else notice lines in the dark (western hemisphere) part of the video after it plays?? It looks like a bunch of rings of saturn!! Perhaps there is some ghost anomalies the satelite picked up that weren't immediately visible to the naked eye

Not sure what caused the few wobbles in the trails ... possibly a stitching line, so as to split at a more aesthetic point? Seems to be a bit shy of 360 deg , too, but still very interesting. Oops, just read that this image was composed from many sub-exposures using 4 cameras operating concurrently...

The Sun is one of the best celestial objects to observe through any telescope. Unlike any other star, the Sun is close enough that we can resolve surface details with very modest telescopes. With a safe white light filter you can watch sunspots develop and rotate across the Sun's surface from one d...

That was really cool!! I have only taken an interest in astronomy for little over 2 years now and the sun is just one of those things that has never really seemed inspiring or interesting to me. It just seems so timeless yet you look at videos like that and it makes you see how active the sun is and...

Really amazing and very inspiring.

Beautiful shot!!! It is nice for me to see something relatively close to where I live. (Pennsylvania). I always feel like the horrible cloud cover blocks most decent shots here in Pa. It seems like I need to move out west (which im going to do when I retire :)) or live on the other side of the plane...