Fun fact, the planet #Earth is not where it was a year ago, when 2025 started.
Yes, the Earth orbits our local star. However, our local star orbits the #MilkyWay and has moved about 6.3 billion kilometres around the Milky Way since 2025 started. As our star moved about 6.3 billion kilometres, so did the Earth.
Oh, and of course, the Milky Way is also moved about 20.2 billion kilometres since 2025 started.
Now someone with real mathematical skills will draw vectors and can precisely tell you how far the Earth moved in the last year, but it is going to be *around* 26-27 billion kilometres since 2025 started.
As you are on the Earth (or, very unlikely, you are orbiting the Earth) you have also travelled about 26-27 billion kilometres since 2025 started.
Remember, as Douglas Adam’s observed: Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
Fun fact, the planet #Earth is not where it was a year ago, when 2025 started.
Yes, the Earth orbits our local star. However, our local star orbits the #MilkyWay and has moved about 6.3 billion kilometres around the Milky Way since 2025 started. As our star moved about 6.3 billion kilometres, so did the Earth.
Oh, and of course, the Milky Way is also moved about 20.2 billion kilometres since 2025 started.
Now someone with real mathematical skills will draw vectors and can precisely tell you how far the Earth moved in the last year, but it is going to be *around* 26-27 billion kilometres since 2025 started.
As you are on the Earth (or, very unlikely, you are orbiting the Earth) you have also travelled about 26-27 billion kilometres since 2025 started.
Remember, as Douglas Adam’s observed: Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
Lost in Space.
A wide field view of the autumn Milky Way from the tail end of Cygnus on the left, to Perseus on the right.
With so many stars captured in this photo, it's hard to see familiar constellations. But you can see the Andromeda galaxy as a small oval near the upper edge of the frame. (Dark, indistinct silhouettes along the lower left edge of the frame are the shadows of a couple trees.)
The second graphic is a sky simulation from planetarium software. The red wire frame box shows the coverage of the photo in the context of a very large portion of the sky.
#NewMexico #Photography #Astrophotography #MilkyWay #Cygnus #Perseus #Astronomy #Cassiopeia #Andromeda
Lost in Space.
A wide field view of the autumn Milky Way from the tail end of Cygnus on the left, to Perseus on the right.
With so many stars captured in this photo, it's hard to see familiar constellations. But you can see the Andromeda galaxy as a small oval near the upper edge of the frame. (Dark, indistinct silhouettes along the lower left edge of the frame are the shadows of a couple trees.)
The second graphic is a sky simulation from planetarium software. The red wire frame box shows the coverage of the photo in the context of a very large portion of the sky.
#NewMexico #Photography #Astrophotography #MilkyWay #Cygnus #Perseus #Astronomy #Cassiopeia #Andromeda
💁🏻♀️ ICYMI: 🌌✨ Astrophotographer Ian Lauer demonstrates why exposure time matters by photographing the #Andromeda Galaxy for 10 seconds, 10 minutes, and 10 hours. The longest exposure reveals dust lanes, companion #galaxies, and details invisible to shorter captures.
#color #photography #science #sky #space #stars #tech #technology #telescope #texas #universe #tksst #video #astronomy #milkyway
💁🏻♀️ ICYMI: 🌌✨ Astrophotographer Ian Lauer demonstrates why exposure time matters by photographing the #Andromeda Galaxy for 10 seconds, 10 minutes, and 10 hours. The longest exposure reveals dust lanes, companion #galaxies, and details invisible to shorter captures.
#color #photography #science #sky #space #stars #tech #technology #telescope #texas #universe #tksst #video #astronomy #milkyway
Astronaut Don Pettit took this photo from space in January 2025, as the Sun began to rise over a cloudy Pacific Ocean. This long-exposure image shows off the wide band of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, above the aurora and airglow that shine closer to Earth's horizon.
Podcast:
https://www.nasa.gov/podcasts/houston-we-have-a-podcast/the-art-of-astronaut-photography/
#astrophotography
#Earth
#MilkyWay
#aurora
#NASA
#ISS
#DonPettit
#sunrise
#airglow
Plants & Fungi category, second place: Galactic Ghost
‘During the autumn months, Tasmania sees a brief explosion of a short-lived bioluminescent fungus, the so-called ghost fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis) in secluded damp forest patches affixed to rotting trees.
Photograph: Benjamin Alldridge
#photography
#astrophotography
#fungus
#bioluminescence
#MilkyWay
Plants & Fungi category, second place: Galactic Ghost
‘During the autumn months, Tasmania sees a brief explosion of a short-lived bioluminescent fungus, the so-called ghost fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis) in secluded damp forest patches affixed to rotting trees.
