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Zeus and Cronus on the bank of the Celestial River
According to Greek mythology, Zeus was the father of the Olympian gods and Thunder God. The ancients gave this name to planet Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
As the planets revolve around the Sun, they are seen from Earth moving between the constellations (the stars of course are much farther away than the planets). Jupiter crosses all zodiac constellations once every 12 years and comes close (astronomical speaking) to the Earth once every year (“opposition” in astronomical terminology), so it looks particularly brilliant in the sky.
This past summer, Jupiter was placed between the constellations of Scorpion and Sagittarius (in fact inside the border of Ophiuchus), in an area where the band of our Milky Way Galaxy ("the Celestial River") is most prominent. In the area of Sagittarius and within tens of thousands of light years away from us, lies the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where a massive black hole exists. The density of the stars in this area is tremendous, while dark areas of interstellar dust run through the galactic band and conceal the numerous stars behind them.
Jupiter is the bright “star” to the right of the Galactic band. On the other side of this band is planet Saturn (“Cronus”), the father of Zeus according to Greek mythology (the brightest “star” left from the band of the Milky Way and just above the middle of the photo).
This photograph was taken during the annual astronomical excursion of amateur astronomers from all over Greece, outside the village of Filippaioi in mountainous Grevena. As the intense lights from the urban web threatens to eliminate the stars from the night sky, astronomers - professionals and amateurs - gather in remote areas to study and record the beauties hidden in the night sky.
As we approach the New Year celebration, I would like to say goodbye to 2019 with this photo, hoping that you will forgive me for posting a summer photo at the heart of winter!
Let me express once again my gratitude to all of you for your faves and comments, but mostly for your wonderful photos that always inspire the rest of us! Please keep them coming!
I wish everyone a happy New Year, with many beautiful moments enjoyed and captured!
Technical data:
Date: August 3rd, 2019
Location: Filippaioi, Grevena, Greece
Camera: CANON EOS 550D
Lens: Tokina 11-16@14mm, f/2.8
Light Frames: 5 x 19 sec, ISO 6400, calibrated with darks and stacked in Sequator
Processing: Adobe LR, Photoshop CC
Special thanks to Alan Dyer for his fine pdf books of how to photograph and process Nightscapes and Timelapses.
Zeus and Cronus on the bank of the Celestial River
According to Greek mythology, Zeus was the father of the Olympian gods and Thunder God. The ancients gave this name to planet Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
As the planets revolve around the Sun, they are seen from Earth moving between the constellations (the stars of course are much farther away than the planets). Jupiter crosses all zodiac constellations once every 12 years and comes close (astronomical speaking) to the Earth once every year (“opposition” in astronomical terminology), so it looks particularly brilliant in the sky.
This past summer, Jupiter was placed between the constellations of Scorpion and Sagittarius (in fact inside the border of Ophiuchus), in an area where the band of our Milky Way Galaxy ("the Celestial River") is most prominent. In the area of Sagittarius and within tens of thousands of light years away from us, lies the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where a massive black hole exists. The density of the stars in this area is tremendous, while dark areas of interstellar dust run through the galactic band and conceal the numerous stars behind them.
Jupiter is the bright “star” to the right of the Galactic band. On the other side of this band is planet Saturn (“Cronus”), the father of Zeus according to Greek mythology (the brightest “star” left from the band of the Milky Way and just above the middle of the photo).
This photograph was taken during the annual astronomical excursion of amateur astronomers from all over Greece, outside the village of Filippaioi in mountainous Grevena. As the intense lights from the urban web threatens to eliminate the stars from the night sky, astronomers - professionals and amateurs - gather in remote areas to study and record the beauties hidden in the night sky.
As we approach the New Year celebration, I would like to say goodbye to 2019 with this photo, hoping that you will forgive me for posting a summer photo at the heart of winter!
Let me express once again my gratitude to all of you for your faves and comments, but mostly for your wonderful photos that always inspire the rest of us! Please keep them coming!
I wish everyone a happy New Year, with many beautiful moments enjoyed and captured!
Technical data:
Date: August 3rd, 2019
Location: Filippaioi, Grevena, Greece
Camera: CANON EOS 550D
Lens: Tokina 11-16@14mm, f/2.8
Light Frames: 5 x 19 sec, ISO 6400, calibrated with darks and stacked in Sequator
Processing: Adobe LR, Photoshop CC
Special thanks to Alan Dyer for his fine pdf books of how to photograph and process Nightscapes and Timelapses.