Starship Asterisk*

I understand your point and in truth if the criteria for astrophotos were to present an accurate naked eye view astrophotography as art would be very boring. I say art since that is a major part of astrophotography at the amateur level. This is clear from the beautiful photos posted in the most rece...

I think I have a pretty good idea what Moontrail is getting at. I like to take astrophotos that represent what one could see if only our vision were more sensitive. Say, for instance, as I often explain to people, if we had "Owl eyes". Yes, that is the term I have been using for many years...

I would like for you to add another observatory to the existing list. It is the home of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Prince George Centre in Northern British Columbia, Canada. I am a member of the chapter and we have a 24" instrument along with other smaller portable telescopes. The...

Here is a good puzzle. This was taken in my driveway last summer. The ground is dry even though it is raining heavily. There is a rainbow visible within 20 metres of the point of view. This is a 3D image intended for crossed eye viewing. If you study it in 3D you will notice that even individual rai...

M31 and companions M32 and M110
Copyright: Evan Williams 2011


Click image for much larger version

All the planets from Venus to Saturn are large enough that they are extended objects to our naked eye (even though they seem nearly star-like). These objects don't get any brighter as we magnify them. They get bigger, which is why we see detail, and because they are bigger we also see structure in ...

Sorry about posting the above as a guest. I didn't realize that I wasn't logged in or that this forum allows guests to post.

What Chris describes is true for what are called "extended objects" such as entire galaxies, globular clusters, nebula and any deep sky phenomena that is spread over a large volume of space. However, for compact objects such as individual stars, planets and their moons, asteroids and perha...