Astronomy Picture Of The Day

[filkertom]

Straight-up gorgeous.

Any good space or nature photos we should see? (And, yes, I've already seen the Jessica Rabbit as Slave Leia.)

Comments

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Google search for Milky way over arches. There are a bunch of hits that are very nice, though unfortunately none of them are the incredible one I'm thinking of.

[sdelmonte]

Oh, to be somewhere where I can see the Milky Way with my own eyes. I have been to many places where I can see a vast array of stars, but never the Milky Way.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

The more remote areas of the desert Southwest US is good for that, and it really is that impressive when you are out at night, just in little towns, not even out in the big empty camping.

[pagawne.livejournal.com]

I can remember being able to see the Milky Way from our back yard, if the street light was burned out. We lived in Denton, Texas. Now you can't see the sky.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

I'm particularly fond of this one:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110117.html

[cathain.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NGC_6302_Hubble_2009.full.jpg

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's one of the more impressive works of photography I've seen in a while. Sure, it's digitally manipulated, but nothing's added or removed - just stitched together in interesting ways.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

It's not generally that hard to see, but you do have to let your eyes get used to the dark for a full half hour in most places. A single white light anywhere nearby means your eyes will never get used to the dark. That's the main reason people who get to where it's marginally dark never see it. It's always amusing to me at public star party events when people start seeing shooting stars and wonder why there are so many tonight? There's always a fair number, but most people usually never look at the sky for minutes at a time and get their eyes used to the dark.

It's also pretty irritating when the teenagers come in and refuse to believe that if they just turn off that damned flashlight and wait 10 minutes, they'll be able to walk around just fine without it. Sometimes they just turn around and leave when you tell them they can't proceed around the corner to the observing area with the flashlight on.