Starship Asterisk*

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Each image is available in a larger size; please click on an image to enlarge it.

Please vote for up to THREE images you think would make the best APOD.

Thank you!
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<- Poll: Recent Submissions #23

Milky Way over Escalante National Monument
http://www.gcollier.com
Copyright: Grant Collier First seen here
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M33: The Triangulum Spiral
http://hwilson.zenfolio.com/galaxies/h2 ... #h296d19f4
Copyright: Hunter Wilson First seen here
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Jupiter with Ganymede and Io
http://www.skytrip.de
Copyright: Mario Weigand First seen here
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Sky Colors
http://www.astrophotogallery.org/member ... -4603.html
Copyright: Alvaro Gaviria First seen here
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Fireworks on Our Sun
http://www.stern-fan.de/Bilder/Internet ... 2010-2.jpg
Copyright: Rolf Geissinger First seen here
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Lightning Night
Copyright: Hiroshi Chang First seen here
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NGC 6726 in Corona Australis
http://www.astrofotografia.com.pl
Copyright: Piotrek Sadowski First seen here
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Curves of NGC 7479
http://www.caelumobservatory.com/gallery/n7479.shtml
Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/ University of Arizona First seen here
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Moon, Uranus, and Jupiter's Moons, Single Exposure
Copyright: John H. Harms First seen here
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Galactic Glories around a Supercluster: Abell 1680
http://hubble-unseen.at.tf
Copyright: Nikolaus Sulzenauer HST/NASA/ESA First seen here
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Cometary Globules in Puppis
http://www.glitteringlights.com
Copyright: Marco Lorenzi First seen here


<- Poll: Recent Submissions #23

These all deserve to be APODs! Like many responders, I'm especially taken by the Lightning Night from Hiroshi Chang. In that picture, what are the white streaks in the sky? I might guess that they're star trails from a long exposure, but this photo must have been taken with a really short exposure to capture the lightning. My other guess would be a meteor shower, but I'm not aware of one around the date of that photo (September 27). Can anyone explain?

And many thanks to Piotrek Sadowski for that amazing skyscape -- the globular cluster looks especially gorgeous alongside those bright & dark nebulae. That one also got my vote.

ruprecht147 wrote:These all deserve to be APODs! Like many responders, I'm especially taken by the Lightning Night from Hiroshi Chang. In that picture, what are the white streaks in the sky? I might guess that they're star trails from a long exposure, but this photo must have been taken with a really short exposure to capture the lightning. My other guess would be a meteor shower, but I'm not aware of one around the date of that photo (September 27). Can anyone explain?

You already did. They are star trails. As for the lightning, a longer
exposure is more likely to catch multiple flashes, as in that photo.
Unless your shutter finger and your reflexes are literally as fast as
lightning, it's very hard to capture lightning with a short exposure.

Aha! Thank you for the explanation and enlightenment! I hadn't considered the requirements for photographing lightning. (The sky is an amazing place.)