Low Angle of North Sky

A low angle of the Northern Celestial Pole.

Why do the photographs look like they do?

Or Why are these Stars Streaking?

Short answer, because of Earth's rotation.

 Long answer,
Most of these photographs have 1 Hour ( 40-90minutes) of Total exposure duration and in this much time the earth would have rotated about 15degrees.

FYI. as the earth rotates at "EXACTLY HALF" the speed of the hour hand in a regular clock,
TMI (the rotation speed of the clocks "was set to match" the rotation of the earth.)
TMI 2. If you had a watch with a 24hrs dial then it's hour hand/pointer would rotate at exactly the same speed as the earth's rotation,
the hour hand moves 90 degrees in 3 hours eg. 12 to 3 AM/PM so the earth rotates, half of 90 degrees i.e. 45degrees, so in an hour earth rotates 15 degrees, that's the Angular Length of the Streaks.

The objects on earth are stationary so they stay in proper focus while the night sky has rotated 15 degrees.

The star(s) exactly on top or below the axis (north-south) will not appear to move.
The more distant a star is from this Celestial Pole the Longer the streaks it will make.

The streaks are a good representation of the Celestial North Pole, vis a via the regular (earth's North Pole)
The height of the Pole Star above the horizon is  "your location" or Latitude with ref to the earth's equator.

In most of these photographs the Pole Star is 27* degrees above the horizon, an that's the GPS co ordinate of Jaipur 26.95 degrees or

The Circles?
When the camera is pointed towards the north, the Celestial North Pole Star or Dhruv Tara acts like a "pivot" n all the stars slowly circle it  or that's what it looks like from earth.
See the videos of these Stars in motion.

India is in the Northern Hemisphere, about 20-30 degrees north of earth's equator. This also means the Pole Star is 20-30 degrees above the Horizon.

Just bear in mind that we don't live on Top of the Earth's North Pole, so the Pole Star isn't right above your head or your Zenith.

The Grids?
The Celestial Co ordinates are "imagery lines" we make on Map of stars to basically know what part is being referred to. Like the GPS is for earth. The Celestial Longitude is divided in 24Hrs. (A very neat idea! As this is a good representation of earth's rotation speed), this is along  the North-South axis. Its tech term is RA. (Right Accession) the Zero Hrs line is though The Aries constellation.

Other info,
Colours don't matter for Astronomical photos! Yes that's a big-bad thing to say, but Astro photos are more like an X-Ray or a CAT scan than a Passport Photo.

Shooting stars is easier than seeing stars! Cameras today are more sensitive than what NASA used less than 5 years ago! 

A regular DSLR has upwards of 6400 ISO, sensitive Sensor, and in Astro Photography you remove all the Noise from the sensor/circuit/lens/dust etc. Well the cleaning or Calibrating Photos/frames is most of the work that you have to in post processing.

Magnitude in Astronomy

Magnitudes

The magnitude scale was invented by an ancient Greek astronomer named Hipparchus in about 150 B.C. He ranked the stars he could see in terms of their brightness, with 1 representing the brightest down to 6 representing the faintest. Modern astronomy has extended this system to stars brighter than Hipparchus' 1st magnitude stars and ones much, much fainter than 6.
As it turns out, the eye senses brightness logarithmically, so each increase in 5 magnitudes corresponds to a decrease in brightness by a factor 100. The absolute magnitude is the magnitude the stars would have if viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs or some 32.6 light years. Obviously, Deneb is intrinsically very bright to make this list from its greater distance. Rigel, of nearly the same absolute magnitude, but closer, stands even higher in the list. Note that most of these distances are really nearby, on a cosmic scale, and that they are generally uncertain by at least 20%. All stars are variable to some extent; those which are visibly variable are marked with a "v".

Apparent and absolute magnitudes.
Apparent is how bright the appear to us in the sky. The scale is somewhat arbitrary, as explained above, but a magnitude difference of 5 has been set to exactly a factor of 100 in intensity. Absolute magnitudes are how bright a star would appear from some standard distance, arbitrarily set as 10 parsecs or about 32.6 light years. Stars can be as bright as absolute magnitude -8 and as faint as absolute magnitude +16 or fainter. There are thus (a very few) stars more than 100 times brighter than Sirius, while hardly any are known fainter than Wolf 356.

Hindu Calendar demystified

The Vedic Chandramaana Lunar calendar system uses two Moon based properties.

First, to keep a day count clock in which Moon is the pointer(Clock Arm) and the stars are numerals in the sky Watch-Dial, pointed to by moon each day.
The Vedic astronomers, used the 13 degree movement of the moon between successive days and named the 27/28 stars pointed to by moon on a daily basis as 27/28 Nakshatra.
Simply a Nakshatra corresponds to moon position relative to Stars in one (solar) day.

Second is the Waxing-Waning of the  moon, can indicate a day-count or a moon day or thiti. There are 30 thiti(s) and are defined in a lunar month,  (each thiti being smaller than a solar day.) Fifteen are identified as Shukla paksha or ascending fortnight and next fifteen are called Krishna paksha or descending fortnight.

Source http://www.VedicAstronomy.net
Dr. Balakrishan.

This system of a lunar pointer as the primary calendar dates to the Vedic periods.

