Daily Archives: February 17, 2014

Milky Way

@ dakotalapse

Related posts:

  1. Milky way
  2. Milky Way
  3. The graceful arc of the Milky Way and beautiful landscapes
  4. The Sun Online and solar activity. December 21, 2013

The Cosmic Web of the Tarantula Nebula

tarantula_peach_3007

Image Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach

It is the largest and most complex star forming region in the entire galactic neighborhood. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way galaxy, the region’s spidery appearance is responsible for its popular name, the Tarantula nebula. This tarantula, however, is about 1,000 light-years across. Were it placed at the distance of Milky Way’s Orion Nebula, only 1,500 light-years distant and the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, it would appear to cover about 30 degrees (60 full moons) on the sky. Intriguing details of the nebula are visible in the above image shown in near true colors. The spindly arms of the Tarantula nebula surround NGC 2070, a star cluster that contains some of the brightest, most massive stars known, visible in blue on the right. Since massive stars live fast and die young, it is not so surprising that the cosmic Tarantula also lies near the site of a close recent supernova.

NASA APOD 17-Feb-2014

Related posts:

  1. The Tarantula Zone 
  2. Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070)
  3. Tarantula Nebula
  4. Cosmic Crab Nebula 

NGC 7000: North American Complex

1b95e763664259060f6b4e28a1e20c01.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-10_watermark_position-3_watermark_text-Copyright prostcj
The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (the tail of the swan and its brightest star). The remarkable shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. It is sometimes incorrectly called the “North American Nebula”.
The North America Nebula is large, covering an area of more than four times the size of the full moon; but its surface brightness is low, so normally it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Binoculars and telescopes with large fields of view (approximately 3°) will show it as a foggy patch of light under sufficiently dark skies. However, using a UHC filter, which filters out some unwanted wavelengths of light, it can be seen without magnification under dark skies. Its prominent shape and especially its reddish color (from the hydrogen Hα emission line) show up only in photographs of the area.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Takahashi CCA-250
Mounts: Software Bisque Paramount ME
Guiding cameras: SBIG STi
Focal reducers: Takahashi 645 Reducer QE 0.72X
Software: PixInsight, MaximDL 5
Filters: Astrodon Ha 3nm, Astrodon 3nm SII, Astrodon 3nm OIII
Dates: Oct. 7, 2013
Frames: 12×1200″
Integration: 4.0 hours

Autor: Craig Prost

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI

17 February 2014

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

Related posts:

  1. NGC 7000: The North America Nebula
  2. NGC 7000: The North America Nebula (Hubble Palette)
  3. The Wall NGC 7000: North America Nebula
  4. North America and the Pelican