21st Century Astronomy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratospheric_Observatory_for_Infrared_Astronomy

[h=1]Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy[/h]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to construct and maintain an airborne observatory. NASA awarded the contract for the development of the aircraft, operation of the observatory and management of the American part of the project to theUniversities Space Research Association (USRA) in 1996. The DSI (Deutsches SOFIA Institut) manages the German parts of the project which are primarily science and telescope related. SOFIA's telescope saw first light on May 26, 2010. SOFIA is the successor to the Kuiper Airborne Observatory.

[h=2]Contents[/h] [hide]​

• 1 Facility
  • 1.1 The telescope
  • 1.2 The SOFIA aircraft
• 2 Project development
• 3 Scientific research
• 4 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors Program
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links
  • 7.1 Multimedia

[h=2]Facility[edit][/h]SOFIA is based on a Boeing 747SP wide-body aircraft that has been modified to include a large door in the aftfuselage that can be opened in flight to allow a 2.5 meter diameter reflecting telescope access to the sky. This telescope is designed for infrared astronomy observations in the stratosphere at altitudes of about 41,000 feet (about 12 km). SOFIA's flight capability allows it to rise above almost all of the water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, which blocks some infrared wavelengths from reaching the ground. At the aircraft's cruising altitude, 85% of the full infrared range will be available.[SUP][1][/SUP] The aircraft can also travel to almost any point on the Earth's surface, allowing observation from the northern and southern hemispheres.
Once ready for use, observing flights are expected to be flown 3 or 4 nights a week for the next 20 years. SOFIA is now based at NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility at LA/Palmdale Regional Airport, California, while staff at NASA Ames Research Center, in Mountain View, California, operate the SOFIA Science Center where astronomical observation missions are planned for the flying observatory.
[h=3]The telescope[edit][/h]

SOFIA telescope.​

The NASA logo reflected in SOFIAs 2.5-meter primary mirror.​

SOFIA uses a 2.5-meter reflector telescope, which has an oversized, 2.7 meter diameter primary mirror, as is common with most large infrared telescopes.[SUP][2][/SUP] The optical system uses a Cassegrain reflector design with a parabolic primary mirror and a remotely configurable hyperbolic secondary. In order to fit the telescope into the fuselage, the primary is shaped to an f-number as low as 1.3, while the resulting optical layout has an f-number of 19.7. A flat, tertiary, dichroic mirror is used to deflect the infrared part of the beam to the Nasmyth focus where it can be analyzed. An optical mirror located behind the tertiary mirror is used for a camera guidance system.[SUP][1][/SUP]
The telescope looks out of a large door in the side of the fuselage near the airplane's tail, and will initially carry nine instruments for infrared astronomy at wavelengths from 1–655 micrometres and high-speed optical astronomy atwavelengths from 0.3–1.1 micrometres. The main instruments are the FLITECAM, a near infrared camera covering 1–5 micrometres; FORCAST, covering the mid-infrared range of 5–40 micrometres, and HAWC, which spans the far infrared in the range 42–210 micrometres. The other four instruments include an optical photometer and infrared spectrometerswith various spectral ranges.[SUP][3][/SUP] SOFIA’s telescope is by far the largest ever to be placed in an aircraft. For each mission one interchangeable science instrument will be attached to the telescope. Two groups of general purpose instruments are available. In addition an investigator can also design and build a special purpose instrument. On April 17, 2012, two upgrades to HAWC were selected by NASA to increase the field of view with new detector arrays and to add the capability of measuring the polarization of dust emission from celestial sources.[SUP][4][/SUP]
The open cavity housing the telescope will be exposed to high-speed turbulent winds. In addition, the vibrations and motions of the aircraft introduce observing difficulties. The telescope was designed to be very lightweight, with a honeycomb shape milled into the back of the mirror and polymer composite material used for the telescope assembly. The mount includes a system of bearings in pressurized oil to isolate the instrument from vibration. Tracking is achieved through a system of gyroscopes, high speed cameras, and magnetic torque motors to compensate for motion, including vibrations from airflow and the aircraft engines.[SUP][5][/SUP] The telescope cabin must be cooled prior to aircraft takeoff to ensure the telescope matches the external temperature to prevent thermally induced shape changes. Prior to landing the compartment is flooded with nitrogen gas to prevent condensation of moisture on the chilled optics and instruments.[SUP][1][/SUP]
DLR is responsible for the entire telescope assembly and design along with two of the nine scientific instruments used with the telescope, NASA is responsible for the aircraft. The manufacturing of the telescope was subcontracted to European industry. The telescope is German; the primary mirror was cast by Schott AG in Mainz, Germany with lightweight improvements, with grinding and polishing completed by the French company SAGEM-REOSC. The secondary silicon carbide based mirror mechanism was manufactured by Swiss CSEM. A reflective surface was applied to the mirror at a facility in Louisiana but the consortium now maintains a mirror coating facility in Moffett Field, allowing for fast recoating of the primary mirror, a process that is expected to be required 1-2 times per year.[SUP][6][/SUP]
[h=3]The SOFIA aircraft[edit][/h]