Special Sun-Days

The solar events Aayanas(Solstice s), and Vishuwat-Sankramana's (Equinox es)

Days are Long, then Days Become Equal to night then Days become shorter than night, then becone equal and then longer agsin, thats what we calls seasons
Every year earth travels around the Sun, in a fixed Elliptical(A circle with 2 Centers) path. So at 4 times the points of change in the periodic Solstices when apparent North-South movement of Sun reverses, usually occurring on June 21 and Dec 22.

Vishuwat means equal or the spring and fall equinox’s when daytime is equal to nighttime, usually occurring on March 21 and Sep 21. There are vedic references to solar singularities with corresponding solar/lunar pointed star locations.
Pournamsya, a time at which earth, sun, moon are aligned is a time of singularity used for religious purposes and formed the unit of half a month and is used in Rigveda.

The six-season definition is unique to vedic system and is not found in any other recorded culture or system. These seasons are, Vasanta, Geeshma, Varsha, Sharad, Himavanta and Shishira each season being about two moon cycles. It is in Taittareeya Samhita (Krishna Yajurveda) and in Atharva samhita 19th kaanda /7th Sootra that an explicit first definition and identification of the twenty- seven(28) Nakshatra’s is available (Refs, 1 and 2). It should be noted that the concept of Zodiac/Raashi is not even hinted in any vedic texts of the old period.

The table below provides a list of the twenty-seven stars from Taittareeya Samhita and Krishna Yajurveda 4th Kaanda 4th Prashna of Andhra School. Similar list is referred to in Atharvaveda, 19th kaanda/7th Sookta. It differs from the Yajurveda list in that twenty eight stars are listed. In 19th Kaanda/8th sooktha twenty eight(ashtha vimshaani) nakshatras are declared. The nakshatra not explicitly used in Jyotishya and in yajurveda is named Abhijit. The taiaareeya brahmana (third Ashtaka) derived from yajurveda again lists 28 nakshatras including Abhijit. It is referred to in Athrvana veda. The author or Drashtaara of Atharva veda sookta is Gaargya Rishi.

The confusion about 27/28 Nakshatras can be analyzed as follows. The 27.3 days taken by moon for visiting the same star can be rounded to either 27 or 28. Each of these integers represents a nakshatra or a daily star. It is possible that initially 28 nakshatras were proposed and defined to represent every day. This is evident from Gargya’s Nakshtara sooktha. Subsequently many years later when Jyotishya was taking a more formal and mathematical shape, 27 integer identities were perhaps found to be more reasonable and accurate. Hence one of the original 28 nakshatras had to be deleted. This could not be done easily as the vedas are considered to be ‘apourusheya’ and no liberties were allowed. Hence perhaps Abhijit, was declared to be an imaginary nakshatra meant only for phala.(ref 10).

The Table below lists names of Nakshatras, the deity to which Nakshatra is dedicated to, and alternate names. Ashwini and Bharani are listed as last two Nakshatras. Note that the list starts from Krittika and not from Ashwini as is currently used in Jyotishya Shaastra (Ref 3). The time at which Rishi Gargya documented the list of nakshatra's in Atharvana Veda is at least circa 2400 BC, as analyzed in appendix I. The appendix also dates the Jyotishya Shaastra as having been brought in to the present form around circa 400 BC.

Constellation Lyra

In the film Contact (Written by Sri Carl Sagan) the message intercepted by Jodi Foster's character is coming from Vega, the brightest star in the Lyra constellation

