WhereIsM13 is a great 3d visualization application of deep sky objects! You can see where these objects lie in our Galaxy along with their physical properties. There are different download options according to the operating system. For linux users download the .zip version which includes a .jar file that can …
William Parsons, was the first to notice spirals in a galaxy. His first scetch was the M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) in 1845. More on William Parsons: > Wikipedia > A list of photos & discoveries > Drawings
Prepared for the CitizenSky.org ‘s DSLR tutorials (with the help of bikeman and Roger_Pieri). CitizenSky.org is dedicated to the eclipsing binary epsilon Aurigae, but the procedure is more general and can be applied to any star. ~ ~ ~ For easiest use download the last version of IRIS 5.58 (especially …
Two very interesting images about the H-R diagram! The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram is a scatter graph of stars showing the relationship between the stars’ absolute magnitudes or luminosity versus their spectral types or classifications and effective temperatures. This diagram below is a plot of 22000 stars from the Hipparcos Catalogue together …
A not exhaustive list of software suitable for variable stars (e.g. reduction of images, photometry, period search, etc.). 1. IRIS 2. Period04 3. IRAF 4. AIP4WIN 5. Mira 6. MPO Canopus 7. MaxIm DL 8. Peranso 9. C-MuniPack Project 10. VStar on CitizenSky.org, AAVSO, or Sourceforge 11. AVE [added on …
Just some useful numbers and units to remember and to have an easy access to! [last updated: 29 Dec 2011] >> Distance 1 AU = 150 x 106 km 1 pc = 3.09 × 1013 km = 206260 AU = 3.26 ly 1 ly = 9.4 x 1012 km = …
The size of a Full Moon depends on the position of the Moon in its orbit (~ 0.5 degrees). Thus the biggest Full Moon is when the Moon is closest to Earth (i.e. at perigee). from spaceweather.com (28 Jan 2010) “… a “perigee Moon” some 14% wider and 30% brighter …
A magnificent picture comparing star sizes !!! (from Wikipedia / Star – Diameter)
Just a quick note for moon (or lunar) phases. From Wikipedia / Lunar Phases (moon phases). Phase Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere Visibility New moon Not visible, traditionally Moon’s first visible crescent after sunset Waxing crescent moon . Right 1-49% visible Left 1-49% visible afternoon and post-dusk First quarter moon Right …
When you install Starlink you have to determine the directory of the program (set env starlink_dir /path/to/software/star, in the ~/.tcshrc file). Then, any application runs under this directory. But, there is a limit in the number of characters used (only 40). This can cause some programs not to run at …