[h=1]Atacama Large Millimeter Array[/h]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
ALMA logo
Organisation	Multi-national
Location	Llano de Chajnantor Observatory Atacama Desert, Chile
Coordinates	23°01′9.42″S67°45′11.44″W
Altitude	5,058.7 m (16597 ft)
Telescope style	at least 50 identical 12 m reflectors connected by fiber-optic cables
Website	Official ALMA site Official NRAO ALMA site Official ESO ALMA site Official NAOJ ALMA site

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The Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopesin the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5000 metres altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatoryand Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter and 7-meter diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation.
ALMA is an international partnership between Europe, the United States, Canada, East Asia and the Republic of Chile. Costing more than a billion US dollars,[SUP][1][/SUP] it is the most expensive ground-based telescope in operation. ALMA began scientific observations in the second half of 2011 and the first images were released to the press on 3 October 2011. The array has been fully operational since March 2013.[SUP][2][/SUP]
"Alma" can mean soul in Spanish and Portuguese.

[h=2]Contents[/h] [hide]​

• 1 Overview
  • 1.1 History
• 2 Funding
• 3 Assembly
  • 3.1 Transporting antennas to the site
• 4 Scientific results
  • 4.1 Images from initial testing
• 5 Global collaboration
• 6 ALMA regional centre (ARC)
• 7 Project detail
  • 7.1 Atacama Compact Array
• 8 Project timeline
• 9 Videos
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 External links

[h=2]Overview[edit][/h]

The first two ALMA antennas linked together as an interferometer.​

Three ALMA antennas linked together as an interferometer for the first time.​

The initial ALMA array will be composed of 66 high-precision antennas, and operate at wavelengths of 0.3 to 9.6 mm. The array will have much higher sensitivity and higher resolution than existing sub-millimeter telescopessuch as the single-dish James Clerk Maxwell Telescope or existing interferometer networks such as theSubmillimeter Array or the Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) Plateau de Bure facility.
The antennas can be moved across the desert plateau over distances from 150 m to 16 km, which will give ALMA a powerful variable "zoom", similar in its concept to that employed at the Very Large Array (VLA) site in New Mexico, US.
The high sensitivity is mainly achieved through the large numbers of telescopes that will make up the array.
The telescopes are provided by the European, North American and East Asian partners of ALMA. The American and European partners have each placed orders for twenty-five 12-metre diameter antennas, that will compose the main array. East Asia is contributing 16 antennas (four 12-meter diameter and twelve 7-meter diameter antennas) in the form of the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) which is also part of the enhanced ALMA.
By using smaller antennas than the main ALMA array, larger fields of view can be imaged at a given frequency using ACA. Moving the antennas closer together will enable the imaging of sources of larger angular extent. The ACA will work together with the main array in order to enhance the latter's wide-field imaging capability.

[h=1]James Webb Space Telescope[/h]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General information
Organization	NASA,[SUP][1][/SUP] with significant contributions from ESA and CSA
Major contractors	Northrop Grumman Ball Aerospace
Launch date	Around 2018[SUP][2][/SUP]
Launched from	Guiana Space Centre ELA-3 Kourou, French Guiana
Launch vehicle	Ariane 5 (planned)
Mission length	5 years (design) 10 years (goal)
Mass	6,200 kg (14,000 lb)
Orbit period	1-year
Location	1.5 million km from Earth (Earth-Sun Lagrangian point L2 halo orbit)
Telescope style	Korsch (Three-mirror anastigmat)
Wavelength	0.6 (orange) to 28.5 µm (microns)(mid-infrared)
Diameter	6.5 m (21 ft)
Collecting area	25 m[SUP]2[/SUP] (270 sq ft)
Focal length	131.4 m (431 ft)
Instruments
NIRCam	Near IR Camera
NIRSpec	Near IR Spectrograph
MIRI	Mid IR Instrument
NIRISS	Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph
FGS	Fine Guidance Sensor
Website	NASA United States ESA b Europe CSA/ASC Canada CNES France