Nakshatra of Hindus

#	Sanskrit	Bengali name নক্ষত্র	Malayalam name മലയാളം	Tamil name தமிழ்	Telugu name తెలుగు	Kannada name ಕನ್ನಡ	Western star name
1	Aśvinī अश्विनी	Aśvinī অশ্বিনী	Ashvati അശ്വതി	Aswini அஸ்வினி	Aśvinī అశ్విని	Aśvinī ಅಶ್ವಿನಿ	β and γ Arietis
2	Bharaṇī भरणी	Bharaṇī ভরণী	Bharaṇi ഭരണി	Baraṇi பரணி	Bharaṇi భరణి	Bharaṇi ಭರಣಿ	35, 39, and 41 Arietis
3	Kṛttikā कृत्तिका	Kṛttikā কৃত্তিকা	Kārttika കാർത്തിക	Kārthikai கார்த்திகை	Kṛttika కృత్తిక	Kruthike ಕೃತಿಕೆ	Pleiades
4	Rohiṇī रोहिणी	Rohiṇī রোহিণী	Rōhiṇi രോഹിണി	Rōhiṇi ரோகிணி	Rōhiṇi రోహిణి	Rōhiṇi ರೋಹಿಣಿ	Aldebaran
5	Mṛgaśiras म्रृगशीर्षा	Mṛgaśiras মৃগশিরা	Makayiram മകയിരം	Mirugasīridam மிருகசீரிடம்	Mṛgaśira మృగశిర	Mṛgaśira ಮೃಗಶಿರ	λ, φ Orionis
6	Ārdrā आद्रा	Ārdrā আর্দ্রা	Ātira or Tiruvātira ആതിര (തിരുവാതിര)	Thiruvādhirai திருவாதிரை	Arudra ఆరుద్ర	Aridra ಆರಿದ್ರ	Betelgeuse
7	Punarvasu पुनर्वसु	Punarvasu পুনর্বসু	Puṇartam പുണർതം	Punarpoosam புனர்பூசம்	Punarvasu పునర్వసు	Punarvasu ಪುನರ್ವಸು	Castor and Pollux
8	Puṣya पुष्य	Puṣya পুষ্যা (তিষ্যা)	Pūyam പൂയം	Poosam பூசம்	Puṣyami పుష్యమి	Puṣya ಪುಷ್ಯ	γ, δ and θ Cancri
9	Aśleṣā आश्ळेषा / आश्लेषा	Aśleṣā অশ্লেষা	Āyilyam ആയില്യം	Ayilyam ஆயில்யம்	Aśleṣa ఆశ్లేష	Aśleṣa ಆಶ್ಲೇಷ	δ, ε, η, ρ, and σ Hydrae
10	Maghā मघा	Maghā মঘা	Makam മകം	Magam மகம்	Makha or Magha మఖ or మాఘ	Makha ಮಖ	Regulus
11	Pūrva or Pūrva Phalguṇī पूर्व फाल्गुनी	Pūrva or Pūrva Phalguṇī পূর্ব ফল্গুনী	Pūram പൂരം	Pooram பூரம்	Pūrva Phalguṇī or Pubba పూర్వా ఫల్గుణి or పుబ్బ	Pubba ಪುಬ್ಬ	δ and θ Leonis
12	Uttara or Uttara Phalguṇī उत्तर फाल्गुनी	Uttara or Uttara Phalguṇī উত্তর ফল্গুনী	Utram ഉത്രം	Uthiram உத்திரம்	Uttara Phalguṇi or Uttara ఉత్తర ఫల్గుణి or ఉత్తర	Utthara ಉತ್ತರ	Denebola
13	Hasta हस्त	Hasta হস্তা	Attam അത്തം	Astham அஸ்தம்	Hasta హస్త	Hasta ಹಸ್ತ	α, β, γ, δ and ε Corvi
14	Citrā चित्रा14	Citrā চিত্রা	Chittira (Chitra) ചിത്തിര (ചിത്ര)	Chithirai சித்திரை	Cittā or Citrā చిత్తా or చిత్రా	Citta ಚಿತ್ತ	Spica
15	Svāti स्वाति	Svāti স্বাতী	Chōti ചോതി	Swathi சுவாதி	Svāti స్వాతి	Svāti ಸ್ವಾತಿ	Arcturus
16	Viśākha विशाखा	Viśākha বিশাখা	Vishākham വിശാഖം	Visakam விசாகம்	Viśākha విశాఖ	Viśākhe ವಿಶಾಖೆ	α, β, γ and ι Librae
17	Anurādhā अनुराधा	Anurādhā অনুরাধা	Anizham അനിഴം	Anusham அனுஷம்	Anurādhā అనూరాధ	Anurādhā ಅನುರಾಧ	β, δ and π Scorpionis
18	Jyeṣṭha ज्येष्ठा	Jyeṣṭha জ্যেষ্ঠা	Kēṭṭa (Trikkēṭṭa) കേട്ട (തൃക്കേട്ട)	Kettai கேட்டை	Jyeṣṭha జ్యేష్ఠ	Jyeṣṭha ಜ್ಯೇಷ್ಠ	α, σ, and τ Scorpionis
19	Mūla मूल/मूळ	Mūla মূলা	Mūlam മൂലം	Mūlam மூலம்	Mūla మూల	Mūla ಮೂಲ	ε, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, λ, μ and ν Scorpionis
20	Pūrvāṣāḍha पूर्वाषाढा	Pūrvāṣāḍha পূর্বাষাঢ়া	Pūrāṭam പൂരാടം	Pūradam பூராடம்	Pūrvāṣāḍha పూర్వాషాఢ	Pūrvāṣāḍha ಪೂರ್ವಾಷಾಢ	δ and ε Sagittarii
21	Uttarāṣāḍha उत्तराषाढा	Uttarāṣāḍha উত্তরাষাঢ়া	Utrāṭam ഉത്രാടം	Uthirādam உத்திராடம்	Uttarāṣāḍha ఉత్తరాషాఢ	Uttarāṣāḍha ಉತ್ತರಾಷಾಢ	ζ and σ Sagittarii
22	Śravaṇa श्रवण	Śravaṇa শ্রবণা	Tiruvōnam ഓണം (തിരുവോണം)	Tiruvōnam திருவோணம்	Śravaṇaṁ శ్రవణం	Śravaṇa ಶ್ರವಣ	α, β and γ Aquilae
23	Śraviṣṭhā or Dhaniṣṭha श्रविष्ठा or धनिष्ठा	Śraviṣṭhā or Dhaniṣṭha ধনিষ্ঠা (শ্রবিষ্ঠা)	Aviṭṭam അവിട്ടം	Aviṭṭam அவிட்டம்	Dhaniṣṭha ధనిష్ఠ	Dhaniṣṭha ಧನಿಷ್ಠ	α to δ Delphinus
24	Śatabhiṣak or Śatatārakā शतभिषक् / शततारका	Śatabhiṣak or Śatatārakā শতভিষা	Chatayam ചതയം	Sadayam சதயம்	Śatabhiṣaṁ శతభిషం	Śatabhiṣa ಶತಭಿಷ	γ Aquarii
25	Pūrva Bhādrapadā पूर्वभाद्रपदा / पूर्वप्रोष्ठपदा	Pūrva Bhādrapadā পূর্ব ভাদ্রপদ	Pūruruṭṭāti പൂരുരുട്ടാതി	Pūraṭṭādhi பூரட்டாதி	Pūrvābhādra పూర్వాభాద్ర	Pūrvābhādra ಪೂರ್ವಾ ಭಾದ್ರ	α and β Pegasi
26	Uttara Bhādrapadā उत्तरभाद्रपदा / उत्तरप्रोष्ठपदा	Uttara Bhādrapadā উত্তর ভাদ্রপদ	Uttṛṭṭāti ഉത്രട്ടാതി	Uttṛṭṭādhi உத்திரட்டாதி	Uttarābhādra ఉత్తరాభాద్ర	Uttarābhādra ಉತ್ತರಾ ಭಾದ್ರ	γ Pegasi and α Andromedae
27	Revatī रेवती	Revatī রেবতী	Rēvati രേവതി	Rēvathi ரேவதி	Rēvati రేవతి	Rēvati ರೇವತಿ	ζ Piscium

