skypointer2000
Wonders of the Southern Sky
While zipping over Brazil, during the final stages of my Swiss International Air Lines flight to São Paulo, we were accompanied by the wonders of the southern hemisphere sky.
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and its smaller cousin, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), are visible near the upper edge of this image. These dwarf galaxies were long thought to be gravitationally bound to the Milky Way Galaxy. Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope, announced in 2006, however, suggest that they may be moving too fast to be orbiting our home galaxy.
The bright 'star' to the right of the SMC is 47 Tucanae, the second brightest globular cluster in Earth's sky, containing half a million solar masses. This is a chance alignment. At a distance of 15'000 light years, the 47 Tucanae is much closer to us than the dwarf galaxy at almost 200'000 light years. According to a new study, the SMC may actually also be a chance alignment of two star-forming regions superimposed along our line of sight, separated bt almost the same distance as 47 Tucanae from us.
In the lower left of the image, another wonder of the southern sky, the Carina Nebula, is just clearing the horizon. The Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) is one of the largest diffuse nebulae in our skies. It is about 4 times the size of the famous Orion Nebula. At a distance of 7500 light years, it is about half as far away from us as 47 Tucanae. The Carina Nebula has a diameter of 200 light years, which is 1/1000th of the distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud, or 200 billion (2×10¹¹) times the distance we flew from Zurich to São Paulo.
EXIF
Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by Richard Galli from EOS 4Astro
Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART
Mount: Boeing 777-300ER
Sky: Stack of 68x 5s @ ISO6400
Foreground: Stack of 5 exposures from the sky sequence
Wonders of the Southern Sky
While zipping over Brazil, during the final stages of my Swiss International Air Lines flight to São Paulo, we were accompanied by the wonders of the southern hemisphere sky.
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and its smaller cousin, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), are visible near the upper edge of this image. These dwarf galaxies were long thought to be gravitationally bound to the Milky Way Galaxy. Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope, announced in 2006, however, suggest that they may be moving too fast to be orbiting our home galaxy.
The bright 'star' to the right of the SMC is 47 Tucanae, the second brightest globular cluster in Earth's sky, containing half a million solar masses. This is a chance alignment. At a distance of 15'000 light years, the 47 Tucanae is much closer to us than the dwarf galaxy at almost 200'000 light years. According to a new study, the SMC may actually also be a chance alignment of two star-forming regions superimposed along our line of sight, separated bt almost the same distance as 47 Tucanae from us.
In the lower left of the image, another wonder of the southern sky, the Carina Nebula, is just clearing the horizon. The Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) is one of the largest diffuse nebulae in our skies. It is about 4 times the size of the famous Orion Nebula. At a distance of 7500 light years, it is about half as far away from us as 47 Tucanae. The Carina Nebula has a diameter of 200 light years, which is 1/1000th of the distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud, or 200 billion (2×10¹¹) times the distance we flew from Zurich to São Paulo.
EXIF
Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by Richard Galli from EOS 4Astro
Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART
Mount: Boeing 777-300ER
Sky: Stack of 68x 5s @ ISO6400
Foreground: Stack of 5 exposures from the sky sequence