Hubble image of Fomalhaut b, the first planet detected via direct imaging of the planet's visible light. Orbits the star Fomalhaut, about 25 light years from earth, in the constellation Pisces Austrinus (visible in the S. Hemisphere and up to about latitude 40 in the N. Hem.)
"Skies Above"
New app makes stargazing easy, informative
By MARC RITTER North County Times | Posted: Monday, October 3, 2011 11:30 am
I honestly didn't see this day coming, a day when I could say that a person could hold a phone up to the skies to find out what was up there. Today's column is about an app I use for my iPhone and iPad called "Star Walk." I don't often write about applications, but I feel that this is something readers of this column can use ---- and it is dirt cheap.
"Star Walk", an app by Vito Technology, allows any layperson to navigate the skies above, day or night, without having to spend a couple hundred bucks to do so.
"Star Walk" opens up with what is called Sky Live, a beautifully illustrated summary of information about the day's rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, and the location of the naked-eye planets.
But the beauty doesn't end there by any means. The next window takes you right to the sky. When I first got the app, I just used the touch screen to move around the heavens and see the different constellations and stars and planets, a virtual star chart of the entire sky.
And when you hold your device up, the GPS and gyroscopes kick in to make your local skies alive. Suddenly, wherever you point the device, there is on your screen in full color, the very sky in front of you, illustrated and labeled. (And you can see even the skies below the horizon since Star Walk is not limited to the visible sky.)
That will keep you busy for long enough, but there's more. Tapping on a constellation or star or other point of interest will allow you to get information on that object. Using the search button will help you find all kinds of objects by directing you to them with an on-screen arrow. Want to know where Cygnus the Swan is? Enter it and "Star Walk" takes you there.
Other handy extras include a night vision mode to make it easier for your eyes to go between screen and dark sky. You can follow various satellites. A sliding clock can take your sky forward and backward in time. There is an adjustable visual magnitude bar for better representing how dark ---- or how light-polluted ---- your sky might be.
The latest version has a gift for us nerdy backyard astronomers ---- a full spectrum scroll. Here you can "see" how the heavens look in all kinds of wavelengths from gamma ray all the way down to radio waves.
The bad news for some readers is that Star Walk is only available for the iPhone and iPad. (The iPad version is stunning.) The good news is that it's just $3 for the iPhone, $5 for the iPad. You cannot beat that price.
It is available at the iTunes Store. Go get it and start exploring!
APOD:2011 December 30th & 31st
Retrieved From:http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111230.htmlThe Diner at the Center of the Galaxy
Illustration Credit: ESO/MPE/Marc Schartmann
Explanation: The monster at the center of our Galaxy is about to get fed. Recent observations by the Very Large Telescopes indicate that a cloud of gas will venture too close to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic center. The gas cloud is being disrupted, stretched out, heated up, and some of it is expected to fall into the black hole over the next two years. In this artist's illustration, what remains of the blob after a close pass to the black hole is shown in red and yellow, arching out from the gravitational death trap to its right. The cloud's orbit is shown in red, while the orbits of central stars are shown in blue. The infalling nebula is estimated to contain several times the mass of our Earth, while the central black hole, thought to correspond to the radio source Sagittarius A*, contains about four million times the mass of our Sun. Once it falls in, nothing is expected to be heard from the doomed gas ever again.
Retieved From:http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111231.htmlComet Lovejoy and the ISS
Image Credit: Carlos Caccia, (Intendente Alvear, Argentina) / Right - Dan Burbank (ISS Expedition 30, NASA)
Explanation: On December 24, Comet Lovejoy rose in dawn's twilight, arcing above the eastern horizon, its tails swept back by the solar wind and sunlight. Seen on the left is the comet's early morning appearance alongside the southern Milky Way from the town of Intendente Alvear, La Pampa province, Argentina. The short star trails include bright southern sky stars Alpha and Beta Centauri near the center of the frame, but the long bright streak that crosses the comet tails is a little closer to home. Waiting for the proper moment to start his exposure, the photographer has also caught the International Space Station still glinting in the sunlight as it orbits (top to bottom) above the local horizon. The right panel is the near horizon view of Comet Lovejoy from the space station itself, captured only two days earlier. In fact, Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, recorded Comet Lovejoy rising just before the Sun in a spectacular video (linked here). Even considering the other vistas available from low Earth orbit, Burbank describes the comet as "the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space."