Nakshatra : Number of stars : Deity.
Krittika 6 Agni
Rohini 5 Prajaapati
Mrigasheerisham 3 Soma
Aardharaa 1 Rudra
Punarvasu 2-4 Aditi
Tishya 3 Pushya Brihaspati
Aaslesha 1 Ashresha Sarpa
Maghaa 5 Pitru
Poorva Phalguni 2 PubbaBhaga
Uttara Phalguni 2 Uttara
Hastaa 3 Savitru
Chitra 1 Chitta Indra
Swati 1 Vaayu
Vishaaka 2 Indraagni
Anooradha 4 Mitra
Jyeshta3 Indra
Vichruta 11 MoolaPitru
Aashada 2 Purvashada Aapah
Aashada(Abhijit) 3 Uttarashada Vishvedeva
Shrona 3 Shravana Vishnu
Shravishta 4 Dhanishta Vasu
Shatha Bhishaja 100 Indra
Proshtapada 2Purvabhadra
Proshtapada 2 UttarabhadraAhirbadhni
Revathi32 Pausha
Ashwini3 Ashwini
Bharani3 Yama 2Uttara
Hastaa3 Savitru
Chitra 1ChittaIndra
Swati 1 Vaayu
Vishaaka 2 Indraagni
Anooradha 4 Mitra
Jyeshta 3 Indra
Vichruta 11 MoolaPitru
Aashada 2 PurvashadaAapah
Aashada(Abhijit)3UttarashadaVishvedeva
Shrona 3 ShravanaVishnu
Shravishta 4 Dhanishta Vasu
ShathaBhishaja 100 Indra
Proshtapada2 Purvabhadra
Proshtapada 2 UttarabhadraAhirbadhni
Revathi 32 Pausha
Ashwini 3 Ashwini
Bharani 3 Yama

Mission Statement

1. Sky Map (Ultra Hi Resolution, interactive) using information of Vedic Knowledge of Astronomy.

2. Portrait s of all 27 Nakshatra Stars.

Selfie or Celphy

Celphy for me was the canon porta printer.
Now.?

Constellation Bootes

Myth
Exactly who was Boötes is unclear, and there are many versions of his story:

according to the Greeks,
1. Filomeleo, son of Demeter and Yasonte, first farmer in the world.

2. Arcade, son of Zeus and Callisto and grandson of Lycaon, once Lycaon invited Zeus to a banquet and served his own grandson as food.
The God(s) recomposed Arcade body and became the star,
2.1 another version, after recomposing Arcade's body, they gave it to a goat-herd to raise the child and punished the grandfather Lycaon by making him a wolf (Lupus, a constellation in Southern hemisphere) and burning his mansion.

3. it's a farmer who drives the Plough/oxen in the constellation Ursa(Major) using his two dogs Chara and Asterion (from the constellation Canes Venatici).
The oxen are tethered to the Celestial North Pole and so the action of Boötes keep the heavens in constant rotation around the polar axis.

The inventor of the plow which pleased both Ceres, goddess of agriculture who asked Jupiter to give Boötes permanent fixed installation in heaven as a reward.

Icario, who had learned the cultivation of the Wine of the god Dionysus. Icario was killed by his own friends after a night of heavy drinking!

What is Solstice and Equinox?

On the Equinoxes the day and night are the same length.

An equinox occurs twice a year around 20 March (Vernal Spring)and 22 September, 

Vernal Equinox on 20-21March, is when the Sun Rises "exactly from East." From this day it will rise a little North of East.
(Jargon- the Earth's equator is same celestial equator on the celestial sphere.)

A solstice occurs twice a year (around 21 June and 21 December), on 21 June, the Sun reaches its highest, or Northern most the Sun rises ie. 23° north of East

On 22 September, Winter Solstice, the sun reaches the lowest (Southern most the sun rises, ie  23° South of East) excursion relative to the celestial equator.

Ecliptic Path.
The Path of the Sun, Moon, Planets take across the sky and all the 12 "Zodiac" Constellations are along this Path in the sky.

