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Astronomy Picture of the Day
NASA ^ | 6/25/08 | Galaxy Zoo Project, ING

Posted on 06/25/2008 2:22:36 PM PDT by sig226

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I know what it looks like. :)
1 posted on 06/25/2008 2:22:37 PM PDT by sig226
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To: fnord; Number57; KevinDavis; rdb3; MNJohnnie; thoughtomator; RightWhale; proudofthesouth; ...

2 posted on 06/25/2008 2:24:00 PM PDT by sig226 (Real power is not the ability to destroy an enemy. It is the willingness to do it.)
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To: sig226

The bad guys in Super Mario.


3 posted on 06/25/2008 2:24:34 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: sig226

4 posted on 06/25/2008 2:28:15 PM PDT by mikrofon (Does better than 'werp voor'...)
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To: sig226

A man in a deep sea diver helmet carrying a gamecock (fighting rooster, not Steve Spurrier)?


5 posted on 06/25/2008 2:29:45 PM PDT by Law is not justice but process
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To: sig226

6 posted on 06/25/2008 2:34:19 PM PDT by Jaxter (Everything I needed to know about Obama I learned by Googling "Black Liberation Theology".)
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To: Jaxter

I am Gumby, d__nit!


7 posted on 06/25/2008 2:37:28 PM PDT by Law is not justice but process
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To: All

8 posted on 06/25/2008 2:39:06 PM PDT by sig226 (Real power is not the ability to destroy an enemy. It is the willingness to do it.)
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To: sig226

Looks like a frog to me, but that could just be because it’s green. What do I know?


9 posted on 06/25/2008 2:40:02 PM PDT by redhead (B-I-NGO...B-I-NGO...)
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To: Law is not justice but process

10 posted on 06/25/2008 2:49:02 PM PDT by Jaxter (Everything I needed to know about Obama I learned by Googling "Black Liberation Theology".)
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To: sig226

Squint your eyes and look at it. It’s Kermit the Frog. I’ll be that’s where all the frogs go to die. (You did know they have their own place, just like elephants, didn’t you?)


11 posted on 06/25/2008 2:55:06 PM PDT by econjack (Some people are as dumb as soup.)
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To: Jaxter

Gumby gas?


12 posted on 06/25/2008 3:14:37 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Voting conservative isn't for the faint of heart.)
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To: sig226

lol

Ok looter guy is making far too many cameos these days.


13 posted on 06/25/2008 3:16:53 PM PDT by modest proposal (Congress (n). Place where you can be supported in comfort by the state to talk stupid)
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To: econjack

I did not know that.

14 posted on 06/25/2008 3:35:51 PM PDT by sig226 (Real power is not the ability to destroy an enemy. It is the willingness to do it.)
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To: redhead
Hello, my Honey, Hello my Baby . . .
15 posted on 06/25/2008 5:08:50 PM PDT by Law is not justice but process
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To: Law is not justice but process
"Hello, my Honey, Hello my Baby . . ."

LOLOLOL!! Oh, my gosh! I LOVED that one! (Remember when cartoons were acually FUNNY?)

16 posted on 06/25/2008 5:54:29 PM PDT by redhead (B-I-NGO...B-I-NGO...)
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To: Eepsy
At your request..

This is an 8' diameter observatory. It's sitting on a platform that has an independent 8" diameter steel pier that is holding the main optical tube assembly. The pier is not touching the floor, and clears it by 1/4 inch so as not to induce vibrations to the telescope while walking on the floor while inside. The main telescope is a 10" diameter Catadioptric Schmidt Cassegrain which uses a series of mirrors and lenses.

The scope is fully computerized and can be operated from a laptop inside or remotely from my home.

I started out with used equipment, scopes etc, and slowly traded up and eventually purchased some new stuff. I am very much into astronomical digital imaging of deep space objects like galaxies, nebula, and globular star clusters.

It was a big learning curve for me going from film, to digital. Took a long time for me to get to this point due to financial restraints. I am still learning how to process images, in order to bring out all the available data in the images.

The observatory has been a dream of mine for years. Without it, setting up and tearing down the equipment became very tiresome. Now I just go in, flip some switches and whammo, I'm space trucken. Others do much better than I in regards to image quality, but I'm slowly getting there and learning how to bring out all the data while processing the images.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Below is the Whirlpool M-51 Galaxy. This is a digital image, taken recently. This baby is approximately 37 million light years out. It's about half the diameter of our Milky Way Galaxy or about 60 thousand light years in diameter. The larger stars surrounding the galaxy are much closer to us, with the galaxy being millions of light years beyond them.


17 posted on 06/27/2008 1:36:25 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: Eepsy
Oh, and the observatory was purchased from Exploradome in Minnesota. It comes in pieces and was built on site. The floor and telescope pier was my design. The pier is planted into about 1500 pounds of concrete to stabilize the scope. I was actually going to build my own dome, but with the expense of building material, I decided to purchase it, and got a very good price.

Hope that helps.

18 posted on 06/27/2008 2:10:55 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: dragnet2

That has got to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Thanks for taking the time to share!


19 posted on 06/28/2008 7:03:08 AM PDT by Eepsy (12-26-2008 +1)
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To: Eepsy

Thanks. It’s kind of nice to leave this planet once in a while, looking into the past, and seeing the future.


20 posted on 06/28/2008 5:01:12 PM PDT by dragnet2
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