The Stars and The Moon

[FineTuned]

Hahaha, too late, I do not know which is head & which is tail.

This pic should help. The picture is from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation virtual Sky tour http://www.abc.net.au/science/starhunt/tour/virtual/

[Naka]

This pic should help. The picture is from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation virtual Sky tour http://www.abc.net.au/science/starhunt/tour/virtual/

So it's only a small part of this vast system

[Naka]

Forgot, what is this?

[FineTuned]

So it's only a small part of this vast system

Yes, the universe is huge, mysterious and beautiful. Open your eyes to the real night sky, and you will enjoy it better than trying to figure out astro pics.

[lady-o-leisure]

Ooooh.. FT, you are using the same Celestron? Great!! So when you come visit me some day, you will already be familiar with it. Still in the stupid process of trying to get our house built so that we can build the observatories after that. What a pain these people are here.
The sky was overcast again last night. Typical spring weather.
We must check out the Planetarium Negara on our next trip. Do you go there often?

[lady-o-leisure]

You are so right, I did not take my time taking photos through the eye-pieces knowing of the long queue.

BTW, no touch light or flash from phone or camera during the tour, so no photo of all the telescopes.

It was really dark in the hills except some red lights from the tour guides.

It was cold too...3c.

The skies and stars is totally new to me.

Naka, i know all too well , what it is like. heheh.. Esp the cold. Aiyooo... standing out in the open for hours until toes are freezing, hands and face freezing, and then you cant control any of the camera buttons coz the fingers are half frozen already. hahahah..
I always have a dim red LED flashlight in my handbag with me so i don't forget it at star parties. When i am taking pics of the sky at these kinds of events, i cover my camera's lcd screen until it goes dim. During a shot , the LCD goes off anyway, so all is good.
The thing that annoys astronomers the most at events are lights from cameras, phones, buildings, streetlights and those kids' shoes with blinking lights when they walk.
Hopefully you will start enjoying the night sky a bit more now. You know, you don't have to buy a fancy telescope.. you can get a pair of good binoculars, which you can take along with you when you travel too. It is very practical for someone who isn't planning to do a whole lot of astronomy. I love using binoculars to look at the moon, Jupiter, Pleiades, etc. There are binoculars that can be mounted on a tripod to make it steadier if it is heavy. There are some things which are easier to figure out when using binoculars. Plus, when not looking at the nightsky, you can use it for birdwatching , etc. I have a tiny monocular in my handbag all the time for birdwatching on-the-go. So cheap from amazon.com and they even sent me a free one after that, so i have 2 now. I use it mostly for archery to look at the target.

[Naka]

Sight no. 3 was Omega Centauri through a Calver Telescope.

Omega Centauri is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677.

Located at a distance of 15,800 light-years, it is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years.

It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars and a total mass equivalent to 4 million solar masses.

Omega Centauri is so distinctive from the other galactic globular clusters that it is thought to have an alternate origin as the core remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy.

[Naka]

A small part of Crux Carina Region

[Naka]

Sight no. 3 was Omega Centauri through a Calver Telescope.

Omega Centauri is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677.

Located at a distance of 15,800 light-years, it is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years.

It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars and a total mass equivalent to 4 million solar masses.

Omega Centauri is so distinctive from the other galactic globular clusters that it is thought to have an alternate origin as the core remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy.

This ' 10 million Stars ' as seen through the scope. Here is a photo by ESO

[Naka]

The Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula is a large, spherical H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy.
The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.

[Naka]

4th sighting was Eta Carina Nebula

The ETA Carina Nebula is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, and is located in
the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula lies at an estimated distance between 6,500 and 10,000 light-years from Earth.

Telescope used was schmidt kassegrain te;escope scope.

Part of ETA

[Naka]

We were supposed to look at Saturn by alas it was partially covered by cloud.

So we moved inside to look at the Astrographic Telescope.

An astrograph is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are usually used in wide field surveys of the night sky as well as detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, and comets.

Photo of this telescope



An image of Trifid Nebula by this old technology




Part of Lagoon and Trifid Nebula by a modern telescope

[Naka]

One of the most visited natural attractions of Western Australia in the outback is The Pinnacles at Cervantes about 200 km North of
Perth.

The Pinnacles are limestone formations within Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes, Western Australia.

Here is a photo of The Pinnacles on a normal day.



Come to think about it, it is quite boring during the day.

But it is entirely different at nights with the Milkyway in the sky

Here is Michael Goh's Milkyway at The Pinnacles.

[Dervish]

Oh wow! Nice shots!

Cervantes sounds familiar though ...

[kwchang]

Oh wow! Nice shots!...

Naka - did you take those photos? More likely from website? - I can see the "Michel Goh" watermark which is not your name... did you get his permission? If not please get permission or I will remove the photos because I am serious about using copyrighted material