Starship Asterisk*

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Please click on each image for best viewing; please click on the link below the
image title for more information about the image. Thank you!
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<- Previous submissions

Total Solar Eclipse, 2008
Copyright: Jay M. Pasachoff, William G. Wagner, and Hana Druckmullerova
[attachment=3]TSE2008_ph.jpg[/attachment]
Learn about the sun's atmosphere here.


Descending Big Dipper
Copyright: M. Raşid Tuğral
[attachment=2]kepçes_filtered.jpg[/attachment]

Saros Sunset
Copyright: Tunç Tezel
[attachment=1]SarosSunset.jpg[/attachment]

Corona Australis: NGC6726-7, IC4812, HMSTG1099, NGC6723 in Sagittarius
http://www.starrysite.com
Copyright: Bogdan Jarzyna
[attachment=0]Korona Australii LRGB koniec.jpg[/attachment]

Rings on a Diagonal
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12668
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Learn about Saturn's rings and moons here.

M98: A Spiral Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster
http://home.earthlink.net/~squarezero/f ... LRGB_3.JPG
Copyright: Bruce Waddington

Click to view full size image
Learn about galaxies here.

I loved that solar eclipse photograph. Look how brilliant the corona is. The whirls are wonderful!

(Almost) 180º Milky Way
http://www.loscielosdetenerife.es
Copyright: Carlos Vázquez
[attachment=0]milkyway-s.jpg[/attachment]
Learn about the Milky Way here.

Mosaic of Distant Rim of Endeavour Crater, Sol 2080
http://www.rittenhouseastronomicalsocie ... emer/K.htm
Mosaic Credit: Kenneth Kremer; images: NASA/JPL/Cornell
[attachment=0]Opportunity Sol 2080_Kenneth Kremer.jpg[/attachment][/i]
Learn about Mars here.

Southern Crown, M7 and...the Ghost of Kenny?
Copyright: Ken Zook
[attachment=0]GhostKenStretch700.jpg[/attachment]

Hello to all:
I remain with two.
The solar eclipse and the photography of nebulas of Corona Australis .
Many greetings
Cesar

Southern Crown, M7 and...the Ghost of Kenny? They killed Kenny!

(Not really, it's just the only South Park bit Kenny ever liked!-) Actually, but not at all seriously, amatuer astrophotographer Kenny Zook set his camera for a 15 second delay, so he could find his spot and strike a pose, listen for the shutter, count out half the 10 second exposure and then dash out of frame to create his ghost.

After combining this single frame with 10 flats to reduce vignetting, and just a bit of data stretching even the small 900 pixel wide jpg has enough detail that when you zoom in (if your monitor is bright enough), you can clearly see bushes and clumps of tall grass through the ghost, not quite read the Chicago Bears shirt, and see a light from a boat or campsite reflecting off the water to the left of the ghost.

The curve of the constellation Southern Crown stands out at far left in the sky, and Ptolemy’s Cluster (M7) near the center of the sky almost shows a hint of NGC 6453 if you zoom in far enough, and a far less subtle hint in the 6 MB unscaled jpg version. Around and above M7, light and dark dust lanes of the Milky Way are clearly visible.

The scene is at the waterfront near the boat dock at Huntington Reservoir in Indiana. The light domes appear to be nearby Warren, SSW, and farther, but larger Marion to the SE.

p.s, This pic was taken July 3, 2010 with a Canon 5D MK2 and 50 mm lens at f/1.8.

Kenny, thank you for sharing your image and your story!

Ptolemy Cluster
http://mtanous.mine.nu/iweb/astropix/Pt ... uster.html
Copyright: Jose Mtanous View Dr. Nemiroff's lecture Star Clusters here.

I like several of the images here. The solar eclipse image is beautifully detailed, and it contains some fascinating information about the planetary nebula that the Sun will become in the future. You can see that there is going to be a thick torus around the Sun's equator, but gasses will be streaming out at the Sun's poles, forming two huge lobes there.

I like the subtlety and the clarity of the Big Dipper image. The landscape is very dark, and the stars of the Big Dipper stand out delicately against the darkening blush of the evening sky.

The sunset picture is fascinating for being so red. That is unusual.

The Corona Australis picture is full of subtle colors and paints a cosmic landscape which is quite lovely to see.

When you enlarge the 180 degrees Milky Way image, the brighter blue stars stand out so boldly against the background! That is quite unusual to see, and I love it!

The "ghost of Kenny" image is really quite poignant. It brings home how ephemeral we humans are compared with the million- or billion-year-old stars.

As for Ptolemy's Cluster, M7, I like how one picture makes it look like an isolated group of stars against the cosmic blackness, and another picture makes the stars of M7 denizens of one of the busiest and most crowded parts of our galaxy.

Ann