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Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

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101–110 of 141 posts

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#101
post #89

Holy crap the universe is massive. It occurred to me the other day that there's barely any science fiction that even occurs outside our own galaxy (Star Wars being the exception that proves the rule). And if it does it's usually something from Andromeda right 'next door'. Even Star Trek only leaves the galaxy maybe one time, and that requires the help of Q.

Too bad it's so far away. There's that saying... too young to explore the world, too old to explore the universe. When our children's children learn to extend their life, or figure out some sort of suspended animation, or pload their brain... what wonders they will see.

Even with extended life span ain't nobody ever going to another galaxy.

Even if we could travel at the speed of light, it would take 2.5 million years just to get to the nearest galaxy.

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#102
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fantastic. I immediately wondered how he managed to seamlessly mosaic together what is surely hundreds of images and thousands of subs. Here are the details: https://space4everybody.com/processing-details/ And equipment: https://space4everybody.com/technical-details-equipment/ Nothing too fancy (in astrophotography relative terms). A decent refractor and mono camera (such parameters have come down in price by…

Unfortunately they don't seem to have a link to the final "full-res" image. I'd love to put that with my collection of other massive-res images. My screensaver pans between random spots on massive images in a folder.

They sell their photography. I'm sure you can reach out for a price quote.

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#103
post #82
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 o…

I agree with your larger premise, but: > Can you see the Milkyway? No, not really This is not my experience. I have seen the Milky Way very clearly from a few locations in the US. None are particularly remote -- all are just a few hours drive from the large cities I've lived in. Winter months are clearer than summer.

Where I grew up in rural Wisconsin I could see it at night laying out on our front lawn. Not super bright, but you could definitely tell it was there.

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#104
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would have been a much better species? Bright lights are a very recent part of our species’ history. It’s not like humanity had a reputation for being particularly civilized before the invention of electric light.

Depends on what you mean by "civilized", but I take your point. I do wonder, however, if there isn't a correlation between the increase of light pollution and the trend away from reverence for gods. In other words, does the ability to see the grandeur of the heavens on a daily basis influence us to believe in greater beings?

Why is a belief in "greater beings" good or helpful?

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#105
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fantastic. I immediately wondered how he managed to seamlessly mosaic together what is surely hundreds of images and thousands of subs. Here are the details: https://space4everybody.com/processing-details/ And equipment: https://space4everybody.com/technical-details-equipment/ Nothing too fancy (in astrophotography relative terms). A decent refractor and mono camera (such parameters have come down in price by…

Unfortunately they don't seem to have a link to the final "full-res" image. I'd love to put that with my collection of other massive-res images. My screensaver pans between random spots on massive images in a folder.

Hey, would you share your library publicly or privately? I've been looking for something like this :)

Also, check out dezoomify[0]

[0] https://ophir.alwaysdata.net/dezoomify/dezoomify.html

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#106
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too bad it's so far away. There's that saying... too young to explore the world, too old to explore the universe. When our children's children learn to extend their life, or figure out some sort of suspended animation, or pload their brain... what wonders they will see.

Even with extended life span ain't nobody ever going to another galaxy. Even if we could travel at the speed of light, it would take 2.5 million years just to get to the nearest galaxy.

There has to be a hack.

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#108

Holy crap the universe is massive. It occurred to me the other day that there's barely any science fiction that even occurs outside our own galaxy (Star Wars being the exception that proves the rule). And if it does it's usually something from Andromeda right 'next door'. Even Star Trek only leaves the galaxy maybe one time, and that requires the help of Q.

Wait, what? In what universe is there "barely any science fiction" outside our galaxy?

Lensman. The entire Revelation Space series. Beyond the Aquila Rift. Player of Games. Algebraist. Sirens of Titan. Perry Rhodan.

And that's off the top of my head. There's quite a bit of SF (both good and trash, and I think the above list has both :) happening outside our galaxy.

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#109
post #55
post #52

Earlier 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.

And in the modern world, we are blind to it because of light pollution. It's sad. One of the most amazing experiences ever, a truly dark, clear sky at night, is only accessible if you travel off-continent.

You better believe it.

I couldn't believe what the sky looked like at night when I moved to Australia from the UK. And I was in a relatively suburban setting then. I regularly go camping now maybe every 1-2 months out into the outback. And the night sky, without exaggeration and using the words here sensibly, literally, never, gets old. In my 19 years in the UK I never saw anything like it.

Edit: Admittedly I think the constant cloud coverage in the UK was more of a hindrance than the light pollution here I lived. Or at least it was so fucking cloudy so fucking often, I had no idea how bad the light pollution was.

I remember when I first moved here and looked up to the sky from my back yard and I could see Orions Belt. Now I'm less than a novice, I only recognised it from Men in Black (don't judge me). But that feeling I had in that moment stuck with me.

And I get such a ridiculous glee when I can drive 1-2 hours from Brisbane city and see the most ridiculous night skys I've ever seen. Keep travelling west and it just gets better and better. I can't wait to visit on of the Dark Night Sky locations.

NSW, Australia: https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-and-herita...

Re: Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky

#110
Do I understand correctly, that all colours on these pictures always are purely artificial? That is, all visible light we can see through any telescope is always white, and only some minor differences in the spectrum, invisible to us, are used to detect what elements there are, and then semi-artistically colorize the picture based on that data?
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