See this interactive graphics 

http://ecuip.lib.uchicago.edu/diglib/science/cultural_astronomy/interactives/woodhenge/woodhenge.html

http://ecuip.lib.uchicago.edu/diglib/science/cultural_astronomy/interactives/woodhenge/woodhenge.html

25 Brightest Stars.

Common Name ScientificNameDistance(light years) Apparent Magnitude Absolute Magnitude

Sun- Sol <0.01 -26.7 24.8
Sirius AlphaCMa8.6 -1.46 1.4
Canopus AlphaCar74 -0.72 -2.5
Rigil Kentaurus AlphaCen4.3 -0.27 4.4
Arcturus AlphaBoo34 -0.04 0.2
Vega alphaLyr25 0.03 0.6
Capella alphaAur41 0.08 0.4
Rigel betaOri~1400 0.12 -8.1
Procyon alphaCMi11.4 0.38 2.6
Achernar AlphaEri69 0.46 -1.3
Betelgeuse alphaOri~1400 0.50 -7.2
Hadar BetaCen320 0.61 (var.)-4.4
Acrux AlphaCru510 0.76 -4.6
Altair alphaAql16 0.77 2.3
Aldebaran alphaTau60 0.85 (var.)-0.3
Antares alphaSco~520 0.96 (var.)-5.2
Spica AlphaVir220 0.98 (var.)-3.2
Pollux betaGem40 1.14 0.7
Fomalhaut AlphaPsA22 1.16 2.0
Becrux BetaCru460 1.25 (var.) -4.7
Deneb AlphaCyg1500 1.25 -7.2
Regulus alphaLeo69 1.35 -0.3
Adhara EpsilonCMa570 1.50 -4.8
Castor AlphaGem49 1.57 0.5
Gacrux GammaCru120 1.63 (var.) -1.2
Shaula LambdaSco330 1.63 (var.) -3.5

Magnitudes

The magnitude scale was invented by an ancient Greek astronomer named Hipparchus in about 150 B.C. He ranked the stars he could see in terms of their brightness, with 1 representing the brightest down to 6 representing the faintest. Modern astronomy has extended this system to stars brighter than Hipparchus' 1st magnitude stars and ones much, much fainter than 6.
As it turns out, the eye senses brightness logarithmically, so each increase in 5 magnitudes corresponds to a decrease in brightness by a factor 100. The absolute magnitude is the magnitude the stars would have if viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs or some 32.6 light years. Obviously, Deneb is intrinsically very bright to make this list from its greater distance. Rigel, of nearly the same absolute magnitude, but closer, stands even higher in the list. Note that most of these distances are really nearby, on a cosmic scale, and that they are generally uncertain by at least 20%. All stars are variable to some extent; those which are visibly variable are marked with a "v".

Apparent and absolute magnitudes.
Apparent is how bright the appear to us in the sky. The scale is somewhat arbitrary, as explained above, but a magnitude difference of 5 has been set to exactly a factor of 100 in intensity. Absolute magnitudes are how bright a star would appear from some standard distance, arbitrarily set as 10 parsecs or about 32.6 light years. Stars can be as bright as absolute magnitude -8 and as faint as absolute magnitude +16 or fainter. There are thus (a very few) stars more than 100 times brighter than Sirius, while hardly any are known fainter than Wolf 356.

A Pole Star is for a thousand years.

About 4000 years ago, the star Thuban was the North Star. Since then, precession of the Earth's axis has changed where the North Pole points, so the North Star is now Polaris. In another 10,000 years or so, the North Star will be Vega.

Earth takes 25000years for a complete cycle of Precession, for Polaris to be the Pole Star again.
The North Celestial Pole changes along a Circle through Polaris, Vega, Thuban.
See the image,

Asterisms - Star icons. In the Night Sky.

Asterisms are a bunch-group of Stars that appears in a shape  of a familiar objects.
Like the Big Dipper in the northern sky made of 7 brightest stars, that are a part of the Constellation Ursa-Bear.
The inverted ? In the Constellation Leo, with the brightest star of Leo the Regulus, is the "." of the "?".

Best time to see the Milky Way. Mid Summer.

After midnight from North East to South West, rises the central region on our Miljy way Galaxy.
It's like a flat-ish disc n we now see along the flat plane of the galaxy right to the center.
The zodiac constellation in South, Sagittarius and Scorpios have very density star clusters.

What is FITS image format?

 FITS stands for Flexible Image Transport System. The format Used to store Astronomical Images. FITS is primarily designed to store scientific data sets consisting of multi-dimensional arrays (1-D spectra, 2-D images or 3-D data cubes) and 2-dimensional tables containing rows and columns of data

See this http://data.sdss3.org/sas/dr10/boss/spectro/redux/v5_5_12/spectra/4382/spec-4382-55742-0009.fits

won't open in the browser, open in photoshop or any 32bit image editor

Scorpius appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year.

Scorpius appears prominently in southern skies after sunset during the middle of the year.

What's an UNIX OS technically in 1Sentence.

A Unix-like operating system is
a "Software" collection of
applications,
libraries, and developer tools,
plus a program to allocate resources
and talk to the hardware, known as a kernel.

http://www.gnu.org/

Hindu Astronomy. By John Russell 1825CE.

