Milky Way Arch over Lut Desert, Iran, by Amirreza Kamkar, Iran (Islamic Republic of)

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Criado para o OAE

Legenda: Second place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Wide star fields. This panoramic dawn image shows the majestic band of the Milky Way – our home Galaxy – made up of a few hundred billion stars, among other structures, most of which are not detectable by our eyes, or in some cases even directly with telescopes. The appearance of the band is because the Milky Way is a disc-shaped galaxy, and we (Earth/Solar System) are situated within the disc. Diverse cultures and traditions around the world each have their own name and cultural stories for the Milky Way. The dark regions visible in the Milky Way are large, dense, cool nebulae (clouds of dust and gas), which obscure the light from stars in the Milky Way. The Indigenous Australians associate stories with the dark patches of the Milky Way, one of the most prominent being the Emu in the Sky (called Tchingal in Wotjobaluk country). In and around the band of the Milky Way there are a vast range of star clusters, two familiar ones are M6 (Butterfly cluster) and M7 (Ptolemy’s cluster). The bright point just above the horizon is the planet Venus (known to the Boorong people of Indigenous Australia as Chargee Gnowee, elder sister of the Sun). Within the band of the Milky Way the brightest point in the image is the planet Jupiter (called Ginabongbearp, the Sulphur-crested white cockatoo by the Boorong). The planet Saturn is the bright point between Venus and Jupiter (closer to Venus than Jupiter). There are two constellations and one asterism that can be easily discerned in the image: Aquila, Scorpio (Maui’s Hook), and Teapot (asterism in Sagittarius). In this image, the center of the Milky Way at an approximate distance of 26,000 light years from Earth, is located roughly to the top right of the Teapot spout. The bright red-orange point to the right of Jupiter is the red supergiant star Antares and is part of the constellation Scorpio (known as Maui’s Hook in Māori and Polynesian cultures). This variation in the colour of stars is the result of temperature of the stars (lower temperature stars are redder, higher temperatures stars are bluer).
Crédito: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

Termos do Glossário: Via Láctea , Nuvem de poeira
Categorias Via Láctea e Meio Interestelar , Astronomia a Olho Nu

Licença: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) ícones

Este arquivo no Zenodo ( imagem 2.85 MB)

Chilean observatories at home office, by Robert Barsa, Slovakia

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Criado para o OAE

Legenda: Third place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Wide star fields. This rich panoramic image shows a range of constellations, deep sky objects and planets. The brightest point of light with a pale reddish hue (left of center) is the planet Mars. In the bottom far left of the image, located just above the sloped roof of the building are two points of light appearing very close to each other, these are the planets Jupiter (brighter) and Saturn. To the far right of the image the two fuzzy cloud-like objects are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These are satellite dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way located at a distance of approximately 160,000 and 200,000 light years, respectively. The Andromeda Galaxy, which is located at an approximate distance of 2.5 million light years, appears in this image as a small, angled smudge between Mars and the brightest glow on the horizon (closer to the horizon). The bright glow is not from the Sun or the Moon, but the city lights of San Pedro de Atacama. Prominent constellations include: Orion – identified by the three stars forming Orion’s Belt; Taurus – a small triangle shaped collection of stars to the left of Orion and identified by the pale orange star (Aldebaran) at the vertex of the triangle; Canis Major – to the bottom right of Orion, identified by the bright star Sirius (the brightest star in the night sky) and three stars in the shape of a triangle just above the observatory dome in the foreground; Pegasus – identified by the trapezium shape diagonally below Mars. Other constellations include Andromeda, Perseus and Aries. Diverse cultures around the world have their own names and rich stories associated with these constellations and many others. To the top right of Orion’s Belt is an angled line of stars (Orion’s Sword) within which is a pinkish smudge (looks like a fuzzy star when observed with the unaided eye) that is the Orion Nebula – a stellar nursery located 1500 light years from Earth – where stars are formed. To the left of Taurus is a compact fuzzy smudge, and that is the Pleiades star cluster. The variation in the colour of stars is the result of temperature of the stars, for example, the red orange star to the bottom left of Orion’s Belt is the red giant star Betelgeuse. Cooler stars appear redder, compared to the higher temperature white and bluish stars. The colours in the image are enhanced because of the higher sensitivity of the digital camera compared to the human eye.
Crédito: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Termos do Glossário: Áries , Astronomia , Observatório
Categorias Astronomia a Olho Nu , Telescópios, Instrumentos e Observatórios

Licença: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) ícones

Este arquivo no Zenodo ( imagem 77.18 MB)