<caption style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">James Webb Space Telescope</caption><tbody>
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3/4 view of JWST from the "top" (opposite side from the Sun).​

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), is a planned space telescope optimized for observations in the infrared, and a scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The main technical features are a large and very cold 6.5-meter (21 ft) diameter mirror, an observing position far from Earth, orbiting the Earth–Sun L[SUB]2[/SUB] point, and four specialized instruments. The combination of these features will give JWST unprecedented resolution and sensitivity from long-wavelength visible to the mid-infrared, enabling its two main scientific goals – studying the birth and evolution of galaxies, and the formation of stars and planets.
In planning since 1996,[SUP][3][/SUP] the project represents an international collaboration of about 17 countries[SUP][4][/SUP] led by NASA, and with significant contributions from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. It is named after James E. Webb, the second administrator of NASA, who played an integral role in the Apollo program.[SUP][5][/SUP]
JWST's capabilities will enable a broad range of investigations across many subfields of astronomy.[SUP][6][/SUP] One particular goal involves observing some of the most distant objects in the Universe, beyond the reach of current ground and space based instruments. This includes the very first stars, the epoch of reionization, and the formation of the first galaxies. Another goal is understanding the formation of stars and planets. This will include imagingmolecular clouds and star-forming clusters, studying the debris disks around stars, direct imaging of planets, and spectroscopic examination of planetary transits.
The mission was under review for cancellation by the United States Congress in 2011 after about $3 billion had been spent,[SUP][7][/SUP] and more than 75 percent of its hardware was either in production or undergoing testing.[SUP][8][/SUP] In November 2011, Congress reversed plans to cancel the JWST and instead capped additional funding to complete the project at $8 billion.[SUP][9][/SUP]

SOFIA is currently based in NZ


July 18, 2013





Nicholas A. Veronico, SOFIA Science Center
Ames Research Center
650-604-4589 / 650-483-6902
[email protected]
J.D. Harrington
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
[email protected]







RELEASE 13-217


NASA'S SOFIA Investigates The Southern Sky From New Zealand

Some celestial objects are only visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, such as central portions of our Milky Way galaxy, left, plus the two Magellanic Clouds above and to the left of the observatory dome, as shown in this photo taken at Cerro Paranal in Chile’s Atacama Desert. (ESO / Y. Beletsky)
WASHINGTON -- NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory will be based in New Zealand for the next two weeks, taking advantage of the Southern Hemisphere's orientation to study celestial objects that are difficult or impossible to see in the northern sky.
SOFIA, formally known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, deployed to the United States Antarctic Program's facilities at Christchurch International Airport last week and completed its first science flight at 4 a.m. local time July 18 (noon EDT July 17). A team of scientists, engineers, pilots and technicians from the United States and Germany are deployed with SOFIA to support as many as nine research flights through Aug. 1.
SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that carries a telescope with an effective diameter of 100 inches (250 centimeters). It provides astronomers access to the visible, infrared and submillimeter spectrum.
On the first flight in New Zealand, astronomers used SOFIA to observe the disk of gas and dust orbiting the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, and two dwarf galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which accompany the Milky Way. The Magellanic Clouds can be seen easily with the naked eye in the southern sky.
"SOFIA's deployment to the Southern Hemisphere shows the remarkable versatility of this observatory, which is the product of years of fruitful collaboration and cooperation between the U.S. and German space agencies," said Paul Hertz, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington. "This is just the first of a series of SOFIA scientific deployments envisioned over the mission's planned 20-year lifetime."
A vital part of the collaboration is a far-infrared spectrometer, the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT). Mounted on SOFIA's telescope for the entire deployment, GREAT is especially suited for studies of interstellar gas and the life cycle of stars.
"The success of the GREAT spectrometer in addressing exciting scientific questions at far-infrared wavelengths was demonstrated during SOFIA's earlier, Northern Hemisphere flights," said Rolf Guesten of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, and leader of the German researchers who developed the spectrometer. "Now, we are turning the instrument to new frontiers such as the Magellanic Clouds, including the Tarantula Nebula -- that is the most active star-forming region known in the local group of galaxies."
SOFIA project scientist Pamela Marcum said the results anticipated from observations made during the aircraft's deployment will further scientists' understanding of star formation, stellar evolution and chemistry in stellar clouds.
"The deployment exemplifies the synergistic relationship between SOFIA's international partners, with NASA playing a crucial role in the planning and execution of the science observations," Marcum said.
SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR. The aircraft is based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center's Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. Dryden manages the program. NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., manages SOFIA's science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) of Columbia, Md., and the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at the University of Stuttgart. The National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program provided vital support for SOFIA's deployment operations in Christchurch.
For a media kit with more information about SOFIA's Southern Hemisphere deployment, visit:

[url]http://www.sofia.usra.edu/News/media/NZ/NZ2013.html[/URL]​

You don't need a telescope to indulge in astronomy nowadays. The world's biggest and most accessible telescope is available on the internet for FREE!

http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/easy.html

Selecting a target

The target is the piece of the sky you are interested in -- the name or position of a star, galaxy or nebula, or perhaps the position of some newly discovered object. You can specify the position as a target name, e.g., 3C273, M31 or 'Crab nebula' or using celestial coordinates. Remember that SkyView cannot be used to look at images of objects in our solar system, e.g., planets, asteroids or comets.Selecting a survey

SkyView takes observations that other astronomers have made and uses them to create an image of the target you are interested in. However you have to say which survey or surveys you want to use.With SkyView you can look at the sky in many different wavelengths of light. The include not just the optical light we see with, but radio, infrared, x-ray and gamma-ray data. Different kind of objects show up in these different regimes-the sky looks very different in the radio and the optical. We'll discuss each in turn working our way from the most energetic radiation, gamma-ray, down all the way to the radio. This table below gives a quick overview of what you can see in each regime and suggests a survey or two and image size for each. These suggested sizes are generally quite close to the defaults.

Regime	Typical objects	Suggested Survey	Suggested size (in degrees)
Gamma-ray	Black holes, neutron stars, cosmic ray/gas interaction	EGRET >100MeV	30
X-ray	Pulsars, supernova remnants, clusters of galaxies, stars, quasars	PSPC 2Deg-Int	5
EUV	Young stars, white dwarfs, planetary nebulae	EUVE 83	30
Optical	Stars, galaxies, nebulae	DSS	0.1
IR	Stars, galaxies, interstellar gas	2MASS K, or IRIS 100	0.1 2MASS or 7 IRIS
Radio	interstellar gas, pulsars, quasars	FIRST or 1420MHz	0.1 FIRST, or 360 1420 MHz

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Gamma rays: These are typically produced from very energetic nuclear reactions. The sky in gamma-rays is dominated by black-holes and neutron stars. There is a lot of diffuse emission caused by the interaction of cosmic rays with interstellar gas and dust.
It is very difficult to create images in this regime, and the resolution is typically no better than about a degree. I.e., we can't resolve anything smaller than the moon which is about half a degree in diameter. Closer to home, first base seen from home plate subtends an angle of about a degree. SkyView's gamma-ray data is from NASA's Compton Observatory. You can ask for images anywhere in the sky.

X-rays: Less-energetic than gamma-rays, X-rays are typically produced in very high-temperature (millions of degrees) environments. These are found on accretion disks where matter is falling into a black hole or onto a neutron star, or on the surfaces of neutron stars. Gas falling into clusters galaxies is compressed and can heat up to these temperatures. This intracluster medium (ICM) is extremely tenuous by everyday standards, but clusters of galaxies are enormous so that the ICM may contain as much mass as the galaxies in the cluster. Gas around explosions can be shocked to X-ray emitting temperatures, so that supernovae often generate X-ray nebulae.

It is possible to focus X-ray so that much higher resolution images are possible than for gamma-rays. The highest resolution X-ray surveys in SkyView have a resolution of about 1 arc-minute (1') which is 1/60th of a degree. This is similar to the resolution of the human eye -- it's about the size of a 12 inch ruler about half-a-mile away. (or a 30 cm ruler at about 1 km). The highest resolution X-ray data in SkyView is from the ROSAT observatory. ROSAT all-sky images with a resolution of a few arc-minutes (RASS) are availables as well as higher resolution data in about 15% of the sky (including the most 'interesting' sources) with 1' resolution (PSPC). Lower resolution (but higher energy) X-ray maps are available from RXTE, SIGMA and HEAO 1-A.

Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV): In this regime, there is very strong absorption from the local interstellar medium: our Galactic neighborhood is rather foggy. EUV objects include nearby young stars and white dwarfs, planetary nebula, and a few extragalactic objects which are seen only at high-Galactic latitude. The interstellar medium is concentrated in the Galactic plane, so by looking perpendicular to the plane, one can see a few extragalactic objects, just as one can occasionally see stars directly overhead when stars near the horizon are obscured by ground haze.

The data in SkyView is from NASA's EUVE mission and the WFC instrument on ROSAT observatory. Resolution is comparable to the X-ray data.

Optical: Many surveys are available in optical, which show the sky in the wavelengths our eyes are sensitive to. Several surveys have resolutions of about 1" (1 arcsecond). This shows thousands of times more detail than we see with the human eye. A foot-long ruler 40 miles away appears about an arc-second long (or a 30 cm ruler at 60 km). Many different kinds of objects are prominent in this regime, stars, galaxies and a variety of gaseous nebulae. The pulsars and black holes prominent at many other wavelengths are often quite subdued in the optical.

Most of the data we have in SkyView comes from photographic plates that have been scanned (e.g., the DSS and DSS2 surveys). These plates are sensitive to different color so very red or blue objects can be found by comparing images. The highest resolution data comes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, but this covers only about 10% of the sky. One slight embarrassment for SkyView is that is can be quite difficult to get optical images of the entire sky or very large regions of it, so that images are typically limited to no more than 5 or 10 degrees on a side -- and even that can take a long time. The H-alpha and SHASSA datasets can be used for larger regions, but these tend to emphasize the emission from interstellar gas.

Infrared: The 2MASS near-infrared data is similar to the optical in both content and resolution. The data from IRAS (including both the original IRAS ISSA data and the reprocessed IRIS data) is dominated by the interstellar medium. COBE data has lower resolution, but a better calibration than the IRAS data.

Radio: SkyView has a wide range of radio surveys ranging over a wide range of energies and resolutions. The interstellar medium is very prominent in the radio as are pulsars and AGN.

The FIRST survey covers only about 20% of the sky but has very high (1" resolution). The 1420Mhz survey covers the entire sky but at only 0.5 degree resolution. A number of intermediate resolution surveys (e.g., NVSS, WENSS, SUMSS, GB6, 33MHz) are available and cover different regions of the sky.

Other options

There are a very rich set of options you can use to generate custom images in SkyView. There is a detailed description of these in the web interface guide, but we point out a few here. Many of the options are initially hidden in the form. To see them click on the triangles pointing to "Commonly Used Parameters", "Other Optional Parameters" and "Optional Overlays". We'll pick one from each. You can explore others using the web interface and detailed user's guides.Size (Pixels): By default you get a 300x300 pixel image. That can be adjusted to make larger or smaller images using the 'Image size (pixels)' field in the Commonly Used Parameters.

Lookup table: Most SkyView images have no real color information but color can be used to encode how the intensity of the image changes. Our eyes are very good at detecting subtle differences and patterns of color. You can select a look up table to render an image in pseudo-color, or by default get a black-and-which output. Click on the'Other Optional Parameters' to select the lookup table. Earlier versions of SkyView used the "Stern Special" color table by default, but we now default to more realistic if less colorful black and white images.

Grid: To get a coordinate grid on you image, click on the 'Grid' checkbox after clicking on 'Optional Overlays'.
If you have any questions about SkyView, or suggestions as to how we might make it better (including surveys to incorporate), please contact us.

whoa... thanks boss

One of the most amazing images I've ever come across from a composite of three sources....

File:Crab Nebula NGC 1952 (composite from Chandra, Hubble and Spitzer).jpg

A star's spectacular death in the constellation Taurus was observed on Earth as the supernova of 1054 A.D. Now, almost a thousand years later, a super dense object — called a neutron star — left behind by the explosion is seen spewing out a blizzard of high-energy particles into the expanding debris field known as the Crab Nebula. X-ray data from Chandra provide significant clues to the workings of this mighty cosmic "generator," which is producing energy at the rate of 100,000 suns.


