Starship Asterisk*

ALPINE COSMOS

Credits: Adrien Mauduit

The Alps are the perfect place to gaze at the stars at this season: it offers snow to light up your landscapes while it is still not too cold! I photograph this scene while I was at the Emission Dam about a month ago, where fresh snow had covered just the mountain tops, but at 2100m of altitude the temperature was 13°C! I love how the snow reflects the light from Chamonix nearby (west) and the light of the winter milky way and Sirus, which unlike what people tend to think, is way more powerful and luminous than the whole core of the milky way itself. Sirius itself is like a mini full moon (it's just slightly bigger and hotter) that is bright enough to brighten the landscape! Although not visible with the naked eye but the camera, the Orion nebula region forms a great color contrast, bringing the missing magentas and reds! Eventually the green and yellow airglow also somehow complement the color spectrum!

Canon 6D Baader modded + Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art, 3 x 15'' untracked at ISO 6400, f/2.8

More at: www.adphotography-online.com
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/AdrienMauduitPhotography/

Fall milky way, zodiacal lights & Saturn over El Roque, La Palma

Credits: Adrien Mauduit

There is one good and obvious reason why the Observatory has been built at the very top of this dormant volcano: it is situated at 2400m of altitude and benefits from year-round dark and pure skies. Although there is still some light pollution from the El Paso area, and because it also receives humid air from the sea and also dust from the Sahara nearby, the air is of an unprecedented quality and it's very dark up there. You cannot see a thing and even the night sky is illuminating the foreground, which rarely happen because of the expansion of mankind and light pollution. The Observatory is comprised of several telescopes and parabolas including the MAGIC mirrors and the great telescope (GTC: Gran Telescopio Canarias). Although the area is off limits at night, the area is accessible if you are willing to hike around the perimeter (200 m high). I took this pristine shot of the Fall milky way and its disappearing core, which was greeted by a brilliant display of zodiacal light (sunlit interplanetary dust) and Saturn setting as well ('yellow star'). I have rarely taken a shot this 'easy', meaning without that much post-process to reduce noise and increase contrasts, because the air is so pure and the airglow wasn't too strong that night.
Canon 6D modded + Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art, Vixen Polarie, Pure Night filter, 6 x 15'' tracked, ISO 6400, f/2.8
La Palma, Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos, November 17th 2017

NGC891 Copylight ByoungJun Jeong

full resolution
https://www.astrobin.com/full/324107/0/

http://www.astrofototeca.it/bee84d60.jpg Copyright Iaffaldano Giuseppe Carmine
https://www.flickr.com/photos/17910585@ ... ed-public/

Ann wrote:

joelshort wrote:Barnard 35 with a Photobomb by Betelgeuse
Barnard 35 is a unique dark nebula that has a distinct red tint along with the more typical dusty brown. Despite the fact that Betelgeuse was well off the frame, he just couldn't resist the photobomb.
http://www.buckeyestargazer.net
Copyright: Joel Short

Click to view full size image

Love that picture, Joel!

The orange flare at lower left is certainly caused by light from red supergiant Betelgeuse. The red rim of the nebula (at center-right) is almost certainly an ionization front, which would be caused by relatively nearby hot blue giant Lambda Orionis, which is surrounded by a huge but faint emission nebula. Note that Orion is "upside down" in the picture I linked to.

Ann

Thanks Ann! And thanks for the information.

Starry Night Sky

URL of website, http://moonrocksastro.com/wp-content/up ... -Sky-1.jpg
Copyright: Paul C. Swift



Starry Night Sky by Paul C. Swift, on Flickr

IC 443 and 444 - The Jelly Fish (2 Pane) by Patrick Gilliland, on Flickr

NGC7023
Copyrights: Francesco Landi M8 Lagoon Nebula
Copyrights: Ali Alhawas NGC7000
Copyrights: Robert Habolin Summer Milky Way
Copyrights: Giovanni Bonini Andromeda
Copyrights: Dani Caxete Abell 85 / CTB1
Copyrights: Jens Zippel Pacman Nebula
Copyrights: Paul Swift IC434
Copyrights: Stephan Nicolas Sharpless 173
Copyrights: Brian Peterson IC 1340 and NGC 6995
Copyrights: Danny L. Russell Startrails over Keck
Copyrights: Joe Llama The Moon and Mercury
Copyrights: Stephen Mudge Bright irridium flare in Cassiopea
Copyrights: Dean Rowe Mare Humorum
Copyrights: Oscar Cabrerizo Coma Glory
Copyrights: Todd Hallam Sh2-140
Copyrights: Phil Keyser NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula
Copyrights: Jeff Johnson The Cygnus Wall (NGC 7000)
Copyrights: Andrew Chatman M45
Copyrights: Damien Cannane Small Magellanic Cloud
Copyrights: Josep Drudis IC 2948, the Running Chicken Nebula
Copyrights: Josep Drudis NGC 6357, the Lobster Nebula
Copyrights: Josep Drudis NGC 6357 and NGC 6334 in the Scorpius area
Copyrights: Josep Drudis Sun dog
Copyrights: Marnie Deschenes Cats Paw nebula
Copyrights: Maicon Germiniani

Vela SNR
Copyrights: John Gleason Leonid meteorit over the West Tatras in the Slovakia
Copyrights: Peter Leginus The old tree and a Northern Light Corona
Copyrights: Göran Strand M42
Copyrights: G.Chatzifrantzis M42 - Orion Nebula
Copyrights: Francesco Battistella Rainbow
Copyrights: Emil Pellett M31
Copyrights: Hector Bada NGC 1333
Copyrights: David Attié, Didier Rediger-Lizlov and Stefan Shramm Waning crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter
Copyrights: João Pedro Bessa Leonid and Trio
Copyrights: Dani Caxete Watercolor sunrise
Copyrights: Dani Caxete IC 443 (Jellyfish Nebula or Sharpless 248)
Copyrights: Dirk Cornelis Large Magellanic Cloud
Copyrights: Francesco Badalotti Granules on the photosphere of the Sun
Copyrights: Patrik Formánek Dust in M33
Copyrights: Raul Villaverde Fraile 1% Moon
Copyrights: Stan Honda Planets
Copyrights: Stan Honda NGC6888
Copyrights: Mikael Afzelius NGC1491 in Perseus
Copyrights: Nathanaël Berger 17 November 2017 Moon, Venus and Jupiter conjunction
Copyrights: Dario Giannobile Planetary air traffic
Copyrights: Chris Kotsiopoulos

HorseHead Nebula, a HaL-RGB picture
http://www.astro-hp.dk
Copyright: Niels V. Christensen