daily telescope

Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.

Good morning. It’s January 4, and today’s image is a photo of our star, Sol. The image was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, a spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, on Wednesday.

So why a picture of the Sun? Because we’ve just passed perihelion, the point at which planet Earth reaches its closest point to the Sun. This year perihelion came at 00: 38 UTC on Wednesday, January 3. We got to within about 91.4 million miles (147 million km) of the star. Due to its slightly elliptical orbit around the Sun, Earth will reach aphelion this year on July 5, at a distance of 94.5 million miles (152 million km).

There is a bit of irony for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, of course. We approach nearest to the Sun at almost the coldest time of year, just a couple of weeks after the winter solstice. Our planet’s seasons are determined by Earth’s axial tilt, however, not its proximity to the Sun.

In any case, happy new year, a time when the world can seem full of possibility—shiny and bright like a star.

Source: NASA SDO

Do you want to submit a photo for the Daily Telescope? Reach out and say hello.

Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.

Good morning. It’s December 21, and today’s image showcases our very own Milky Way Galaxy above the Pyrenees mountain range, which separates Spain from the rest of Europe.

It was sent in by a reader who captured it while hiking through the mountains and in their words bivvying—a new word for “minimalist camping” that I learned about five minutes ago. I’m jealous. Hiking through the Pyrenees and gazing at the stars at night sounds like a wonderful dream. The photographer told me they are no great astrophotographer, but that the skies were so dark and brilliant that even this single exposure photo taken with a Fuji X100 APS camera looks stunning.

“It’s still one of my favorite starry skies memories from hiking the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne, a high mountain route going all the way coast to coast along the French‑Spanish border,” the photographer said. “Because both the daytime and nighttime vistas there were just bloody marvelous.”

I have greatly enjoyed writing these Daily Telescope entries and seeing the amazing work you all have sent in. We’ve published everything from the very best images taken by NASA’s space telescopes down to iPhone photos. We all share the skies, and see and document them in our own way. Thank you so much for your submissions; there have been many more than we can publish. But I treasure them all and your time in sending them in. I can’t wait to see what delights the new year will bring. Until then, happy holidays, and may your stars be merry and bright.

Source: bulbs_01_frizzle

Do you want to submit a photo for the Daily Telescope? Reach out and say hello.

Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.

Good morning. It’s December 18, and today’s photo is an homage to the forthcoming winter solstice—which will visit the Northern Hemisphere on Thursday evening.

This image was a second-place finisher in a recent competition by the International Astronomical Union’s Office of Education. This year’s contest welcomed astrophotography enthusiasts at all skill levels, including images taken with smartphones.

The image, created by Frank Niessen, was captured in Germany between the summer solstice and winter solstice in 2018. It combines images taken at different times of day over the course of six months, and each curve tracks the Sun’s path across the sky on a particular day. Gaps indicate cloudy days. The image was captured using a simple pinhole camera fashioned from a coffee can. I find the effect stunning.

Stay warm out there in the Northern Hemisphere, y’all.

Source: Frank Niessen

Do you want to submit a photo for the Daily Telescope? Reach out and say hello.

Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.

Good morning. It’s December 15, and I have a real treat for you today. This is an image of the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest major galaxy to our Milky Way. Astronomers believe our galaxy is shaped much as this one is.

The photograph comes from a group that calls itself the Association of Widefield Astrophotographers, and the photo was a 100-hour project by six participants in the United States, Poland, and the United Kingdom. They collected data over several months to produce the image.

According to the organization, “Our goal with this project was to prove that very expensive equipment and dark skies aren’t required to create unique images of faint objects. Since most of us are high schoolers and college students with a passion for astronomy, our summer jobs did not allow us to afford the expensive gear used by most astrophotographers.”

Most participants worked within a city, with light pollution levels ranging from Bortle 4 to Bortle 9. While it would be difficult for an individual to reveal the faint structures in this image, they said that by working together with other astrophotographers, they could produce such a result. It is truly extraordinary.

Source: The Association of Widefield Astrophotographers

Do you want to submit a photo for the Daily Telescope? Reach out and say hello.