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APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 4:08 am
by APOD Robot
A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend
Explanation: What's causing the unusual ray of white light extending upward from the central horizon?
Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner
Solar System rises prominently before sunrise and is called
zodiacal light. The dust originates mostly from faint
Jupiter-family comets and slowly spirals into the
Sun.
Pictured, in front of the zodiacal light, is a spectacular view of
Horseshoe Bend of the
Colorado River. Emitted from well behind the
zodiacal light is a spectacular sky that
includes many bright stars including
Sirius, several blue star clusters including the
Pleiades, and an assortment of red nebula including
Barnard's Loop in
Orion. The 30-image composite was taken earlier this month in
nearly complete darkness only six inches from the edge of a
dangerous cliff.
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Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 4:43 am
by Nitpicker
Amazing and beautiful APOD.
Based on the position of Mars (between the Hyades and the Pleiades), it was recorded looking westward after sunset, on 25-April-2017.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 5:48 am
by drlane
Nitpicker wrote:Amazing and beautiful APOD.
Based on the position of Mars (between the Hyades and the Pleiades), it was recorded looking westward after sunset, on 25-April-2017.
Don't have my notes I'm shooting in middle of nowhere Utah right now but I think you are exactly right.
Thanks for the kind words!
Dave
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 8:41 am
by heehaw
I love seeing Barnard's Loop so distinctly!
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 9:21 am
by Ann
Beautiful!
I saw this image in the Recent Submissions thread recently, and considered writing a comment on the beauty of it. I didn't get around to it, so I'll say how much I like it here instead!
Ann
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:04 am
by NCTom
Awesome pic and thanks for the overlay info.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 1:36 pm
by TeresaCS
Beautiful picture and I really appreciate the "dangerous cliff" information.
It made my day.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 2:04 pm
by FLPhotoCatcher
It's cool how Horseshoe Bend echos Barnard's Loop.
But that brings up a question... Isn't Barnard's Loop more of a horseshoe? Or is it a full circle (or sphere) that is partially obscured?
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 2:15 pm
by neufer
FLPhotoCatcher wrote:heehaw wrote:
I love seeing Barnard's Loop so distinctly!
It's cool how Horseshoe Bend echos Barnard's Loop.
Isn't Barnard's Loop more of a horseshoe?
Or is it a full circle (or sphere) that is partially obscured?
It's actually part of the
Fudgie the Whale Nebula.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 2:40 pm
by Ann
FLPhotoCatcher wrote:It's cool how Horseshoe Bend echos Barnard's Loop.
But that brings up a question... Isn't Barnard's Loop more of a horseshoe? Or is it a full circle (or sphere) that is partially obscured?
Orion. Photo: Stanislav Volskiy
This is a very deep picture of Orion (although you need to go
here to see the full depth of it). You can see hints that Barnard's Loop traces a full circle (make that a somewhat unaesthetically drawn-out and irregular excuse for a full circle) around the Orion Nebula, the Lambda Orionis cluster near Alnitak and the Horsehead Nebula, and the Belt of Orion.
Ann
Low tolerance for photocomposite
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 2:53 pm
by geoffrey.landis
It's a pretty one, but it has moved beyond my tolerance for photocomposites.
The zodiacal light is so extraordinarily faint, there is just no possible way you could see that well-lit view of the lake and cliffs and still see the zodiacal light. This is no longer a case of contrast enhancing; it's really a case of pasting two different pictures together.
Re: Low tolerance for photocomposite
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 3:14 pm
by Ann
geoffrey.landis wrote:It's a pretty one, but it has moved beyond my tolerance for photocomposites.
The zodiacal light is so extraordinarily faint, there is just no possible way you could see that well-lit view of the lake and cliffs and still see the zodiacal light. This is no longer a case of contrast enhancing; it's really a case of pasting two different pictures together.
Note what it says in the caption:
APOD Robot wrote:
The
30-image composite was taken earlier this month
in nearly complete darkness only six inches from the edge of a dangerous cliff.
