Crescent Venus

This photo of Venus shows the "crescent" shape because of it's location in relationship to the sun.
(ETX70AT, DSI IIC)


Venus (pronounced en-us-Venus.ogg /ˈviːnəs/ (help·info)) is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love. It is the brightest natural object in the night sky, except for the Moon, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6. Because Venus is an inferior planet from Earth, it never appears to venture far from the Sun: its elongation reaches a maximum of 47.8°. Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star.

For more information visit Wikipedia.org

Moon

Moon (waxing cresent)
ETX70AT, DSI IIC

The Moon (Latin: Luna) is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System.

The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,403 km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The Moon's diameter is 3,474 km,^[6] a little more than a quarter of that of the Earth. Thus, the Moon's volume is about 2 percent that of Earth; the pull of gravity at its surface is about 17 percent that at the Earth's surface. The Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days (the orbital period), and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days (the synodic period).

The Moon is the only celestial body to which humans have travelled and upon which humans have performed a manned moon landing. The first artificial object to pass near the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 1, the first artificial object to impact the lunar surface was Luna 2, and the first photographs of the normally occluded far side of the Moon were made by Luna 3, all in 1959. The first spacecraft to perform a successful lunar soft landing was Luna 9; this was soon followed with the first successful lunar soft landing by Surveyor 1 and the first unmanned vehicle to orbit the Moon by Luna 10, all in 1966.^[6] The United States (U.S.) Apollo program achieved the only manned missions to date, resulting in six landings between 1969 and 1972. Human exploration of the Moon ceased with the conclusion of the Apollo program, although a few robotic landers and orbiters have been sent to the Moon since that time. Several countries have announced plans to return humans to the surface of the Moon in the 2020s.

For more information visit Wikipedia.org

Uranus

Here's a photo I took last night:
EXT70AT, DSI IIC




Uranus ( /ˈjʊərənəs/ (help·info) or /jʊˈreɪnəs/ (help·info)^[12]) is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third-largest and fourth most massive planet in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky (Uranus, Οὐρανός), the father of Kronos (Saturn) and grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter). Though it is visible to the naked eye like the five classical planets, it was never recognized as a planet by ancient observers because of its dimness and slow orbit.^[13] Sir William Herschel announced its discovery on March 13, 1781, expanding the known boundaries of the solar system for the first time in modern history. This was also the first discovery of a planet made using a telescope. (from Wikipedia)

Bode's Galaxy

Bode's Galaxy
(ETX70AT, DSI IIC)



Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. M81 is one of the most striking examples of a grand design spiral galaxy, with near perfect arms spiraling into the very center. Because of its proximity to Earth, its large size, and its active galactic nucleus (which may harbor a supermassive black hole) Messier 81 is a popular galaxy to study in professional astronomy research. The galaxy's large size and relatively low apparent magnitude (lower magnitude implies higher brightness) also make it a popular target for amateur astronomy observations.[6]
Visit Wikipedia.org for more information.

Orion Nebula

New Photo: Great Orion Nebula
ETX70AT, DSI IIC



The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated south^[b] of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,270±76 light years^[2] and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. Older texts frequently referred to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula. Yet older, astrological texts refer to it as Ensis (Latin for "sword"), which was also the name given to the star Eta Orionis, which can be seen close to the nebula from Earth.^[5]
Visit Wikipedia.org for more information.

Planets Align

Took this photo with our digital camera mounted on a tripod. Moon, Jupiter and Venus all lined up. 12/1/08 6:00 pm PST.

1st Light photo

Well,

I got a new "toy" today. Bought a Meade DSI II color CCD camera for the telescope. Here's my "first light" photo of the Andromeda Galaxy.

ETX70AT, DSI IIC