Last night I set up one of my larger telescopes in the side yard. It is a computer controlled telescope which I was not a fan of years ago, but now there is so much light pollution in the night skies that I can't find a thing because even the brighter stars are hard to find because the night sky is so bright. So this object is an astounding thing. It is called a "Globular Cluster." These clusters are some of the oldest things in the universe. This cluster contains at least 300,000 stars, and maybe as many as 500,000! Under really dark skies this is a spectacular sight in a telescope! You can't even see it in my side yard, though. So I told the telescope what to go to and then I could see a dim gray fuzzy spot in a dark gray sky. Then I got an idea. I wondered if I could put my Sony a7 camera on the telescope and shoot a photograph. I didn't have much hope, though. I was astounded when I saw the results! That's what this object, Messier 13, should look like under dark skies! I was thrilled. The above photograph is a cropped version of the whole frame.
Even with my powerful telescope, this object is pretty small. This is the full frame image from the camera and the cluster is almost insignificant. So I thought you would enjoy the closer version. This is really something, isn't it? Here is a link to a professional photograph of Messier 13, taken from Mt Lemmon outside Tucson, Arizona. M-13 from Mt Lemmon
Amazing photo. Computer controlled telescope and the knowledge in your head is blowing my mind both with this and the Sun photo yesterday. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJoan
I don't believe I have ever associated the word "cluster" with a very large group of stars so that is new information to me. Is there a connection of star clusters to the so called Big Bang Theory? And speaking of light pollution, I have a difficult time spotting the North Star a star that seemed much brighter when I was a kid but I can find it because I know where to look. Thanks for today's astronomy lesson.
ReplyDeleteThis is spectacular. I wonder if the sun is one star and so bright that it lights up our planet, how much light can there be from a cluster of maybe a half million of these stars and then what else is out there in space? Trace
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a Globular Cluster, or as it is also known as a "Galactic Cluster" is a mind boggling thing. So you see all these 300,000 stars in a ball, and you wonder why the stars don't crash into each other - I mean, 300.000 stars in a ball. The answer is just as unbelievable - that they don't crash into each other because they are so far away from each other! What? True and true! It boggles the mind. It is thought that these globular clusters were not quite enough stars to make an entire galaxy, so they just remained at "star balls" so to speak. If you want to see a professional photograph of Messier 31, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_13#/media/File:Messier_13.jpg
ReplyDeleteThe photograph from an observatory on Mt Lemmon outside Tucson, Arizona. This will knock your socks off!
I’m so glad that you attached your camera to the telescope. This is fantastic to see. The information is mind boggling! Betsey
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