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1-18-2011 Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris)

I discovered that it was possible to take quick photographs of bright stars by dialing up the ISO sensitivity to 1250. Sirius, pictured here, turned out great. I'm going to try it out on Canopus and other very bright stars.

 

Taken through a 4.5-inch f/7.9 reflector at 72x.

 

Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) is the brightest star in the night sky. This is due to the fact that it is both very close (8.6 light-years) and very luminous. It is a blue giant that is quite a bit larger than the sun. Its companion, Sirus B, is a white dwarf remnant of a much larger previous star, and requires a telescope much bigger than mine to see. Here's a picture of the system: www.phys.boun.edu.tr/~semiz/universe/far/09ext/SiriusB.jpg

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Uploaded on January 19, 2011
Taken on January 18, 2011