NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

A Window to the Once Secret Sky

If there were a window nearby to the distant universe -- would you look through it? Quite possibly, there is, in the form of a small telescope [ http://www.yesmag.b…]. A local skykeeper could be a relative [ http://images.googl…] or a stranger and is frequently proud to show off the sky free [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of charge. Through a window called an eyepiece [ http://observers.or…], on a dark cloudless night [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], you can see clusters of stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], rings around Saturn [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], glowing nebulas of gas [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], craters on the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], and galaxies across [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the universe. The technology to create this window -- and the secret sky it reveals -- was unknown only 400 years ago [ http://galileo.rice…]. Modern sky opportunities may occur this Saturday, Astronomy Day [ http://www.astrolea…], at local amateur astronomy clubs, universities, science centers, or planetariums. Pictured above [ http://homepage.uni…] is a small telescope being deployed at picturesque Hohe Wand, about 50 kilometers south of Vienna, Austria [ http://www.cia.gov/…]. The spin of the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is visible in the above photo as the long star trails [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].

Peter Wienerroither [ http://homepage.uni…] (U. Wien [ http://www.univie.a…])

Saturn

Austria

Vienna

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Earth

Galileo

Moon

Saturn

http://antwrp.gsfc.…

SPD-APOD-ap050413