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YcNXD0Q24KEC

Messier Objects List

Messier #  Name Type Constellation NGC# Magnitude Size RA Dec  Season Marathon # Difficulty  

1. M001 Crab Nebula Supernova remnant Taurus 1952 8.4 6.0x4.0 5h 34.5m 22 01 Winter 16
2. M002 N/A Globular Cluster Aquarius 7089 6.5 12.9 21h 33.5m -0 49 Fall/Early Winter 107 E
3. M003 N/A Globular Cluster Canes Venatici 5272 6.4 16.2 13h 42.2m 28 23 Early Spring 48 E
4. M004 N/A Globular Cluster Scorpio 6121 5.9 26.3 16h 23.6m -26 32 Mid-Summer 82
5. M005 N/A Globular Cluster Serpens Caput 5904 5.8 17.4 15h 18.6m 2 5 Mid-Summer 68 E
6. M006 Butterfly Cluster,Open Cluster Scorpius 6405 4.2 15 17h 40.1m -32 13 Mid-Summer 86
7. M007 Ptolemy¹s Cluster,Open Cluster Scorpius 6475 3.3 80 17h 53.9m -34 49 Mid-Summer 87
8. M008 Lagoon Nebula Lagoon Nebula Sagittarius 6523 5 35.0x50.0 18h 3.1m -24 23 Late Summer 98
9. M009 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6333 7.9 9.3 17h 19.2m -18 31 Mid-Summer 81
10. M010 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6254 6.6 15.1 16h 57.1m -4 6 Mid-Summer 79 E
11. M011 Wild Duck Cluster Open Cluster Scutum 6705 5.8 14 18h 51.1m -6 16 Late Summer 88 E
12. M012 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6218 6.6 14.5 16h 47.2m -1 57 Mid-Summer 78 E
13. M013 N/A Globular Cluster Hercules 6205 5.9 16.6 16h 41.7m 36 28 Mid-Summer 69
14. M014 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6402 7.6 11.7 17h 37.6m -3 15 Mid-Summer 80 T
15. M015 N/A Globular Cluster Pegasus 7078 6.4 12.3 21h 30m 12 10 Fall/Early Winter 106
16. M016 Eagle Nebula Cluster Open Cluster Serpens Claudia 6611 6.5 7 18h 18.8m -13 47 Late Summer 90
17. M017 Omega, Swan, Horseshoe Diffuse Nebula Sagittarius 6618 7 11 18h 20.8m -16 11 Late Summer 91
18. M018 N/A Open Cluster Sagittarius 6613 8 9 18h 19.9m -17 8 Late Summer 92
19. M019 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6273 8.5 13.5 17h 2.6m -26 16 Mid-Summer 84 T
20. M020 N/A Trifid Nebula Sagittarius 6514 5 28 18h 2.3m -23 2 Late Summer 97
21. M021 N/A Open Cluster Sagittarius 6531 7 13 18h 4.6m -22 30 Late Summer 96
22. M022 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6656 6.5 24 18h 36.4m -29 54 Late Summer 100
23. M023 N/A Open Cluster Sagittarius 6494 6 27 17h 56.8m -19 1 Late Summer 95
24. M024 Milky Way Patch Star Cloud Sagittarius 6603 11.5 5 18h 18.4m -18 25 Late Summer 93
25. M025 N/A Open Cluster Sagittarius IC4725 4.9 40 18h 28.8m -19 17 Late Summer 94
26. M026 N/A Open Cluster Scutum 6694 9.5 15 18h 45.2m -9 24 Late Summer 89 C
27. M027 Dumbbell Nebula Planetary Nebula Vulpecula 6853 7.5 8.0x5.6 19h 59.6m 22 43 Early Winter 75
28. M028 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6626 8.5 11.2 18h 24.5m -24 52 Late Summer 99
29. M029 N/A Open Cluster Cygnus 6913 9 7 20h 23.9m 38 32 Fall/Early Winter 73
30. M030 N/A Globular Cluster Capricornus 7099 8.5 11 21h 40.4m -23 11 Fall/Early Winter 110 T
31. M031 Andromeda Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Andromeda 224 4.5 178 0h 42.8m 41 16 Winter 4
32. M032 Satellite of M31 Elliptical Galaxy Andromeda 221 10 8.0x6.0 0h 42.8m 40 52 Winter 5
33. M033 Pinwheel) Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Triangulum 598 7 73.0x45.0 1h 33.9m 30 40 Winter 3
34. M034 N/A Open Cluster Perseus 1039 6 35 2h 42.0m 42 47 Winter 10
35. M035 N/A Open Cluster Gemini 2168 5.5 28 6h 8.9m 24 20 Winter 17
36. M036 N/A Open Cluster Auriga 1960 6.5 12 5h 36.1 34 08 Winter 19
37. M037 N/A Open Cluster Auriga 2099 6 24 5h 52.4m 32 33 Winter 18
38. M038 N/A Open Cluster Auriga 1922 7 21 5h 28.7m 35 50 Winter 20
39. M039 N/A Open Cluster Cygnus 7092 5.5 32 21h 32.2m 48 26 Fall/Early Winter 74
