Starship Asterisk*

_____________________________________________________________________________

Please post your images here for December 4-7.

If you need instructions on posting images, please see this thread.

Thank you!
_____________________________________________________________________________

<- Previous submissions


VdB 24
http://www.caelumobservatory.com/gallery/vdb24.shtml
Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona M45: The Pleiades
http://www.photonhunter.at/M45_full.html
Copyright: Patrick Hochleitner
[attachment=3]M45_Hochleitner.jpg[/attachment][/i]

Lightning over Mojave Desert
http://www.downfaster.com
Copyright: Matt Relkin
[attachment=2]Lightning Over Mojave DesertMEDIUM.jpg[/attachment][/i]

NGC 2070: Tarantula Nebula in Hubble Palette
http://www.astromgs.com.ar/fotos/ngc207 ... 12010.html
Copyright: Marcelo Salemme
[attachment=1]NGC2070_Salemme.jpg[/attachment][/i]

NGC4565: Galaxy on the Edge
http://www.starkeeper.it/ngc4565.htm
Credit: Jim Misti, data acquisition; Leonardo Orazi, processing
[attachment=0]NGC4565_Orazi.jpg[/attachment][/i]


<- Previous submissions

Mt.Kilimanjaro, star trail near equator
Star trail makes straight line at equator, and gradually bend to curve.

by Kwon, O Chul

Circumhorizon Arc
Copyright: Bruce DeKock
[attachment=0]sun dog.jpg[/attachment][/i]

This image was submitted with a question that was essentially, "what is this?" I think it is a circumhorizon (or circumhorizontal if you prefer) arc. The shadows under the cars indicate that the sun was overhead, and this was confirmed in a later email by Mr. DeKock, who said the image was taken around noon; he also said it was late June, and these halos are likely at that time of year. The colors are bright, which is another hallmark of this kind of arc. Other possibilities include a circumzenithal arc, but they are curved like smiles and red on the bottom, rather than the top, and an infralateral arc, which is an infrequently-seen halo, curved, and faint.

If my reasoning here (not elsewhere... just here ) is not sound, or you think this is something else, please say so; thanks!

In contact with the Old Moon
http://ofpink.wordpress.com/
Copyright: Stefano De Rosa Picture taken on December 4, 2010 at 7:10 a.m. from Turin. In the past few days I have been carefully planning to capture the close encounter beteween a slender old Moon (some one and a half day before becoming New) and the Superga church, sitting on the highest hill in the surroundings of Turin. The encounter was so close that the Moon (4° above the horizon) almost seemed willing to establish a “contact” with the terrestrial monument. The remaining portion of the lunar disc is barely visible immersed in the glare of the twilight sky.

Best regards

Stefano

Thank you for your great picture Stefano
It seems the moon belongs to the structure of the church. Or, the church could belong to the night sky structure.
Tu foto es una maravilla!!
Muchas gracias,
Céline

Stefano, your careful planning paid off handsomely!

O, what a lovely star trail picture!

~~~
I feel very lucky to see so many wonderfully beautiful, interesting, instructive images, and I'm so grateful to all the photographers for taking these pictures and sending them in; thank you!!

M1 "Crab Nebula"
Takahashi TSA D=102 F=612
Camera: Atik 16IC
Filter: H-Alpha 12nm
Exposure: 15 hours 20 mins

Roberto Barcellona - Astrofili Bisalta - Cuneo (ITALY)

Cordially

Roberto

This image was taken with RNT 24" f/3.6 form Cervarezza by Gabriele Fontana, Glauco Uri, Maurizio Marsignli and Stefano Campani with a Canon EOS 20da and with a TSA102 from Cuneo by Roberto Barcellona with an Atik 16ic in H halpha bandwidth.

Exposure time with Newton was short because it was first-light test of new Newton telescope.
Instead exposure time with TSA was very long, it was a 55 hour H alpha sequence!

The image is the result of fusion of the two sequence:
Nucleous detalis were taken from Newton image, and M82 perpendicular filamentary features were taken by very long refractor exposure,

Due to a particulary cold night (-10°C) thermal noise was really low, also in reflex sequence

Processing by Stefano Campani

Image credits: R. Barcellona, S. Campani, G. Fontana, G. Uri, M. Marsigli

http://stefano-campani.net46.net/index.php?p=2_2

Céline and Owlice: many thanks for your kind comments

Stefano