Tag Archives: Southern Cross

Southern Cross and Coalsack Dark Nebula

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The Coalsack Dark Nebula (or simply the Coalsack) is the most prominent dark nebula in the skies, easily visible to the naked eyeas a dark patch silhouetted against the southern Milky Way.   The Coalsack is located at a distance of approximately 600 light years away from Earth, in the constellation Crux.  The Coalsack is not present in the New General Catalogue and in fact does not have an identification number (outside of the Caldwell Catalogue, in which it is C99).
In Inca astronomy this nebula was called Yutu meaning a partridge.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L (at f/3.2 135mm)
Imaging cameras: Canon 5D Mark II
Mounts: CELESTRON CG5-ASGT
Software: PixInsight, BinaryRivers BackyardEOS, Lightroom
Frames:14x5min ISO800

Author: Cory Schmitz
AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI
20 June 2014

Related posts:

  1. The Dark Horse Nebula
  2. The Southern Cross
  3. Rho Ophiuchi
  4. IC 2944: Running Chicken Nebula

The Southern Cross

189319f393c56f9b04878bd567833180.1824x0_q100_watermarkThe Southern Cross is a cross-shaped asterism very close to the neighboring constellation of Centaurus.  Southern Cross is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations. Сrux is easily visible from the southern hemisphere at practically any time of year. It is also visible near the horizon from tropical latitudes of the northern hemisphere for a few hours every night during the northern winter and spring.  Crux is exactly opposite to Cassiopeia on the celestial sphere. Three of the five main Crux stars—Acrux, Mimosa, and Delta Crucis—are co-moving B-type members of the Scorpius-Centaurus Association, the nearest OB association to the Sun.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Nikon 85mm f/1.8
Imaging cameras: Canon 1100D (unmodified)
Software: Craig Stark Nebulosity
Dates: April 22, 2014
Frames: 18×360″
Integration: 1.8 hours

Author: Jonah Scott

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI
27 April 2014

Related posts:

  1. From the Northern to the Southern Cross
  2. NGC 6231: Northern Jewel Box
  3. Magellanic Clouds
  4. Centaurus A

From the Northern to the Southern Cross

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Image Credit & Copyright: Nicholas Buer

Explanation: There is a road that connects the Northern to the Southern Cross but you have to be at the right place and time to see it. The road, as pictured above, is actually the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy; the right place, in this case, is dark Laguna Cejar in Salar de Atacama of Northern Chile; and the right time was in early October, just after sunset. Many sky wonders were captured then, including the bright Moon, inside theMilky Way arch; Venus, just above the Moon; Saturn and Mercury, just below the Moon; the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds satellite galaxies, on the far left; red airglow near the horizon on the image left; and the lights of small towns at several locations across the horizon. One might guess that composing this 30-image panorama would have been a serene experience, but for that one would have required earplugs to ignore the continuedbrays of wild donkeys.
NASA APOD 27-Jan-2014

Related posts:

  1. The Southern Cross
  2. Southern Annular Eclipse 
  3. The Terraced Night
  4. Lyrids in Southern Skies