So the picture
is a composite. But my guess is that David Lane has taken all the exposures for the picture during the same night, or maybe during a few nights, and under similar lighting conditions.
Ann
Re: Low tolerance for photocomposite
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 3:19 pm
by Chris Peterson
geoffrey.landis wrote:It's a pretty one, but it has moved beyond my tolerance for photocomposites.
The zodiacal light is so extraordinarily faint, there is just no possible way you could see that well-lit view of the lake and cliffs and still see the zodiacal light. This is no longer a case of contrast enhancing; it's really a case of pasting two different pictures together.
If your eyes could see the zodiacal light or the Ha structures as brightly as this image shows, you could also see the foreground like this. So what we have is a reasonably realistic image that shows the world as we'd see it with enhanced eyes... just like 99% of astrophotos do. And unlike so many APODs, the imager's page
clearly describes how the image was made.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 6:57 pm
by chuckster
Waiting for a scene in a scifi movie where someone with expanded-spectrum vision looks at the night sky and sees for the first time, without instruments, how crowded with magnificence it really is.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 7:16 pm
by neufer
chuckster wrote:
Waiting for a scene in a scifi movie where someone with expanded-spectrum vision looks at the night sky and sees for the first time, without instruments, how crowded with magnificence it really is.
That would be us...wouldn't it
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:37 pm
by Chris Peterson
chuckster wrote:Waiting for a scene in a scifi movie where someone with expanded-spectrum vision looks at the night sky and sees for the first time, without instruments, how crowded with magnificence it really is.
I've seen an augmented reality demo of this, using a VR headset. Within the next few years, any of us could have this experience. It's not without instruments, but the existence of those instruments is essentially transparent to us... it is as if we are using our eyes directly.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:14 pm
by neufer
Chris Peterson wrote:chuckster wrote:
Waiting for a scene in a scifi movie where someone with expanded-spectrum vision looks at the night sky and sees for the first time, without instruments, how crowded with magnificence it really is.
I've seen an augmented reality demo of this, using a VR headset. Within the next few years, any of us could have this experience. It's not without instruments, but the existence of those instruments is essentially transparent to us... it is as if we are using our eyes directly.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 12:16 am
by drlane
Ann wrote:geoffrey.landis wrote:It's a pretty one, but it has moved beyond my tolerance for photocomposites.
The zodiacal light is so extraordinarily faint, there is just no possible way you could see that well-lit view of the lake and cliffs and still see the zodiacal light. This is no longer a case of contrast enhancing; it's really a case of pasting two different pictures together.
Note what it says in the caption:
APOD Robot wrote:
The
30-image composite was taken earlier this month
in nearly complete darkness only six inches from the edge of a dangerous cliff.
So the picture
is a composite. But my guess is that David Lane has taken all the exposures for the picture during the same night, or maybe during a few nights, and under similar lighting conditions.
Ann
Ann thanks for the help, I'm out west wandering Utah taking more shots for us astrogeeks. An explanation for those that don't understand.
One the sky was shot first shortly after astronomical dark. The column of light was insanely bright. I think I depicted it exactly as I saw it. I've only seen it this bright one other time in Canyonlands National Park and I've had 100s of nights shooting.
Second I shot the ground immediately after completing the sky. My first try I didn't get the bottom of the river edge. So I moved the tripod to within 6" of the edge to get the shot. I sat holding the tripod leg (wind was blowing into the canyon) and took the ground shot. In the stitch of the ground you can faintly see the California nebula near the horizon so that much time had past.
This is two panoramas shot back to back and then combined. No fudging, no moon, no artificial light. A bit of light from nearby Page on the cliffs beyond. Also if you zoom in you can see 3 boats drawn up on the shore and a small campfire. I didn't see it till processing the image. Made me laugh.
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 1:13 am
by Boomer12k
Awesome, love the annotation...
:---[===] *
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 2:21 am
by drlane
Oh and thanks for all the kind words everyone!
Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend (2017 May 22)
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 1:43 pm
by Captn Tommy
I believe your "dangerous cliff" is actually the Cat's Head Nebula obviously Just above the Northern Pole
Captn Tommy
