APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

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APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by APOD Robot » Fri Aug 26, 2022 4:05 am

Image Little Planet South Pole

Explanation: Lights play around the horizon of this snowy little planet as it drifts through a starry night sky. Of course the little planet is actually planet Earth. Recorded on August 21, the digitally warped, nadir centered panorama covers nearly 360x180 degrees outside the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. The southernmost research outpost is near the horizon at the top where the light of dawn is approaching after nearly six months of darkness. Along the bottom is the ceremonial pole marker surrounded by the 12 flags of the original signatories of the Antarctic treaty, with a wild display of the aurora australis above.

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Rauf
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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by Rauf » Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:08 am

Milky Way looks funny here :)

heehaw

Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by heehaw » Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:47 am

I like these "distorted" pictures, because it drives home to us that our life-long regular daily impression of the universe around us is very partial and misses most of what's there.....

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by orin stepanek » Fri Aug 26, 2022 11:42 am

spstation_flags.jpg
Good to see countries agree on somethings! 8-)
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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by VictorBorun » Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:06 pm

Rauf wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:08 am Milky Way looks funny here :)
Milky Way looks an ellipse to me. But to check this it would be better to know the constellations
Little Planet South Pole..jpg

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by johnnydeep » Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:56 pm

I am easily confused: "nadir centered"? I would think the center of this circle (and the line pointing out from the image to us) represents the zenith at the south pole.

[ EDIT: but of course, the nadir and zenith represent the same straight line, so I guess it doesn't matter. Just seems odd to call it the nadir here. ]
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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by Holger Nielsen » Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:04 pm

The extreme projection used makes it difficult to identify stars. I beleive I have found the pair Alpha and Beta Centauri at about 2 o'clock, the Coalsack with the Southern Cross (upside down :wink:) at 1 o'clock, the Eta Carinae nebula in the Milky Way at 12 o'clock and above it, close to the upper border, stars clustering around Theta Carinae. The bright star at 9:30 o'clock must be Canopus and at 10 o'clock, near the border, we have Alpha Pictoris. Canis Major with Sirius is recognizable near the horizon at 10 o'clock. Also, I just found the Scorpion with Antares at 3 - 4 o'clock.

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by Chris Peterson » Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:15 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:56 pm I am easily confused: "nadir centered"? I would think the center of this circle (and the line pointing out from the image to us) represents the zenith at the south pole.

[ EDIT: but of course, the nadir and zenith represent the same straight line, so I guess it doesn't matter. Just seems odd to call it the nadir here. ]
The center of the image is looking straight down, hence it's the nadir. The zenith in this image is not a point, but a circle which lies outside the rectangular border.
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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by johnnydeep » Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:21 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:15 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:56 pm I am easily confused: "nadir centered"? I would think the center of this circle (and the line pointing out from the image to us) represents the zenith at the south pole.

[ EDIT: but of course, the nadir and zenith represent the same straight line, so I guess it doesn't matter. Just seems odd to call it the nadir here. ]
The center of the image is looking straight down, hence it's the nadir. The zenith in this image is not a point, but a circle which lies outside the rectangular border.
Ok. Maybe I understand that.
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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by Ann » Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:22 pm

I have annotated the image. I had some trouble uploading it, and it became very small.

APOD 26 August 2022 annotated.png

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by Rauf » Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:52 pm

Ann wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:22 pm I have annotated the image. I had some trouble uploading it, and it became very small.


APOD 26 August 2022 annotated.png


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Thanks for the annotations Ann! Recognizing southern constellations is so difficult for me :)

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by canopia » Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:26 pm

I’d like to see (and actually prefer) an all-sky version of this.

Tunç Tezel

APOD Robot wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 4:05 am Image Little Planet South Pole

Explanation: Lights play around the horizon of this snowy little planet as it drifts through a starry night sky. Of course the little planet is actually planet Earth. Recorded on August 21, the digitally warped, nadir centered panorama covers nearly 360x180 degrees outside the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. The southernmost research outpost is near the horizon at the top where the light of dawn is approaching after nearly six months of darkness. Along the bottom is the ceremonial pole marker surrounded by the 12 flags of the original signatories of the Antarctic treaty, with a wild display of the aurora australis above.

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by Sa Ji Tario » Sat Aug 27, 2022 3:42 am

An elaborate work to achieve this image that would make us think of the planet of the Little Prince, but the writer only reached about 900 km further north, the end of Patagonia in South America. In addition, the ground is not similar to the land of the baobabs, here they are not seen, there are also no butterflies, it is impossible to find snakes and many more. The stars do not go up and down, here they spin in a childlike round, a territory emancipated from the rest of the world where they live for science.-

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Re: APOD: Little Planet South Pole (2022 Aug 26)

Post by VictorBorun » Sat Aug 27, 2022 5:39 am

Ann wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:22 pm I have annotated the image. I had some trouble uploading it, and it became very small.


APOD 26 August 2022 annotated.png


Ann
Were nadir both the central point of this projection and the Northern Pole, then all the stars would have angular positions according to their Right ascension. That's not exactly the case:
Little Planet South Pole 2.jpg

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