Daily Archives: January 24, 2014

The Sun Online and solar activity. January 24, 2014

No C-class flares were reported in the past 24 hours. Catania sunspot groups 14 and 17 (NOAA ARs 1957 and 1959) keep the beta-gamma configuration of the photospheric magnetic field, so we expect flaring activity on the low C-level. A long filament in the southern solar hemisphere passed the central meridian. If it erupts, the associated CME is very likely to arrive at the Earth. The Earth is currently inside a slow (around 370 km/s) solar wind flow with average (4-5 nT) interplanetary magnetic field magnitude. We expect quiet geomagnetic conditions.
SIDC

Equipment: Coronado 90 + Imaging Source DMK + LX75
Processing: Photoshop, Avistack
Date: 01/24/14
Time UT: 17:00
Exposure 1/150 sec.

With SPONLI Space is getting closer!

Bright Supernova in M82

Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona

Astronomers really don’t find supernovae by looking for the arrows. But in this image taken January 23rd, an arrow does point to an exciting, new supernova, now cataloged as SN 2014J, in nearby bright galaxy M82. Located near the Big Dipper in planet Earth’s sky, M82 is also known as the Cigar Galaxy, a popular target for telescopes in the northern hemisphere. In fact, SN 2014J was first spotted as an unfamiliar sourcein the otherwise familiar galaxy by teaching fellow Steve Fossey and astronomy workshop students Ben Cooke, Tom Wright, Matthew Wilde and Guy Pollack at the University College London Observatory on the evening of January 21. M82 is a mere 12 million light-years away (so the supernova explosion did happen 12 million years ago, that light just now reaching Earth), making supernova SN 2014J one of the closest to be seen in recent decades. Spectra indicate it is a Type Ia supernova caused by the explosion of a white dwarf accreting matter from a companion star. By some estimates two weeks away from its maximum brightness, SN 2014J is already the brightest part of M82 and visible in small telescopes in the evening sky.

NASA APOD 24-Jan-2014

NGC 7822 in constellation of Cepheus

NGC 7822 is a young star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus. The complex encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59. The complex is believed to be some 800-1000 pc distant, with the younger components aged no more than a few million years.The complex also includes one of the hottest stars discovered within 1 kpc of the Sun, namely BD+66 1673, which is an eclipsing binary system consisting of an O5V that exhibits a surface temperature of nearly 45000 K and a luminosity ~100000 times that of the Sun. The star is one of the primary sources illuminating the nebula and shaping the complex’s famed pillars of creation-type formations, the elephant trunks.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Explore Scientific ED102 APO
Imaging cameras: QSI 583 wsg
Mounts: Astro-Physics Mach 1 GTO
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Explore Scientific ED102 APO
Guiding cameras: SX Lodestar
Software: Maxim DL 5 MaximDL 5, Pleiades Astrophoto Pixinsight 1.8, Adobe Photoshop 6 CS
Filters: Astrodon Ha 5mm, Astrodon OIII 3nm, Astrodon SII 3nm
Frames: 72×1800″

Autor: Daniele Malleo

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI

24 January 2014

We select the best works of amateur astrophotographers with details of equipment, shooting processing etc.

Related posts:

Related posts:

Related posts: