Comet Hale-Bopp

Until recently astrophotography demanded the use of film. Today's DSLRs have sufficient control of high ISO noise so it's possible to take a shot like this and have it work  When Comet Hale-Bopp (named after two discoverers who spotted the comet independently) reached perihelion in 1997 I reached for my trusty Nikon F2 and loaded it with Fujifilm 400 print film.  The stars are not blurred through this five minute exposure because I mounted the camera atop an aligned telescope drive. Astronomers call the practice Piggyback photography. On this one night in late spring of '97 I was able to get to a dark-sky site in Oriental, CA.  I got half dozen useful exposures of this body that was called The Great Comet of 97.  It remains in my memory as the brightest comet of my life.  It stayed visible for much of 97 before it rounded the sun and vanished into the southern skies. I used this image for the cover of my music CD, OUT OF THIS WORLD Art's CD on Youtube

A Few Unusual Photos of the Night Sky

Comet NEAT

Comet NEAT is in bottom center between the trees

Cassiopeia during Leonid Meteor Shower

A Brief Lesson In Sunshine

A solar flare of considerable size and power

Don't park your go-cart on the sun

don't park your skateboard or your razor on the sun

don't park your mountain bike or scooter with

a clown horn or a hooter don't park anything NASA's not tutored

on the sun.  Don't mess with the heliosphere

don't fuck up the corona don't throw old popcorn or discard soda

don't park your pickup to kiss your girlfriend

within a light year or with your door open

a solar mass ejection might damage your erection
even wearing goggles don't go there for a snoggle

don't do back flips or wheelies on the sun.

Taken in ultraviolet light. Temperatures of areas shown as white: one million degrees

The solar magnetic field.  It flips every eleven years.  It's getting ready to flip again.

The Artistry Of The Cosmos

       
          This is an image of the famous Horsehead Nebula, which is part of the immense Orion nebular complex.  The Horsehead has been seen in thousands of photos all over the world and written about in every language.  Astrophotographer Robert Gendler posted this on his Facebook page today and it was so new and startling in its depth that I felt compelled to write something about how I feel about astronomy and about the Universe in general.
          Mr. Gendler is an amateur astronomer.  His images can be found here:http://www.robgendlerastropics.com.  He is one of the world's master astrophotographers.
          When I see something so beautiful I must ask myself the question: who made such a thing?
It is primarily hydrogen.  It assumes its shapes by way of the gravitational influence of nearby stars. The entire region is regarded as a "star nursery"; vast amounts of hydrogen are gradually being squeezed more and more tightly until the pressure of gravity ignites a fusion reaction.  This fusion reaction is the first cry of a new born star.  I've taken pictures of this region and I know that the Horsehead is but a tiny extrusion of an immense nebular region that takes in many light years of space and includes the mighty Orion Nebula, M42. It is virtually encircled by a torus of hydrogen cloud called Barnard's Loop.  There's so much hydrogen, so much star-formation going on here that if one "zooms back" to see the region as a whole, the Horsehead is nothing but a speck.
          I don't adhere to any formal religion.  I see a mighty Intelligence in the shapes, lights,
the sheer artistry of the cosmos.  I see staggering beauty and I worship the maker of that beauty.
I'm an artist and I also try in my humble way to make beauty.  That's the only way I can touch the hem of the majestic robe of the Creator Of The Universe.  Thank you Mr. Gendler for your great work.  Thank you, Mighty Intelligence, for allowing us to see these things.

NGC 5189 by  Robert Gendler