40. M040 Winecke 4 Double Star Ursa Major 7092 9 0.8 12h 20.0m 58 22 Early Spring 39 T
41. M041 N/A Open Cluster Canis Major 2287 5 38 6h 47.0m -20 44 Winter 21 E
42. M042 Great Orion Nebula Diffuse Nebula Orion 1976 5 85.0x60.0 5h 35.3m -5 23 Winter 13
43. M043 de Mairan¹s Nebula Diffuse Nebula Orion 1982 7 20.0x15.0 5h 35.5m -5 16 Winter 14
44. M044 Beehive Cluster (Praesepe) Open Cluster Cancer 2632 4 95 8h 40.1m 19 59 Early Spring 27
45. M045 "Pleiades, Subaru, Seven Sisters" Open Cluster Taurus 1432 1.4 110 3h 47.0m 24 07 Winter 11
46. M046 N/A Open Cluster Puppis 2437 6.5 27 7h 41.8m -14 49 Winter 24 E
47. M047 N/A Open Cluster Puppis 2422 4.5 30 7h 36.6m -14 30 Winter 23 E
48. M048 N/A Open Cluster Hydra 2548 5.5 54 8h 13.8m -5 48 Early Spring 26 E
49. M049 N/A Elliptical Galaxy Virgo 4472 10 9.0x7.5 12h 29.8m 8 1 Late Spring 63 T
50. M050 N/A Open Cluster Monocerus 2323 7 16 7h 3.2m -8 20 Winter 25 E
51. M051 Whirlpool Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Ursa Major 5194 8 11.0x7.0 13h 30.0m 47 11 Early Spring 43
52. M052 N/A Open Cluster Cassiopea 7654 8 13 23h 24.2m 61 35 Winter 7 E
53. M053 N/A Globular Cluster Coma Berenices 5024 8.5 12.6 13h 12.9m 18 10 Late Spring 46 T
54. M054 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6715 8.5 9.1 18h 55.1m -30 29 Late Summer 103 C
55. M055 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6809 7 19 19h 40.0m -30 58 Late Summer 104 E
56. M056 N/A Globular Cluster Lyra 6779 9.5 7.1 19h 16.6m 30 11 Fall/Early Winter 72 C
57. M057 Ring Nebula Planetary Nebula Lyra 6720 9.5 1.4x1.0 18h 53.6m 33 2 Fall/Early Winter 71
58. M058 N/A Spiral Galaxy Virgo 4579 11 5.5x4.5 12h 37.8m 11 50 Late Spring 60 EC
59. M059 N/A Elliptical Galaxy Virgo 4621 11.5 5.0x3.5 12h 42.1m 11 39 Late Spring 61 EC
60. M060 N/A Elliptical Galaxy Virgo 4649 10.5 7.0x6.0 12h 43.7m 11 34 Late Spring 62 T2
61. M061 N/A Spiral Galaxy Virgo 4303 10.5 6.0x5.5 12h 22.0m 4 29 Late Spring 64 T2
62. M062 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6266 8 14.1 17h 1.2m -30 7 Mid-Summer 85 T
63. M063 Sunflower Spiral Galaxy Canes Venatici 5055 8.5 10.0x6.0 13h 15.8m 42 2 Early Spring 42 T
64. M064 Blackeye Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenices 4826 9 9.3x5.4 12h 56.7m 21 41 Late Spring 47 T
65. M065 N/A Spiral Galaxy Leo 3623 10.5 8.0x1.5 11h 18.9m 13 6 Early Spring 32 C
66. M066 N/A Spiral Galaxy Leo 3627 10 8.0x2.5 11h 20.2m 13 0 Early Spring 33 C
67. M067 N/A Open Cluster Cancer 2628 7.5 30 8h 50.4m 11 49 Early Spring 28 E
68. M068 N/A Globular Cluster Hydra 4590 9 12 12h 39.5m -26 45 Late Spring 66 C
69. M069 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6637 9 7.1 18h 34.4m -32 21 Late Summer 101 EC
70. M070 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6681 9 7.8 18h 43.2m -32 18 Late Summer 102 EC
71. M071 N/A Globular Cluster Sagitta 6838 8.5 7.2 19h 53.8m 18 47 Fall/Early Winter 76 C
72. M072 N/A Globular Cluster Aquarius 6981 10 5.9 20h 53.5m -12 32 Fall/Early Winter 108 EC
73. M073 N/A Group/Asterism Aquarius 6994 9 2.8 20h 59.0m -12 3 Fall/Early Winter 109 EC2
74. M074 N/A Spiral Galaxy Pisces 628 10.5 10.2x9.5 1h 36.6m 15 48 Fall/Early Winter 2 EC2
75. M075 N/A Globular Cluster Sagittarius 6864 9.5 6 20h 6.1m -21 55 Late Summer 105 C
76. M076 "Little Dumbell, Nebula" Planetary Nebula Perseus 650 12 2.7x1.8 1h 42.4m 51 34 Winter 9 EC2
77. M077 N/A Spiral Galaxy Cetus 1068 10.5 7.0x6.0 2h 42.7m -9 2 Fall/Early Winter 1 EC2
78. M078 N/A Diffuse Nebula Orion 2068 8 8.0x6.0 5h 46.8m 0 4 Winter 15 T
79. M079 N/A Globular Cluster Lepus 1904 8.5 8.7 5h 24.5m -24 33 Winter 12