The Milky Way Across the Zenith

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Criado para o OAE

Legenda: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This all-sky image shows our home galaxy, the Milky Way, crossing the zenith, the point just above the observer as seen from Nagano, Japan, in May 2019. Such images of the whole sky can be taken either with a fish-eye lens or with a convex mirror on the ground, the latter of which would show the photographer as well. Some of the brightest stars in the night sky can be seen in this image, as well as two of the giant planets of our Solar System: Jupiter, the brightest point in the bottom of this image, and Saturn, another bright point just to the opposite side of the Galaxy, to the bottom and next to the horizon. Directly right of the Milky Way and below Jupiter, we can spot the bright red star Antares, the primary star of the Japanese asterism of The Heart. Japanese constellations derive from ancient Chinese constellations, which were adopted with only slight or no changes. In this tradition, The Heart is the heart of the “Azure Dragon”, a super-constellation that represents the spring. In the Babylonian and Greco-Roman traditions, this area is considered the heart of the Scorpion. In Babylonian religion, the star is associated with Lisi, the child of the mother goddess, but in Greek mythology it is related to the planet Mars, because of its colour. The reddish colour also led to the star’s Chinese name “The Fire Star”. We know that this colour is caused by its relatively cool temperature. Going from Antares to the right of the image, we find the more northern parts of the sky. The bright star in the lower-right of the image, close to the horizon, is Arcturus, located in the modern constellation Boötes. While Antares and its surrounding area are considered the heart of the Azure Dragon, Arcturus and Spica (below the horizon) are two single-star asterisms forming its huge horn. Pointing towards it from above, at the right-hand edge of the image’s horizon, we can see the handle of the Big Dipper, or Plough, which is part of the constellation Ursa Major. The bright point to the right of the galaxy and just above the middle of the image is Vega, located in the modern constellation Lyra. Extending a line to the other side of the Galaxy and a bit lower in the image we can find Altair, in the constellation Aquila. From that point we extend another line to Deneb, the brightest star in the constellation of the Swan, also a bit higher in this image and completely flooded by the Milky Way. These three bright stars comprise the asterism known as the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere.
Crédito: Ohnishi Kouji/IAU OAE

Termos do Glossário: Júpiter , Via Láctea , Saturno , Escorpião
Categorias Via Láctea e Meio Interestelar , Astronomia a Olho Nu

Licença: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) ícones

Este arquivo no Zenodo ( imagem 11.13 MB)

The Pillar of Creation

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Criado para o OAE

Legenda: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image shows the night sky over Tre Cime di Lavaredo, (Dolomites Natural Park), in the region of Veneto, Italy, in October 2021. The bright spot on the left-hand side is the planet Jupiter, appearing in the constellation Capricorn. To the right of Jupiter and below the two horn stars of Capricorn is the planet Saturn. Just above Jupiter we can see parts of Aquarius, one of the largest constellations and also part of the Zodiac. North of these constellations, left of the Milky Way, there are mostly faint stars. The brighter whitish one in the top left corner is Enif, a binary star in the constellation Pegasus. The Milky Way seems to emerge from a rock like celestial vapour. Roughly centred in the image are two bright stars left and right of the Milky Way: Altair and Vega, respectively. They seem to be separated by the galactic stream, as told in a popular Chinese folk story where they represent a loving couple. Today, in popular astronomy, the fairly bright star at the upper edge of the photograph is added to form a huge triangle with them, the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere. Altair is the brightest star of the Babylonian constellation Aquila, the Eagle. In ancient Babylon, it was said that the Eagle was carrying king Etana up in the air so that he could see Earth from above. Next to the Babylonian Eagle was the constellation of the Corpse, that returned only in Roman times when Ptolemy put it below the Eagle as the new sub-constellation “Antinous”. It is seen as the corpse (or soul) of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s favourite who had just died in the Nile. Vega is the bright white star to the right of the Milky Way. It forms part of the small constellation Lyra, famous for hosting the Ring Nebula, which is an impressive planetary nebula — a dying star blowing its gas into space. At the right edge of the image, three stars in a bent row appear rather prominently. This is the handle of the Big Dipper pointing downwards to a bright star close to the horizon: Arcturus, the bright star of the constellation Bootes (Greek: the Ploughman). This kite-like constellation is probably a pagan interpretation of the Babylonian god “Enlil” whose constellation also occupied that place in the sky. The Romans re-interpreted this figure as The Ox-Driver who controlled the Seven Oxen seen in the bright stars of Ursa Major. Directly right of Vega, there is the huge constellation Hercules and below it, directly to the left of Bootes, we find a half-circle of stars comprising the small constellation Corona Borealis, associated with Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete in Greek culture. The lights seen in the bottom left side of the image are due to the reflection of artificial lights in the clouds.
Crédito: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

Termos do Glossário: Capricórnio , Poeira , Júpiter , Via Láctea , Saturno , Nuvem de poeira , Extinção interestelar
Categorias Via Láctea e Meio Interestelar , Astronomia a Olho Nu

Licença: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) ícones

Este arquivo no Zenodo ( imagem 10.71 MB)