APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

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APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun Apr 07, 2019 4:10 am

Image A Scorpius Sky Spectacular

Explanation: If Scorpius looked this good to the unaided eye, humans might remember it better. Scorpius more typically appears as a few bright stars in a well-known but rarely pointed out zodiacal constellation. To get a spectacular image like this, though, one needs a good camera, color filters, and a digital image processor. To bring out detail, the featured image not only involved long duration exposures taken in several colors, but one exposure in a very specific red color emitted by hydrogen. The resulting image shows many breathtaking features. Vertically across the image left is part of the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Visible there are vast clouds of bright stars and long filaments of dark dust. Jutting out diagonally from the Milky Way in the image center are dark dust bands known as the Dark River. This river connects to several bright stars on the right that are part of Scorpius' head and claws, and include the bright star Antares. Above and right of Antares is an even brighter planet: Jupiter. Numerous red emission nebulas and blue reflection nebulas are visible throughout the image. Scorpius appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year.

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Boomer12k » Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:01 am

I think the whole thing is spectacular...really great work.

What is the red area in the upper right? I lost Stellarium on my harddrive... :cry:
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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Ann » Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:15 am

Boomer12k wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:01 am I think the whole thing is spectacular...really great work.

What is the red area in the upper right? I lost Stellarium on my harddrive... :cry:
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That is runaway O-type star Zeta Ophiuchi. :D

I have seen this picture many times before and always loved it. I think the color balance this time is slightly different, and I liked the old version better... I know, I'm hopeless.

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Nitpicker » Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:31 am

I suppose if one is north of latitude +45 degrees on Earth, it might be hard to view the southern most extremes of the scorpion's tail, especially without a clear southern horizon. But otherwise, I'd say Scorpius contains one of the more prominent asterisms crossing the ecliptic. I imagine many Americans point it out during their summer months.

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by De58te » Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:08 pm

Boomer12k wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:01 am I think the whole thing is spectacular...really great work.

What is the red area in the upper right? I lost Stellarium on my harddrive... :cry:
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I think the red spot is Messier 107, a globular cluster, which is near Zeta Ophiuchus, although most photos show it as mostly white stars. Black and white film?

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by orin stepanek » Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:37 pm

+1 :clap: :thumb_up:
Orin

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Ann » Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:18 pm

De58te wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:08 pm
Boomer12k wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:01 am I think the whole thing is spectacular...really great work.

What is the red area in the upper right? I lost Stellarium on my harddrive... :cry:
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I think the red spot is Messier 107, a globular cluster, which is near Zeta Ophiuchus, although most photos show it as mostly white stars. Black and white film?
The red nebulosity is ionized by Zeta Ophiuchi.

M107 is faint in the sky, at magnitude +7.8. It is never visible to the naked eye, even under the best of circumstances. Zeta Ophiuchi, on the other hand, is magnitude +2.5, and is easily visible to the naked eye. So a bright object in the upper right corner of this APOD is not M107.

On the other hand, you may very well be right that one of the faint objects moderately close to (but south of) Zeta Ophiuchi is indeed M107.

But don't ask me which of the faint objects south of Zeta Oph might be M107!

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by starsurfer » Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:40 pm

Boomer12k wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:01 am I think the whole thing is spectacular...really great work.

What is the red area in the upper right? I lost Stellarium on my harddrive... :cry:
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This is the very large emission nebula Sh2-27. John Gleason has a Ha mosaic of it here, can be seen near the left.

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Fred the Cat » Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:13 pm

Freddy's Felicity "Only ascertain as a cat box survivor"

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Ann » Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:04 pm

starsurfer wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:40 pm
Boomer12k wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:01 am I think the whole thing is spectacular...really great work.

What is the red area in the upper right? I lost Stellarium on my harddrive... :cry:
:---[===] *
This is the very large emission nebula Sh2-27. John Gleason has a Ha mosaic of it here, can be seen near the left.
Hα in Scorpius, Norma and Ara.
Photo: John Gleason.

The picture is here. Look at those huge Hα bubbles (two opposite lobes of them) at lower right. Any idea what might have caused them? Are we looking more or less straight in the direction of the center of the Milky Way where those bubbles seem to emanate?

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Guest » Sat May 25, 2019 9:37 pm

Ann, The lower right lobe in the hydrogen alpha image is RCW 114. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180111.html. The dual lobe appearance is most likely a line of sight phenomena. Here is what Galaxy Map says about that region. http://galaxymap.org/drupal/node/63

Regards,

John Gleason

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Re: APOD: A Scorpius Sky Spectacular (2019 Apr 07)

Post by Ann » Sun May 26, 2019 4:24 am

Guest wrote: Sat May 25, 2019 9:37 pm Ann, The lower right lobe in the hydrogen alpha image is RCW 114. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180111.html. The dual lobe appearance is most likely a line of sight phenomena. Here is what Galaxy Map says about that region. http://galaxymap.org/drupal/node/63

Regards,

John Gleason
Thanks a lot, John! :D The Galaxy Map picture was very helpful. The other picture made me itch with a desire to know about that bluish wide binary at the center of RCW 114, because I can't see a blue star without wanting to identify it.

But thanks a lot! :D

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