Astronomy Picture of the Day -- From Alpha to Omega in Crete

NASA ^ | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: This beautiful telephoto composition spans light-years in a natural night skyscape from the island of Crete. Looking south, exposures both track the stars and record a fixed foreground in three merged panels that cover a 10x12 degree wide field of view. The May 15 waxing gibbous moonlight illuminates the church and mountainous terrain. A mere 18 thousand light-years away, huge globular star cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) shining above gives a good visual impression of its appearance in binoculars on that starry night. Active galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is near the top of the frame, some 11 million light-years distant. Also found toward the expansive southern constellation Centaurus and about the size of our own Milky Way is edge on spiral galaxy NGC 4945. About 13 million light-years distant it's only a little farther along, and just above the horizon at the right.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit and Copyright: Johannes Schedler (Panther Observatory)]

[SunkenCiv]

Whoa.

The Big One

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[Conan the Librarian]

Omega Cen. isn’t a globular cluster, it’s a space station...I mean a galatic core that has had it’s outlying stars and gases stripped off. Fairly new discovery.

I can occasionally catch Omega and Cent A from our dark sky site, just above the trees. Omega is bright enough that it sometimes looks red due to the thickness of the atmosphere.

One day I hope to see Omega when it is straight overhead. From Australia or Namibia or something.

[umgud]

Look at this. I haven’t seen you post it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/researchers-may-have-found-an-ancient-sanctuary-to-pagan-god-pan_us_5772d81fe4b0eb90355c9c72?ir=WorldPost&section=us_world&utm_hp_ref=world

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[SunkenCiv]

Well, I’d seen an update story about it, I won’t use Puff Ho as a source though. Here’s the link... whoops, spoke too soon... finding these again is a process... sometimes it seems to go backwards, so instead of a process, it’s an anticess...

http://www.livescience.com/55201-gateway-to-greek-god-sanctuary-discovered.html

https://news.google.com/news/section?q=God+Pan+mask&hl=en&cf=all&pz=1&ned=us&js=0

http://www.google.com/search?q=God+Pan+mask&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&tbm=isch

[umgud]

Thanks

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure, and thanks again, I’d planned to post something about that, got distracted by the fun and games of the financial mini-crisis. :’)