Monthly Archives: April 2009

amateur astronomy, apod, astronomy media, astrophotography, astrovisualization

What if Your Eyes were REALLY Sensitive?

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The Sky Would Look Really Different

The Big Picture -- the sky as seen in a long exposure with sensitive equipment. By Dennis diCicco and Sean Walker, courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.
The Big Picture -- the sky as seen in a long exposure with sensitive equipment. By Dennis diCicco and Sean Walker, courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.

My former colleagues Dennis diCicco and Sean Walker (from back in my days at Sky and Telescope are first-rate astrophotographers.  I’ve seen many of their images over the years, and marvel at their skill.

So, when I saw this one, posted on Astronomy Picture of the Day, I was bowled over at the creative ingenuity – AND fantastic beauty — of their work.

This is a composite image they created using very sensitive cameras and 40 hours of exposures.  What you see here are the Orion-Eridanus superbubble region of the sky, Barnard’s Loop, and other nebulae.  This image shows objects at a level of detail that you just can’t pick up with a quick glance at the sky with your unaided eyes (or even through a telescope, for that matter.  You’d need sensitive eyes and the ability to stare at the sky for a LONG time to see this view.

Head on over to the APOD site to see the image in full-size beauty, and also with an overlay of constellation outlines.

And, while you’re at it, check out The World at Night — a website that presents images of the world’s landmarks set against the starry backdrop of the night.  It’s a great place to see stunning astro-imagery from photographers around the world. Thanks to Daniel Fischer for tweeting us about this; thanks to Dennis and Sean for their gorgeous work!

astronomy, astronomy news, starbirth

Into the Starry Deeps

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Where Stars Get Started

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86 set against the backdrop of the Milky Way. Courtesy NOAO. (Click to embiggen.)
NGC 6520 and Barnard 86 set against the backdrop of the Milky Way. T.A. Rector, University of Alaska, Anchorage and NOAO/AURA/NSF. (Click to embiggen.)

Let’s get back to talking about astronomy.  During the recent “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” event for IYA, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory released this stunning image of the open star cluster NGC 6520 and the dust cloud Barnard 86.  The wash of stars in the background is the Milky Way in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.

I like this picture because it shows two steps of star formation. The first is in that dark cloud named Barnard 86. It’s a Bok globule, one of those dusty, dark places that coalesce together to form stars. So, there could be stars forming inside that dust cloud.

See that little cloud of glittering stars right above Barnard 86?  Those are bright young newborns that probably formed out of some part of Barnard 86. They’re the second step of star formation — the finished product. They look bluish, which is one clue that they’re young. And they really stand out against the reddish older stars in the Milky Way in that region. Go ahead and embiggen that image — it’s worth taking the time to explore!