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ANTARES of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Milky Way Galaxy
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A Scorpius Sky Spectacular
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A Scorpius Sky Spectacular |
| Explanation |
If Scorpius looked this good to the unaided eye, humans might remember it better. Scorpius [ http://www.allthesky.com/constellations/scorpius/ ] more typically appears as a few bright stars in a well known but rarely pointed out zodiacal [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac ] constellation [ http://www.fillingthesky.com/constellationhistory.html ]. To get a spectacular image like this [ http://astrosurf.com/sguisard/Pagim/Scorpius_constellation-LHRVB-50mm.html ], though, one needs a good camera [ http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera.htm ], color filters [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_%28optics%29 ], and a digital image processor. To bring out detail, the above image [ http://astrosurf.com/sguisard/Pagim/Scorpius_constellation-LHRVB-50mm.html ] not only involved long duration exposures taken in several colors, but one exposure in a very specific red color [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050930.html ] emitted by hydrogen [ http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/1.html ] that brings out great detail. The resulting image [ http://astrosurf.com/sguisard/Pagim/Scorpius_constellation-LHRVB-50mm.html ] shows many breathtaking features. Vertically across the image left is part of the plane [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050605.html ] of our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://seds.org/messier/more/mw.html ]. Visible there are vast clouds of bright stars and long filaments of dark dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html ]. Jutting out diagonally from the Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070123.html ] in the image center are dark dust bands known as the Dark River [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040809.html ]. This river connects to several bright stars on the right that are part of Scorpius' head and claws [ http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/scorpius.htm ], and include the bright star Antares [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/antares.html ]. Above and right of Antares is an even brighter planet Jupiter. Numerous red emission nebulas [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html ] and blue reflection nebulas [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_nebula ] are visible throughout the image. Scorpius [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion ] appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year. |
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The Milky Way at 5000 Meters
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The Milky Way at 5000 Meters |
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Climb up to 5000 meters (16,500 feet) above sea level, near Cerro Chajnantor [ http://www.alma.nrao.edu/development/site/Chajnantor/ photos/ ] in the northern Chilean Andes [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/earth/chile.htm ], and your night sky could encompass this cosmic vista. Recorded from that high and dry locale [ http://www.alma.nrao.edu/development/site/ ], the spectacular fish-eye image features the myriad stars and sprawling dust clouds of our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html ]. The direction toward the center of the Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070210.html ] is near the zenith and center of the picture, but the Galactic Center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021018.html ] itself is hidden from view, located far behind the obscuring dust. Brilliant Jupiter rules this scene just above the Milky Way's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071020.html ] central bulge with the noticeably fainter, yellowish, giant star Antares [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/antares.html ] to its right. Small and faint, near the right edge of the picture is one of the Milky Way's many satellite galaxies [ http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/sattelit.html ], the Small Magellanic Cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050617.html ]. The Amateur Astronomers Association of New York Presents: APOD Editor's Lecture: Tonight [ http://www.aaa.org/ ] - American Museum of Natural History |
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Comet Hyakutake and the Milk
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Comet Hyakutake and the Milky Way |
| Explanation |
Two years ago, the Great Comet of 1996 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960208.html ], Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/hyakutake/ ], inched across our northern sky during its long orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960314.html ] around the Sun [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html ]. Visible above as the bright spot with the faint tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960326.html ] near the picture [ http://www.psiaz.com/polakis/gco/gco.html ]'s center, Comet Hyakutake [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/comets_long/96B2.html ] shares the stage with part of the central band of the Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970517.html ], prominent in the picture's upper right. Also visible are Antares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980726.html ], the bright orange star in the upper right, Arcturus [ http://www.windows.umich.edu/the_universe/Arcturus.html ], the bright star on the lower left, and the Pipe Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970621.html ], which is perhaps harder to find. Comet Hyakutake [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/index/Hyakutake.html ]'s unusually close approach [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960325.html ] to the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980204.html ] allowed astronomers to learn many things, including that comets can emit much X-ray light [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960411.html ]. |
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East of Antares
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East of Antares |
| Explanation |
East of Antares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020526.html ], dark markings seem to sprawl through the crowded star fields toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Cataloged in [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ bib_query?1919ApJ....49....1B ] the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard [ http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/ Barnardfull.html ], the obscuring interstellar dust clouds include [ http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/ Best-of-Barnards-Dark-Nebulae.htm ] B72 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050521.html ], B77, B78, and B59, seen in silhouette [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001229.html ] against the starry background. Here, their combined shape suggests smoke rising from a pipe, and so the dark nebula's popular name is the Pipe Nebula. This gorgeous and expansive view [ http://panther-observatory.com/gallery/deepsky/doc/ Pipe_200mm.htm ] was recorded in very dark skies over Hakos, Namibia [ http://www.fallingrain.com/world/WA/40/Hakos.html ]. It covers a full 10 by 7 degree field in the pronounceable [ http://www.astronomyclub.org/learn/Say_What.htm ] constellation Ophiuchus. |
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