Posted on 09/07/2023 1:53:29 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: The 16th century Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew had plenty of time to study the southern sky during the first circumnavigation of planet Earth. As a result, two fuzzy cloud-like objects easily visible to southern hemisphere skygazers are known as the Clouds of Magellan, now understood to be satellite galaxies of our much larger, spiral Milky Way galaxy. About 160,000 light-years distant in the constellation Dorado, the Large Magellanic Cloud is seen in this sharp galaxy portrait. Spanning about 15,000 light-years or so, it is the most massive of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies and is the home of the closest supernova in modern times, SN 1987A. The prominent patch above center is 30 Doradus, also known as the magnificent Tarantula Nebula, a giant star-forming region about 1,000 light-years across.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
It’s been really overcast this past week due to humidity, threatening rain (which we never did get) and smoke from Canada still being on fire.
Waiting for clear skies because this time of year the Milky Way (our part of it) can be seen from my front porch. It’s so gorgeous. And humbling. It helps to have no ‘light pollution’ out here in the sticks. :)
I certainly envy you.
Light pollution is getting worse.
The local park where our astronomy clubâs observatory is located is building a huge equestrian center, which is going to make all but the brightest stars and the planets invisible. .
The Magellanic Clouds arenât visible from our locations- theyâre too far south. They would be cool to see.
“The local park where our astronomy clubâs observatory is located is building a huge equestrian center, which is going to make all but the brightest stars and the planets invisible. .”
I feel for you. Used to be in Central Tx with somewhat dark sky now on Tx coast with humidity a problem.
I can somewhat understand the equestrian center as there is more money in that than people know/understand.
I am not that far from places were people spend a lot of money on roping, cutting and barrel racing horses. Think thousands of $$$$ for the horse, trailer, truck, etc.
Think thousands of $$$$ for the horse, trailer, truck, etc.
I know. Growing up, we had horses. Dad, my brother, and I rode on the weekends. Hay was a lot cheaper than today. Factor in horseshoeing, vet bills and tack, it got expensive. My brother and I moved on to girls, and that was the end of the horses, lol. Mom was scared of horses and Dad wouldnât ride by himself, so he ended up selling them. Fast forward years later, my brother has the property and he and his wife had horses for a while. Now he just boards them.
I go out there and hang out with him in the barn once in a while. I could set up a telescope there, like I used to 50 years ago, but thereâs a damn Mobil station there now, lighting up the whole area.
My farm is next to a horse farm, but she doesn’t have everything lit up at night, and she’s on the other side of the big hill. Her inside arena is lit, but that’s not been a problem.
When I was 10 we moved from ‘The People’s Republic of Milwaukeestan’ (Wisconsin) to Sun Prairie. We were going to have a house on 1/4 acre of land - practically unimaginable for two little girls (Sis was 6) who grew up on CEMENT.
We begged and begged Dad for a horse to go with our new house. 1/4 acre of lawn should be PLENTY for a horse to graze, Right? LOL!
Yeah. That didn’t happen. ;)
Yeah, LOL! We werenât on a farm. Mom and Dad built their house on 3 1/2 acres, but didnât do anything with 2 1/2 of it until we were in our teens. Dad had been renting out the unused land to a neighbor, who kept THEIR horses there. When Dad decided to build a barn, he had someone pour the partial cement floor and put up the framework. We did everything else- the walls, the roofing, hung the doors. He had an electrician come in and wire it up.
We were boarding our horses with one of Dadâs employees who lived on a farm. Then we brought them home.
My two most memorable moments were my horse crapping all over my Dadâs saddle before he put it up, and one 4th of July when we were riding in a small town nearby, we stopped at a gas station so Dadâs friend could get some cigarettes- we were waiting outside and SOMEHOW my horse got her rear leg tangled up in a gas hose, started kicking, and knocked that gas pump askew.
Dad ended up buying the guy a new gas pump.
He threatened to sell her to a dog food factory, but he finally calmed down.
Fun times, for sure!!đ
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