Why arent we having a full stream of space pics constantly coming from the thousands of satellites we have in the sky?
Why do we have to wait on a backyard astronomer to post something like this?
Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
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Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#72stupid question but how did we realize we were in a galaxy and how are we able to take pictures of it???
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#73Why arent we having a full stream of space pics constantly coming from the thousands of satellites we have in the sky? Why do we have to wait on a backyard astronomer to post something like this?
Because those sats are pointing down at us.
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looking at these pictures, I've began to ponder how much of an influence the night sky has been in religion and mythology throughout the millennia.
Agreed. I very recently was thinking about how humans up to a few hundred years ago must have seen the most breath taking night skies. Imagine a native American standing in a clearing at night 2000 years ago, with zero light pollution, looking at the night sky and just wondering what it is all about.
Even w/ a clear desert sky hundreds of miles from the nearest city (e.g. middle of Nevada), the sky looks nothing like these pictures. Astrophotography uses exposure times many multiples--and usually several orders of magnitude--longer than the human eye.
Can you see the Milkyway? No, not really; not without prompting. If you have no idea what to look for, the disc is just a barely imperceptible, slight increase in otherwise meager (relative to astrophotographs) star density. I've never seen it, nor other constellations, because I don't really know what to look for, though I've spent many hours staring up at the sky from various places, including extremely remote desert and mountain locales--Western U.S., Northern Mexico, Mongolia, Ecuador, Chile, etc.
Of course, there's no way to understand the awe and wonderment somebody lacking our knowledge, experience, and expectations may have experienced. Especially if they had never seen an astrophotograph.
EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if astrology, navigation, and astronomy might have developed more slowly if the human eye had greater fidelity. With only several thousand stars visible (much fewer readily discernible, especially if you're not an adolescent w/ fresh corneas), the motion of stars probably stands out more. Imagine trying to recognize and track the planets on a background as dense as an astrophotograph. Where to start? Would you even recognize the relative motion? People had much fewer distractions during nighttime back then, but it still seems substantially more daunting.
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#75When I look at this, it is hard to believe that life (and intelligent life) only exist on planet Earth... Very hard to believe.
Thats not hard to believe once you understand how unprobable life seems to be and especially in the very long term. The universe is a very violent place and cosmic events act as great filters all the time.
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#76Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#77Can I buy a large print of this somewhere?
I have the same question! Related question: If someone wanted to print something like this for themselves, how would they go about it? Say, I have an image or photo and I wanted to make a high quality print suitable for framing and hanging on, say, my office wall. Is this an 'Ask HN' question?
I mean, you can always segment it into several smaller prints and then stitch them together (carefully!), but I'd rather the author get some cut of it than me doing it myself at Walgreen's or Staples.
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#78This is absolutely incredible. Thank you.
I would love to see the mosaic extended below Cassiopeia to include the Andromeda Galaxy.
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#79On a camera in manual mode if you increase the exposure time, you must compensate the increased amount of light coming to the sensor by decreasing the aperture or the ISO. Can anybody please explain, how is it possible to have such a long exposure without overexposing the image?
Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
#80When I look at this, it is hard to believe that life (and intelligent life) only exist on planet Earth... Very hard to believe.
Thats not hard to believe once you understand how unprobable life seems to be and especially in the very long term. The universe is a very violent place and cosmic events act as great filters all the time.
Then again, this photo mosaic spans just one arm of one galaxy in the visible universe.