This composite image uses data from three of NASA's Great Observatories. The Chandra X-ray image is shown in blue, the Hubble Space Telescope optical image is in red and yellow, and the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared image is in purple. The X-ray image is smaller than the others because extremely energetic electrons emitting X-rays radiate away their energy more quickly than the lower-energy electrons emitting optical and infrared light. Along with many other telescopes, Chandra has repeatedly observed the Crab Nebula over the course of the mission's lifetime. The Crab Nebula is one of the most studied objects in the sky, truly making it a cosmic icon.

Leongsam said:

One of the most amazing images I've ever come across from a composite of three sources....

Click to expand...

a pity the edges are darken off, can't see the true beauty in its entirety :o:o:o

zhihau said:

a pity the edges are darken off, can't see the true beauty in its entirety :o:o:o

Click to expand...

It's a matter of resolution and sensitivity. If the James Webb telescope ever gets off the ground, it will reveal aspects of the Universe that we cannot even imagine today.

Leongsam said:

It's a matter of resolution and sensitivity. If the James Webb telescope ever gets off the ground, it will reveal aspects of the Universe that we cannot even imagine today.

Click to expand...

some space links for all to enjoy -

https://www.zooniverse.org/
http://www.redorbit.com/
http://science.nasa.gov/
http://www.popsci.com/

I was into this kind of shit.
Even ground a 6 inch reflector.
And brought my friends and son to a padi field near Mersing for dark sky to show him the last Halley which he can see on the next approach even if I cannot.

Maybe long ago we might have met on a star party

And a jpg file of Hubble, Chandra , Spitzer and other Earth based eyes etc etc to come out as screensaver

escher said:

And brought my friends and son to a padi field near Mersing for dark sky to show him the last Halley which he can see on the next approach even if I cannot.

Click to expand...

One of the reasons I like living in NZ is because the MacKenzie Country is one of the few places on earth where it is still possible to see an entire starlit night sky that's not affected by light pollution, smoke or particle pollution or Jet stream lines.

It was recently granted "World Heritage Status" in order to preserve this asset.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7074544/Southern-skies-get-starlight-reserve-statu

Southern skies get starlight reserve status

'We're just over the moon'

PAUL GORMAN


Last updated 18:00 10/06/2012

​

FRASER GUNN


THE LIGHT FANTASTIC: Aurora Australis seen from Tekapo late on the evening of March 16.


Canterbury is now home to the biggest and the best dark-sky reserve in the world.

Six years of hard work and intense lobbying have finally paid off with tonight's announcement that the Aoraki-Mackenzie Dark-Sky Reserve has been officially approved by a global astronomical body.

The reserve, which includes Canterbury University's Mt John Observatory above Lake Tekapo, Twizel and Aoraki-Mt Cook village, is only the fourth in the world and the second in the Southern Hemisphere.

At 4300 square kilometres the Aoraki-Mackenzie reserve is the biggest, ahead of reserves at Exmoor in England and Quebec in Canada, and the recently announced NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia.

It is also the first "gold-rated" reserve, meaning the darkness of its night skies is almost unbeatable.

International Dark-Sky Association executive director Bob Parks, who announced the new reserve, said it was about the best astronomical site one could get without being on the summit of very tall, remote mountains.

"The new reserve is coming in at a 'gold-level' status. That means the skies are almost totally free from light pollution. "To put it simply, it is one of the best stargazing sites on Earth."

The success of the efforts to have the Mackenzie Basin recognised was announced at the start of third International Starlight Conference being held in Tekapo township this week.

Opening the conference was Ngati Tuwharetoa paramount chief Sir Tumu te Heuheu, a former chairman of the World Heritage Committee of Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

An earlier bid to the Unesco committee to have the Mackenzie skies gazetted as a world heritage site failed because there were no rules in place to protect the heritage of the skies.

Starlight reserve chairwoman Margaret Austin, who also led the Unesco bid, said she and all those involved with the application were thrilled it had been accepted.

"We're just over the moon.

"Really, achieving this status is a tribute to the people of the district who never wavered in their commitment to achieving it."

Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Tim Hunter said it was "fantastic news" for Canterbury. "It's wonderful finally to have recognition in both national and global terms for this premium asset.

"It puts the Mackenzie Basin on the map as a destination of international significance and sends a clear message to people that if they want the ultimate dark-sky experience then this is the place to come."

