Daily Archives: June 10, 2014

The Sun Online and solar activity. June 10, 2014

Two X-class flares were observed today, both originating from the active region which just rotated from the behind of the east solar limb. The impulsive X2.2 flare peaked at 11:44 UT and the second X1.5 flare peaked at 12:52 UT. The SDO/AIA data indicate that the flares were possibly associated with the CMEs. No coronagraph data are yet available.
SIDC

Equipment: Coronado 90 +  Imaging Source DMK  + LX75
Processing: Photoshop, Avistack 300 frames
Date: 06/10/14
Time UT: 16:00
Exposure 1/500 sec.

  

Related posts:

  1. The Sun Online and solar activity. June 2, 2014
  2. The Sun Online and solar activity. June 3, 2014
  3. The Sun Online and solar activity. June 1, 2014
  4. The Sun Online and solar activity. February 14, 2014

M51: X-Rays from the Whirlpool 


m51_chandrahubble_960m51_hubbleonly_960
Image Credit & Copyright: X-ray: NASA, CXC, R. Kilgard (Wesleyan U. et al.; Optical: NASA, STScI

What if we X-rayed an entire spiral galaxy? This was done (again) recently by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory for the nearby interacting galaxies known as the Whirlpool (M51). Hundreds of glittering x-ray stars are present in the above Chandra image of the spiral and its neighbor. The image is a conglomerate of X-ray light from Chandra and visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope. The number of luminous x-ray sources, likely neutron star and black hole binary systems within the confines of M51, is unusually high for normal spiral or elliptical galaxies and suggests this cosmic whirlpool has experienced intense bursts of massive star formation. The bright cores of both galaxies, NGC 5194 and NGC 5195 (right and left respectively), also exhibit high-energy activity. In this false-color image where X-rays are depicted in purple, diffuse X-ray emission typically results from multi-million degree gas heated by supernova explosions.

NASA APOD 10-Jun-14

Related posts:

  1. M51, Whirlpool Galaxy
  2. Stripping ESO 137-001
  3. Messier 63: The Sunflower Galaxy
  4. No X-rays from SN 2014J 

Arcturus

ec831842eb3335a106b8c05bed4cdef3.1824x0_q100_watermark_watermark_opacity-20_watermark_position-4_watermark_text-Giuseppe Donatiello

Arcturus (α Boo, α Boötis, Alpha Boötis) of the constellation Boötes is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. With a visual magnitude of −0.04, it is the fourth brightest star in the night sky, after −1.46 magnitude Sirius, −0.86 magnitude Canopus, and −0.27 magnitude Alpha Centauri. It is a relatively close star at only 36.7 light-years from Earth, and, together with Vega and Sirius, one of the most luminous stars in the Sun’s neighborhood.

Arcturus is a type K1.5 IIIpe orange giant star, with an absolute magnitude of −0.30. It has likely exhausted its hydrogen from the core and is currently in its active hydrogen shell burning phase. It will continue to expand before entering horizontal branch stage of its life cycle.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: 127 ED doublet f/9 (homemade)
Imaging cameras: Homemade Planet 640×480 Color
Mounts: Konus EQ3.2
Software: Star Tools, Corel Paint Shop Pro x2, Emil Kraaikamp’s AutoStakkert!
Dates: July 2, 2012
Frames: 3×40″

Author: Giuseppe Donatiello

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI 10 June 2014

Related posts:

  1. Vega
  2. Vega
  3. Rigel
  4. Nebula SH2-9 in the Scorpius