Utah Skies » Imagery

Cassini Incredibile e Saturno Spettacolare

donb — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:18:58 +0000

Cassini images Saturn in silhouette

Spectacular indeed! This stunning image of Saturn was captured by the incredible Cassini spacecraft in 2006 as it passed behind the ringed gas giant in the 9th year of its mission. Color-contrast exaggerated, this image displays the uniqueness of the rings, allowing scientists to discern the different sizes of particles based on the color of light they scatter. Even more incredible it that the pale-blue dot of the Earth can be seen in this image just above and to the left of the bright, main rings. What would the brilliant Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini - the spacecraft’s namesake - have thought of such a view? Should you wish to take a peek at the solar system’s 6th planet from the sun, look east around 11pm MST to see Saturn rising with the constellation Leo.

Milky Way Galaxy Much Larger Than Expected

anthonya — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:39:58 +0000

Research presented recently at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Long Beach, California suggests that our Milky Way Galaxy is considerably larger than originally believed. Astronomers used the VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) to map our home galaxy in high detail. The results suggest that the Milky Way is comparable in size to the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy (M31), previously the largest in our local group of galaxies. More details on the announcement are available from the BBC.

Our Milky Way Galaxy can be seen as a ghostly glow across the sky when viewed from dark locations. It represents the collective light of billions of distant stars. It is (unfortunately), not visible from many locations due to the presence of light pollution, a growing worldwide problem created by improperly implemented outdoor lighting. M31, The Andromeda Galaxy is a huge spiral galaxy located in the fall constellation Andromeda. M31 is the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye, located just over 2 million light years away.

The accompanying image was taken by Robert Gendler.

Jupiter, Red Spot and Moon Imaged by HST

anthonya — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:46:45 +0000

The Hubble Space Telescope snapped this exquisite shot of the planet Jupiter. Note the incredible details visisble in the giant planet’s surface, including the Great Red Spot. Also note, one of Jupiter’s moon’s peaking out from behind the planet. Impressive views of Jupiter are done for the season. The planet is now sitting low in the western sky shortly after sunset.

Christmas in the Stars

donb — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:52:29 +0000

NGC2264 - The Christmas Tree Cluster

Whether by divine yuletide direction or curious chaotic convergence, the Christmas Tree Cluster offers a symbol of the day with a familiar arbor likeness. A collection of stars in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn), this object was discovered by William Herschel in the late 18th century. In this picture from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) attached to the 2.2-meter Max-Planck Society/ESO telescope at the La Silla observatory in Chile, nebulae containing gas and dust are visible that serve as the birthplace of stars, a fitting analog to the celebrated birth of the Christan Savior on this day. Merry Christmas to all from Utah Skies.