He expected to see visitor numbers to the Mackenzie soar as a result.

Mackenzie Tourism general manager Phil Brownie said there would be "enormous ramifications and beneficial flow-on effects" for the district and for New Zealand.

"Mt John is considered one of the most accessible observatories in the world.

"The observatory is home to six telescopes, including the country's biggest, which measures 1.8m across and can observe 50 million stars each clear night."



This video is an all night timelapse animation taken from Mt John, Lake Tekapo, looking South East with a circular fisheye lens across Lake Tekapo and Tekapo village.

At the start of the night the main feature is the milkyway rising - then a small aurora followed by a zodical light and sunrise.

For more time-lapse photography by Fraser Gunn, see www.astrophotography.co.nz.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0lMXAOc4FQA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Very few places with true dark skies.
I used to sail with J24 in early 70s. I was shocked with the glow in Southern quadrant sky when I was at Pulau Sibu that was the glow from Singapore
Must be a lot worse now.

And when I encountered a truly dark sky in 86 Tibet , I could not recognise the night sky with Milky Way in rich depth and stars upon stars in crystal air
In no moon, I could read newspaper with the starlight alone.

What was taken for granted then it is very sad now that legislation must be used to preserve the little of dark sky nowadays

escher said:

And when I encountered a truly dark sky in 86 Tibet , I could not recognise the night sky with Milky Way in rich depth and stars upon stars in crystal air
In no moon, I could read newspaper with the starlight alone.

What was taken for granted then it is very sad now that legislation must be used to preserve the little of dark sky nowadays

Click to expand...

that must have been an awesome experience bro. wish more people could see it and appreciate why we got to take care of the planet.

escher said:

And when I encountered a truly dark sky in 86 Tibet , I could not recognise the night sky with Milky Way in rich depth and stars upon stars in crystal air
In no moon, I could read newspaper with the starlight alone.

Click to expand...

Wow!! This must be a very very nice feeling! Til now, I am stil waiting for a chance to look at loads and loads of stars in the sky. Where in our region do you think is best to watch the sky? Any place in JB?

bryanlim1972 said:

that must have been an awesome experience bro. wish more people could see it and appreciate why we got to take care of the planet.

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I was waiting for my night flight to Chengdu. Was at the airport with 3-4 hours to spare.
Airport was some distance from Lhasa, about 2 hours bus ride away.
Airflights then a very charming affair, and with a very primitive air terminal that we could walk about to tarmac.

I laid down on the tarmac with backpack for head rest and looked up and up in a natural high. I was there until some soldiers told me to get back.
Airport there was military airport
And even with down jacket and thermal underwear, it was getting bloody cold. Still , I was reluctant to get up.
The load of stars were overwhelming. I could not make out the usual constellations as stars to 7th or even 8th magnitude were just blazing away.

Never seen anything like that again even on the mountains of Korea and Taiwan or from outbacks of Australia.

I thought the sightings were good in Lhasa with little lights in 86. But out in the airport with absolutely no light and with air at -5C, no moisture , it was religious for me.


Too little and late for our planet.
When even Financial Times started to print good news of Artic time bomb and that Santa is swimming in the lake in the North Pole.

I wish I can find some blinkers so I do not see the shit in Singapore, or in other parts of the world.

But I so want to see the small shit of LKY and his gang finished and ended before the big shit of CO2 and methane hydrites hit all of us.

Blazars,

The light pollution from Singapore far too overwhelming for anything south of Mersing even in late 70s.
Since then, I work and lived over seas.

Look up at the night sky now.
Be prepared to be very pleasantly shocked when you look up in other countries

It's both amazing and awesome, looking at the galaxies in the skies. I witnessed for a while the Aurora lights one night toking outdoors in Canada and it was beautiful. Also, the last time there was power blackout in North-East North America (I think it was summer of 2004), the stars could all be seen in their splendour without any interference from Earth's city lights, wished it would happen more often. Man-made lights might be welcome in the early days of electricity, but by now, we're all used to it and see them so darn often, we prefer nature's lightups.

On the views of the far universe, I wonder when PRC will launch an equal of the Hubble telescope or the Cassini spacecraft and beam their photos back to Earth for the benefit of mankind?

Cheers!

Thanks to Indonesia haze, the Singapore night sky is finished!!!!!