Photograph: Benjamin Alldridge
#photography
#astrophotography
#fungus
#bioluminescence
#MilkyWay
Winner – landscape: The Beast
‘I love the raw power and beauty of storms."
Kabi Kabi country, Kings Beach, Queensland.
#photography
#storms
#lightning
Photograph: Darren Wassell
Winner – astrophotography: Oberon Kenobi
‘An amphitheatre of pandani watch on as the galactic core, swathed in airglow, rises over an alpine lake, nestled in a rugged Tassie mountain range. Lady Aurora dances under the Magellanic Clouds. This image was captured on a crisp night in one of Tasmania’s more rugged and majestic multi-day walks.’ Loinnekumme country, South-west national park, Tasmania.
Photograph: Marley Butler
#astrophotography
#photography
#Tasmania
#MilkyWay
#AuroraAustralis
Another Milky Way Section
You won't believe what happened when I pointed my camera at a random section of the Milky Way!
Well, I got this image in the direction of the Cygnus (swan) constellation, with the head and arm of King Cepheus at the top. And a dark dust cloud in the center that looks like a bat to me but is actually the Gulf of Mexico Nebula (L935). Next to it are the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), both part of the Sh2-117 emission region. The names were chosen due to the shape the emission nebula forms in combination with the dust. Left of the bat's head (or where Mexico and Central America would be) is the Cygnus Wall, a bright area with a lot of star formation activity.
A bit down along the Milky Way is the Sadr Region (IC 1318), also visible in red.
Another area of interest is the reddish area in the upper part of the image, where the Elephant's Trunk Nebula is located.
This image was created from 144 photos with 5 seconds per frame (12 minutes total). Post-processing was done in Siril, GraXpert and GIMP.
Nikon Z50, Nikkor 17-28/2.8, 17 mm, f/2.8, 144×5 s, ISO 3200, tripod, no tracker
#MilkyWay #stars #nebulae #photography #astrophotography #digikam
Another Milky Way Section
You won't believe what happened when I pointed my camera at a random section of the Milky Way!
Well, I got this image in the direction of the Cygnus (swan) constellation, with the head and arm of King Cepheus at the top. And a dark dust cloud in the center that looks like a bat to me but is actually the Gulf of Mexico Nebula (L935). Next to it are the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), both part of the Sh2-117 emission region. The names were chosen due to the shape the emission nebula forms in combination with the dust. Left of the bat's head (or where Mexico and Central America would be) is the Cygnus Wall, a bright area with a lot of star formation activity.
A bit down along the Milky Way is the Sadr Region (IC 1318), also visible in red.
Another area of interest is the reddish area in the upper part of the image, where the Elephant's Trunk Nebula is located.
This image was created from 144 photos with 5 seconds per frame (12 minutes total). Post-processing was done in Siril, GraXpert and GIMP.
Nikon Z50, Nikkor 17-28/2.8, 17 mm, f/2.8, 144×5 s, ISO 3200, tripod, no tracker
#MilkyWay #stars #nebulae #photography #astrophotography #digikam
A Revised Three-dimensional Visualization of the Local Group of Galaxies, by Antonio Ciccolella
☑️ research note of the AAS https://doi.org/10.3847/2515-5172/ae1efc
☑️ ultra-high resolution version https://flic.kr/p/2rD6yGU
#Cosmology #LocalGroup #galaxies #MilkyWay #Andromeda #Astronomy #Astrodon #visualization #science #Cosmography #map #cartography
A Revised Three-dimensional Visualization of the Local Group of Galaxies
A Revised Three-dimensional Visualization of the Local Group of Galaxies, by Antonio Ciccolella
☑️ research note of the AAS https://doi.org/10.3847/2515-5172/ae1efc
☑️ ultra-high resolution version https://flic.kr/p/2rD6yGU
#Cosmology #LocalGroup #galaxies #MilkyWay #Andromeda #Astronomy #Astrodon #visualization #science #Cosmography #map #cartography
A Revised Three-dimensional Visualization of the Local Group of Galaxies
Milky Way over a Turquoise Wonderland
What glows there? The answer depends: sea or sky? In the sea, the unusual blue glow is bioluminescence. Specifically, the glimmer arises from Noctiluca scintillans, single-celled plankton stimulated by the lapping waves. The plankton use their glow to startle and illuminate predators.
#photography
#astrophotography
#MilkyWay
#bioluminescence
#Maldives
#APOD
Milky Way over a Turquoise Wonderland
What glows there? The answer depends: sea or sky? In the sea, the unusual blue glow is bioluminescence. Specifically, the glimmer arises from Noctiluca scintillans, single-celled plankton stimulated by the lapping waves. The plankton use their glow to startle and illuminate predators.
#photography
#astrophotography
#MilkyWay
#bioluminescence
#Maldives
#APOD