Old Faithful Below A Yellowstone Sky (APOD 07 Aug 2007)

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:16 pm

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070807.html
An awesome photo! Even the red star below Jupiter shows up nicely. I believe ti must be Antares. The Milky-way scenes are always nice. Living in a city obscures much of the night sky, making it impossible to view the Milky-way; although Jupiter and Venus usually always show up nicely.

Orin

BMAONE23 · Post by **BMAONE23** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:02 pm

Uncertain yet as to the name of the red star but it does reside in scorpious.

rigelan · Post by **rigelan** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:06 pm

Yeah, that would be Antares, Heart of the Scorpion!

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:27 pm

I'm going to set this one into a file I use for desktop items. I like the way Old faithful seems to be showering Jupiter and Antares. 8)
Orin

Simple Peasant · Post by **Simple Peasant** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:52 pm

Does anyone know why Jupiter has spikes and what causes the steam to be illuminated?

Andy Wade · Post by **Andy Wade** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:24 pm

Simple Peasant wrote:Does anyone know why Jupiter has spikes and what causes the steam to be illuminated?

Starlight filter?

Could the apparent illumination be caused by a longer exposure?

emc · Post by **emc** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:16 pm

This is a beautiful image combining the land, sky and star scapes... What an awesome capture!

Simple Peasant · Post by **Simple Peasant** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:19 am

Andy Wade wrote:
Simple Peasant wrote:Does anyone know why Jupiter has spikes and what causes the steam to be illuminated?
Starlight filter?

Could the apparent illumination be caused by a longer exposure?

Thank you for your imput Andy.

Perhaps I am just being too picky but I am getting a little tired of this digital age and all the image manipulation. The "spikes" were caused by either a 'starburst' filter or perhaps with image software.

The apparent illumination could not have been caused by a longer esposure because the steam cloud would move in a second or two.

Because I am aware of the manipulation as sighted above I can not help but wonder what else was manipulated in this picture.

Simple Peasant

FieryIce · Post by **FieryIce** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:44 am

OH I really do have to move even farther out of the city lights so I can see the night sky like this or simular. Anyone have a cabin in the bush to rent to a little old lady with three kids?

kopfgeist · Post by **kopfgeist** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:59 am

Simple Peasant wrote:Does anyone know why Jupiter has spikes and what causes the steam to be illuminated?

i think, a high aperture (f/8) or so is the reason. a digital software can also be responsible for the spikes.

nevertheless... a fantastic image

jens

iamlucky13 · Post by **iamlucky13** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:14 pm

I think the steam acutally has moved in the picture. It looks streaked. Not to mention, you generally need at least 30 seconds exposure to get a good picture of the Milky Way. The very minor streaking of the stars also suggests this is the case.

I'm guessing the illumination comes from lights at the visitors center behind him. Notice the ground and trees are partially illuminated, too. It's also possible he used a flash or even a flashlight to briefly light up the plume. On a long exposure even subtle details are visible.

There are lens filters you can buy that create diffraction spikes on point light sources, and the brighter the source, the more defined the spikes. This seems most likely because even the moderately bright stars show a little bit of diffraction.

Tom of Dreams · Post by **Tom of Dreams** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:30 am

the spikes could be caused by refraction, couldn't they? There is a cloud of steam right in front of them.
I know if my eyes are a little watery and I look at lights the same effect happens. however, in those cases there are only four spikes...

but it could be refraction right?