It's time that this thread come alive again
NASA APOD 04-10-2012
Retrieved From:http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.htmlA Fox Fur, a Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree
Image Credit: Rolf Geissinger
Explanation: What do the following things have in common: a cone, the fur of a fox, and a Christmas tree? Answer: they all occur in the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros). Pictured above as a star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae. The above image spans about 3/4 degree or nearly 1.5 full moons, covering 40 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Fox Fur Nebula, whose convoluted pelt lies at the upper left, bright variable star S Mon immersed in the blue-tinted haze just below the Fox Fur, and the Cone Nebula near the tree's top. Of course, the stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular tree shape traced by the stars appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered near S Mon.
Look...Up in the sky!
as mentioned, previously,
the girl-child's attention is sustained by detailed preparation.
here is an other reliable device
used to fascinate her
with regularity:
A few weeks back, we took a look at satellites. This time we look specifically at one type of satellite which has a unique characteristic with which to wow your family and friends.
The Iridium satellites are a "constellation" of dozens of communication satellites put in orbit by Iridium Communications, Inc. Not a big deal so far except that there is a part of each satellite which is highly reflective. On each are three very shiny antennae which, when the satellite is arranged just perfectly, can reflect sunlight with a vengeance.
Most of us who have seen satellites know they are not too much brighter than most of the stars up there. But the Iridium species can reflect so much light that they can register a magnitude -8. For the uninitiated, that is about 40 times brighter than Venus, that bright planet setting in the west after sundown.
Because they have to reflect at just the precise angle to the sun, they essentially appear and disappear within just a handful of seconds. But the fun thing is that you can predict exactly when and where in the sky this happens. And when it does happen on cue, it is a pretty cool sight to behold. Ready to try?
First you will need the coordinates of where you are. For the sake of example, let us assume you are at home. You can find your exact latitude and longitude many ways, but if you have access to the internet, you can just go to a site like iTouchMap.com.
Along their top menu, you will see a selection called Lat-Long. Go to that page, enter your address, and write down the coordinates they give you.
Now go to heavens-above.com. Under Configuration go to the Edit Manually link. There enter your latitude and longitude and your time zone - all critical information. Submit that.
You are taken back to the main page. Under Satellites see Iridium Flares. Click "next 7 days." There you will see listed the dates and times for upcoming flares. Pick one with a low magnitude (remember the lower the magnitude, the brighter).
On that date and that exact time, look up in the sky at that angle above horizon (altitude) and in that compass direction (azimuth) and before your very eyes a point in the sky will flash in extraordinary brilliance.
This all can seem a little complicated at first, but can get very easy, very quickly. Then you can show friends and family. Or you can use it in situations like this with your spouse, "Dear, if a light appears in the sky right there in one minute, can I get the new iPad?" Or to your kids, "If there is a flash of light in the sky right there in 15 seconds, you will weed the entire backyard, OK?"
Want the lazy man way of doing it, like I do? Get Sputnik!, an app for the iPhone which automatically does all the above in seconds.
Have fun!these moments easily segue in to a lesson
on geometry/trigonometry/astrophysics.
practice this a few times
before performing in front of an audience
(a miss-timed gesture toward the sky
can be awkward).
Wow that's amazing i am surprised to watch these photos how much difficult to make this Photos even by satellite i am also a beginner professional photographer and do not make this type photos now but anyways this si really very great and thumbs up for this info and phtoos ...........
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