Astronomy Group

[belizesailor]

When COVID disrupted our cruising routine, one of the hobbies I dove deep into was astrophotography.

Most are familiar with the Orion constelation. There are some incredible nebulas in Orion (well, at least they appear to be in Orion from earth). Image of the Great Orion Nebula attached.

More images at my astrobin page below. Astrobin is a site that hosts astrophotography images.

https://www.astrobin.com/users/Curtis2010/

[SeanPatrick]

Wow, that's awesome!

[Astrochef]

Belizesailor, what can I say... wow.
Spectacular image of M-42. (one of my favorite targets)

For anyone who has never looked at this celestial delight, it's in the middle of Orion's sword, below the belt. (IIRC Orion's sword always points South)
The nebula and surrounding star fields are fascinating to view even through mid power binoculars.

P.S. some really gorgeous shots in your Astrobin page. Love the Pleiades images too. (another fantastic binocular target)

Cheers, Ty

[OldManMirage]

Very nice Belize ! As someone who has tried to do a little astrophotography, I can attest that this is a great image.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Astrochef

Belizesailor, what can I say... wow.
Spectacular image of M-42. (one of my favorite targets)

For anyone who has never looked at this celestial delight, it's in the middle of Orion's sword, below the belt. (IIRC Orion's sword always points South)
The nebula and surrounding star fields are fascinating to view even through mid power binoculars.

P.S. some really gorgeous shots in your Astrobin page. Love the Pleiades images too. (another fantastic binocular target)

Cheers, Ty

Thanks!

It was a long road to producing that image. Lots of upgrades in skills and equipment over about a 2 year period.

One of my first M42 images attached as a point of comparison.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

Very nice Belize ! As someone who has tried to do a little astrophotography, I can attest that this is a great image.

Thanks!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by SeanPatrick

Wow, that's awesome!

Thanks! And its releavant to Celestial Navigation too!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I really wish someone would have told me how long this solar eclipse was going to take.
Don't get me wrong, I had been enjoying watching it, but had I known it would still be going on, for this long, I would have bought a pair of those fancy NASA glasses.


You can directly look at the solar eclipse.
Once with your left eye, once with your right eye.


Thankfully, someone created an online resource, for everyone who suffered retinal damage, watching the solar eclipse.
It truly is a site... for sore eyes.

The whole process of a lunar eclipse takes even longer (from before the eclipse until after).

I spent a lot of hours on the roof of a hotel in Panama City capturing the shots for this composite image.

[GordMay]

New images reveal what Neptune and Uranus really look like

Many people will think of Neptune as being a rich blue colour, and Uranus more green.
But, a new study [1] has revealed that the two ice giants are actually much closer in colour [a shade of greenish blue], than typically thought.

In the new study [1], the researchers used data from Hubble Space Telescope’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.

Professor Irwin, and his team, found that both planets are, in fact, a similar shade of greenish blue, despite the commonly-held belief that Neptune is a deep azure, and Uranus has a pale cyan appearance.

However, the study also found that Neptune has a slight hint of additional blue, which the model reveals to be due to a thinner haze layer on that planet.

The study also provides an answer to the long-standing mystery of why Uranus’s colour changes slightly during its 84-year orbit of the sun.
According to the findings, this is because of how thick certain gases are at the planet’s north and south poles, and how they appear when these poles are closest to the sun.
Uranus is greener at the solstice, due to the polar regions having reduced methane abundance, but also an increased thickness of brightly scattering methane ice particles.

More about ➥ https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-01-05...-really-look-0

[1] “Modelling the seasonal cycle of Uranus’s colour and magnitude, and comparison with Neptune” ~ by Patrick G J Irwin et al
➥ https://academic.oup.com/mnras/artic...73?login=false

[CaptTom]

I wouldn't think you'd want people to talk about the color and magnitude of Uranus.

[Gord, you deserved that one, after all your bad puns we've had to endure.]

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

I wouldn't think you'd want people to talk about the color and magnitude of Uranus. [1]
(Gord, you deserved that one, after all your bad puns we've had to endure.)[2]

Both true.

[GordMay]

Chinese Lunar New Year
The Lunar New Year kicked off on Feb. 10, with the Year of the [Wood] Dragon, seen by many cultures, as an especially lucky year, in which to be born.
The Lunar New Year begins with the second new moon, to occur, after the Winter Solstice, each year [based upon the ancient lunisolar calendar].
Chinese zodiacs are based on the Heavenly Stems and Branches system, which coordinates with one of five elements [Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth]. 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon, which previously occurred in 1964.
Other recent Dragon years include 2012’s Water Dragon, 2000’s Metal Dragon, 1988’s Earth Dragon, 1976’s Fire Dragon, 1964’s Wood Dragon and 1952’s Water Dragon.
Each year, the end of the Lunar New Year festivities is marked with the Chinese Lantern Festival, taking place on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar (which coincides with the first full moon). This year, it falls on Feb. 24.
More about ➥ https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics...animals-zodiac

And ➥ https://chinesenewyear.net/

[GordMay]

X6.3 Solar Flare
Within the past days, several X-class flares have erupted from the Sun’s surface; the most powerful of which was an X6.3. That's the most powerful flare seen, for the current solar cycle, and the most powerful, since an X8.2 erupted in 2017*.
The three flares were, respectively, an X1.8 flare, that peaked at 6:07 pm EST, on February 21; an X1.7 flare, that peaked at 1:32 am EST, on February 22; and the X6.3 flare, that peaked at 5:34 pm EST, also on February 22.
Neither of the first two flares were accompanied by a CME; and so far, there is no word, on whether the third, largest flare, was similarly bereft.

Current Space Weather Conditions ➥ https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/stron...nt-solar-cycle

* X8.2-class flare [2017] ➥ https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/su...ificant-flare/

[GordMay]

Stargazers have a, once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity to see a comet whizzing through the sky, this month.
Officially known as Comet “12P/Pons–Brooks”, the comet has been compared with the Millennium Falcon, from ‘Star Wars’, because of its pair of 'horns'.
Pons-Brooks is set to come as close as 72.5 million miles (116.8 million km) to the sun, on April 21. Following that, a close approach with Earth of 144 million miles (232 million km) will happen on June 2.
However, if you're in the northern hemisphere, the best time to see it will be late March.
To see Comet “12P/Pons-Brooks”, look westwards in the night sky, and find the Great Square of Pegasus – the four stars of nearly equal brightness. Over the next few weeks, the comet is moving from the Great Square of Pegasus, towards Aries the Ram, which forms a loose V-shape.
The comet completes an orbit around the sun every 71 years, and is seen, from Earth, only once, in that period, making it a once-in-a-lifetime experience [will not return until 2095].


More about Pons-Brooks ➥ https://www.space.com/comet-12p-pons-brooks-march-2024

[CaptTom]

I've seen lots of these kinds of announcements. I never seem to be able to actually see these comets though. I can't find things with binoculars, and I don't have a telescope.

I'm waiting for one of those huge comets like we see in the old paintings.