tiabunna's photos with the keyword: stars

We at last had a clear evening. This is a stitched image of multiple images of the Milky Way covering about 180 degrees and needs to be viewed large. The two patches of light below the bow are the two Magellanic Clouds, small nearby galaxies.

I was very impressed to see this great lunar halo last night, formed by a layer of icy high level cirrostratus cloud. On the left are Jupiter and Saturn, sitting just below Sagittarius (see PiPs). Best viewed large on black.

A cropped section from my wider sky image of Comet "C/2020 F8 SWAN" and even this crop is best viewed large. The full wider image is shown in the PiP - you'll be hard pressed to find the comet in it! More details about this comet with my main wider sky image.

This needs to be viewed large on black. Even then. it may be difficult to find the comet on this image of the night sky, so I've put a 'note' just below the centre to identify it. For even better viewing of the comet, I've added a cropped image in the PiP at top left (and below), which should help those using phones. This comet (official title C/2020_F8_SWAN) was discovered in late March. It is not yet visible to the naked eye, so I had to take bearings to find it for this image. Then it was a matter of rising at 0400 on a chilly Autumn morning to catch it just above the eastern horizon before sunrise. It soon will become brighter, but the coming full moon will create sighting difficulties before it passes below the southern hemisphere horizon. Maybe those of you in the north will have a better view later in May. For information on its position, I highly recommend the Heavens Above website. Taken using the 'Astrotracer' feature on the Pentax K1, to enable long exposure tracking. And, after all that, why not a musical link. :-) Explored.

Stitched image (8 shots) of the Milky Way Bow, looking west and covering from south to north. Somewhat more light pollution than I'd like (and a few local lights). See notes, then view large.

I was very impressed the other night by the clear overhead view of Scorpio and Jupiter (see notes for details). Best viewed large on black.

Looking at the Southern Cross and the adjacent areas of the southern night sky - best viewed large (though first check the details in the Notes). Tonight I feel a Leonard Cohen link is appropriate, though the relevance may be less clear outside Australia.

We were fortunate to have a clear night with no moon, so I was able to get this Milky Way bow with a stitched panorama. Best viewed large, maybe while listening to this. HFF and have a great weekend, everyone. Explored.

A few days ago came a report that the Large Magellanic Cloud (that's it here) is likely to crash into the Milky Way in just 2 billion years! Hey, we were supposed to be safe from a collision for 8 billion years. Ooops! Better backup of all your more valuable images, just in case. :-) Taken using the Pentax 'astrotracer' on the K1. View on black, maybe while listening to this. Explored.

Looking at the night sky up past Orion (those of you in the Northern Hemisphere would recognise this inverted), as clouds began to roll in and call a halt to proceedings. Details in notes and best viewed large. I know Pam would be interested in this.

Best viewed large (see also notes). Looking south with some cloud and lights across the water - a very similar viewpoint to my previous image.

It was just too hard to resist a fairly clear sky (some low cloud at left horizon) and a new moon. This covers about 180 degrees (stitched panorama). The local town throws up some light at the right. Needs to be viewed large. EDIT: I've now edited and replaced this with a different projection.

Six stitched images (vertical format) were needed to make this (about 180 degree) panorama of the Milky Way. In the middle of the bow are the Magellanic Clouds, two small satellite galaxies. Out on the right, a little evening mist is beginning to cover the lights of the local town. One to view large, maybe while listening to this. Explored.

Night sky in the country and a little torchlight to fill the foreground. Here's a musical link to go with it (suggest view large). HFF and have a great weekend, everyone. Explored.

The brighter trail is the International Space Station, as it dims when heading into the earth's shadow. Viewed large it may be possible to see the trails of five other satellites. Those two light blurs are the Magellanic Clouds, themselves small satellite galaxies to the Milky Way.

From the heavens-above.com website I found that two Iridium satellites were to pass over us through the Southern Cross constellation. I wonder if this would be called a "double crossing"? :-) The third satellite was an unexpected bonus. One to view large.

Looking north toward Orion and the M42 nebula (those of you in the northern hemisphere usually see this upside down) using the astrotracer in the K-1. This repays viewing large and if you look carefully you will may the traces of no fewer than four satellites (none were visible to the naked eye) - the underlying concern in the film "Gravity" about space junk becomes understandable, even if the science in the film was sometimes questionable. Here's the obvious music (I passed over the version by George Clooney's aunt.:-) ).