80. M080 N/A Globular Cluster Scorpius 6093 8.5 8.9 16h 17.0m -22 59 Mid-Summer 83 T
81. M081 Bode¹s Galaxy - 1/2 of Double Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Ursa Major 3031 8.5 21.0x10.0 9h 55.6m 69 4 Early Spring 34
82. M082 Cigar Galaxy - 1/2 of Double Galaxy Irregular Galaxy Ursa Major 3034 9.5 9.x4.0 9h 55.9m 69 41 Late Spring 35
83. M083 Small Pinwheel Spiral Galaxy Hydra 5236 8.5 11.0x10.0 13h 37.1m -29 52 Mid-Summer 67 T
84. M084 N/A Lenticular (S0) Galaxy Virgo 4374 11 5 12h 25.1m 12 54 Late Spring 53 EC
85. M085 N/A Lenticular (S0) Galaxy Coma Berenices 4382 10.5 7.1x5.2 12h 25.5m 18 12 Late Spring 52 EC
86. M086 N/A Lenticular (S0) Galaxy Virgo 4406 11 7.5x5.5 12h 26.3m 12 57 Late Spring 54 EC
87. M087 Virgo A Elliptical Galaxy Virgo 4486 11 7 12h 30.9m 12 24 Late Spring 55 EC2
88. M088 N/A Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenices 4501 11 7.0x4.0 12h 32.1m 14 26 Late Spring 58 EC
89. M089 N/A Elliptical Galaxy Virgo 4552 11.5 4 12h 35.7m 12 34 Late Spring 56 EC
90. M090 N/A Spiral Galaxy Virgo 4569 11 9.5x4.5 12h 36.9m 13 10 Late Spring 57 EC
91. M091 N/A Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenices 4548 11.5 5.4x4.4 12h 35.5m 14 30 Late Spring 59 EC2
92. M092 N/A Globular Cluster Hercules 6341 7.5 11.2 17h 17.1m 43 8 Mid-Summer 70 E
93. M093 N/A Open Cluster Puppis 2447 6.5 22 7h 44.6m -23 52 Winter 22 E
94. M094 N/A Spiral Galaxy Canes Venatici 4736 9.5 7.0x3.0 12h 50.9m 41 8 Early Spring 41 T
95. M095 N/A Spiral Galaxy Leo 3351 11 4.4x3.3 10h 43.9m 11 42 Early Spring 28 EC
96. M096 N/A Spiral Galaxy Leo 3368 10.5 6.0x4.0 10h 46.7m 11 49 Early Spring 29 EC
97. M097 Owl Nebula Planetary Nebula Ursa Major 3587 12 3.4x3.3 11h 14.8m 55 1 Late Spring 36 C
98. M098 N/A Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenices 4192 11 9.5x3.2 12h 13.9m 14 55 Late Spring 49 EC2
99. M099 N/A Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenices 4254 10.5 5.4x4.8 12h 18.9m 14 26 Fall/Early Winter 50 EC
100. M100 N/A Spiral Galaxy Coma Berenices 4321 10.5 7.0x6.0 12h 23.0m 15 50 Late Spring 51 C
101. M101 Pinwheel Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Ursa Major 5457 8.5 22 14h 3.3m 54 22 Early Spring 44 C
102. M102 Spindle Lenticular (S0) Galaxy Draco 5866 10.5 5.2x2.3 15h 6.5m 55 45 Mid-Summer 45 EC2
103. M103 N/A Open Cluster Cassiopeia 581 7 6 1h 33.2m 60 42 Winter 8
104. M104 Sombrero Galaxy Spiral Galaxy Virgo 4594 9.5 9.0x4.0 12h 39.9m -11 37 Late Spring 65 C
105. M105 N/A Elliptical Galaxy Leo 3379 11 2 10h 47.8m 12 35 Early Spring 31 EC
106. M106 N/A Spiral Galaxy Ursa Major 4258 9.5 19.0x8.0 12h 18.9m 47 19 Early Spring 40
107. M107 N/A Globular Cluster Ophiucus 6171 10 10 16h 32.5m -13 3 Mid-Summer 77 EC
108. M108 N/A Spiral Galaxy Ursa Major 3556 11 8.0x1.0 11h 11.6m 55 41 Early Spring 37 EC
109. M109 N/A Spiral Galaxy Ursa Major 3992 11 7.0x4.0 11h 57.6m 53 23 Early Spring 38 EC
110. M110 Satellite of M31 Elliptical Galaxy Andromeda 205 10 17.0x10.0 0h 40.4m 41 41 Winter 6

Photographing the Messier Catalogue.

This is one of my first images of any Messier Object. Here M6 and M7 seen from Jaipur (City) under lots of light pollution. I was trying to shoot the "not visible" Milky way,

a 2mins. exposure, shot with a  480mm (300mm on APS-C, 1.6x)

ISO3200 at f5.6

28-April-2014, 0430 IST. (26N75E)

Snapshots from Hubble over 10years.

Cosmic Collisions Galore! Galaxies merging and colliding.

Source: Hubblesite.org
Click here Extra Large image from the Hubble site.

Eighth Anniversary Image of Hubble's Smash Hits

Source: Hubblesite.org
click link below to download. Full Res Tiff
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-1998-18-b-full_tif.tif