Gum 29 should be the Lobster Nebula

I don't seem to have the imagination necessary to name astronomical objects. I still can't fathom why the Eagle Nebula is so named. However, this new image from ESO of Gum 29, a young star-forming nebula seems to beg for the name Lobster Nebula. However, that name's already taken by this blob. (I think the lobster is coming at you.) Still, when circled, Gum 29 looks quite tasty.

More logarithmics maps of the universe

Today's xkcd features a logarithmic map of the universe. It's much like the one J. Richard Gott did a few years ago. It's up to you to decide which is more useful.

Last night's lunar eclipse

Saturn at left, Regulus at top.


A widefield view during totality.

Comet 17P/Holmes

I observed Comet 17P/Holmes two nights ago, only visually. Compared to the previous night, I think it has brightened. On the 24th it was a little brighter than delta Per, which is magnitude 3.01. On the 25th it seemed brighter than gamma Per, which is magnitude 2.91, so I would say it is around 2.5-2.7.

It has a way to go before it can beat the brightest star in Perseus, Mirfak, at magnitude 1.79.

Comet 17P/Holmes

Comet 17P/Holmes has undergone a huge outburst, from magnitude 17 to 2.5, which means it's gone from being visible with only the largest telescopes to easy naked-eye visibility. I took this picture last night in my backyard.

More pictures and maps at www.spaceweather.com.

Moon composite

A composite image of the moon. Two images stitched together. Taken with a Meade black and white DSI ccd camera, and my 85mm Stellarvue refractor.

M57

Took this photo the Ring Nebula, M57, Saturday night. Surprisingly good! Meade black & white DSI, and my 85mm Stellarvue refractor.

M13

I am surprised by how well this picture of globular cluster M13 turned out. Took it Saturday night, with a black and white Meade DSI and my 85mm Stellarvue.

Favourite science images

Following Carl Zimmer, who followed Larry Moran, I've picked my favourite scientific image from the Wellcome Trust's new Creative Commons-licensed image database. I wanted the spectrum of just the sun, but I guess I will have to accept some other stars too.

[Credit: Wellcome Institute, Creative Commons License.]

Recent solar activity

This is a picture I took of the sun yesterday. There are two large prominences, at 1 and 9 o'clock. On the disc there is one sunspot and some small filaments. No retouching to the picture.

Mapping the earliest quasars

This is my fifth post for the weeklong orgy of science blogging, Just Science. There hasn't been much astronomy, so here goes with a discovery from the early universe.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has been taking pictures of nearly the entire sky, mapping the universe bit by bit. the project is in its second phase.

Astronomers have been mining this for data. A group reports on new findings concerning the clustering of quasars in the universe's first billion years. Quasars are the superbright cores of active galaxies and are probably powered by black holes at the galaxy's nucleus. We only see them at far distances, which implies we are seeing them in their youth.

A map of 4000 quasars shows they are much more tightly clustered than expected. "Previous maps showed that more nearby quasars cluster like 'normal'galaxies," explained Princeton University graduate student Yue Shen, wholed the study. "But the clustering in our map is ten times stronger, the difference between a high contrast photograph and a washed out xerox."

Quasars and their galaxies cluster together, bringing together normal and dark matter. Dark matter is thought to far outweight the amount of normal matter in the universe. (See here for interesting simulations showing the distribution of the two types of matter.)

The strong clumping of the quasars suggests dark matter is also especially thick in these clumps. These kind of calculations help astronomers, astrophysicists and cosmologists figure out why our universe is the way it is now.

My comet picture in SkyNews

A picture I took of Comet McNaught has been added to SkyNews magazine's gallery. Yay me!

Comet McNaught

Comet McNaught is getting extremely bright, extremely quickly. Catch it if you can after sunset.

Neil Tyson speaks the truth

Talking about the recent case of a teacher spouting religious anti-science nonsense in class, Neil de Grasse Tyson wrote in his letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

People cited violation of the First Amendment when a New Jersey schoolteacher asserted that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific and that Noah’s ark carried dinosaurs.

This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it’s about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

New York, Dec. 19, 2006

The writer, an astrophysicist, is director of the
Hayden Planetarium.

PS. 500th post!

Aurora last night

Some aurora pictures from last night, taken in my backyard: