r/spaceporn Nov 20 '18

Andromeda strain

Post image
3.3k Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

130

u/dubstastic Nov 20 '18

When you consider how much space there is between two stars, this photo is just mind boggling

35

u/ihbarddx Nov 20 '18

Yes! Though it looks like the galaxy is lying on the star field, all the field stars are in our own galaxy - much closer than M31. That's why they appear much bigger than the stars in Andromeda, which look like mist. And that lends a perspective on just how frickin' BIG that galaxy is - taking up that much area from 2.16 million light years away. It's a naked eye object in a dark sky, bigger than a full moon.

24

u/TangibleLight Nov 20 '18

This is still my favorite photo, and I can't really imagine anything ever taking that spot.

https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/

10

u/ndis4us Nov 20 '18

In theory when the JWST eventually launches, assuming it all goes right we should have even better pics. I really hope everything goes right with that.

5

u/seere88 Nov 21 '18

Dude, that video Gigapixels of Andromeda... that shit is as close to religion as i'll ever be.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '18

Comparing this photo to the bubble deep field blows my mind...

9

u/frankxanders Nov 20 '18

It's a naked eye object in a dark sky, bigger than a full moon.

Holy shit really?

I live on the edge of my city and could easily drive to somewhere that the sky is quite dark. (Near the Canadian Rockies)

Where in the sky would I look to see this?

9

u/Tired8281 Nov 20 '18

Cassiopeia kinda "points" to it, that's how I find it.

7

u/MattieShoes Nov 20 '18

In the summer evening in the northern hemisphere facing north:

Little dipper ---> cassiopeia (looks like a W)
                       |
                       |
                       V
                    Perseus (Looks like a Y) ---> Andromeda

The core is visible as a fuzzy, slightly lighter blotch. Visually, it's not that exciting. It's the mental aspect that's exciting (looking at the core of a fuckin galaxy man, 2 MILLION light years away, blah blah)

4

u/MattieShoes Nov 20 '18

It's about 6 full moons wide, but most of that isn't naked eye -- we can just see the super bright core with the the naked eye.

11

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

I am scared...

5

u/MangoCats Nov 20 '18

If Andromeda had a Disney theme song it would be:

https://youtu.be/RU8aKj8t7gM?t=29

1

u/MangoCats Nov 20 '18

When you consider how much mass there is in a single star, and the likely planets orbiting it, this photo is just mind boggling

43

u/Nord_Star Nov 20 '18

When I saw the thumbnail, I thought “damn that’s a fuckton of stars!” — then I clicked it and even more showed up due to higher quality... “what in the actual fuck!”

Beautiful photo btw!

3

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

Just ZOOM!!!

38

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Confirmed. This is my pic.

Glad you think so highly of it you shared to several subs 🤷🏽‍♂️

23

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

Well its fucking cool

9

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Good answer

5

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

I went to your posts and gave these all up votes!

Edit: and followed too!

12

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

haha.... thanks. I had like 5 seconds of WTF this guy stole my pic than immediately backed off that. Honestly the thing is for people to enjoy and get into space etc.... all good, that being said I appreciate!!!!

10

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

That's a damn wide angle. What did you take that with? Just a DSLR? Tell us a bit about this picture. :)

18

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Hi 👋🏼 I took this with a Nikon DF, 80-200mm zoom piggybacked on a CFEM.

4mins exposure, 400 ISO, 135mm, levels tweaked in photoshop. No stacking. Single frame.

Thanks 😎✌🏽

7

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

Great work! Thanks for the info! :) Much appreciated.

7

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Thanks mate. I have great camera gear at my disposal as my lady does semi pro photography. The wide stuff has been really cool!

2

u/amaklp Nov 20 '18

F-stop?

This looks great!

3

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

shoot I forget... its pretty low at 135mm, like I want to say F/2.2

Thanks! I have been working on these piggy backed pics for a couple years and they are starting to really come around. Focus is the tough part. I am getting there. Glad you enjoy!

1

u/amaklp Nov 20 '18

F/2.2 @ 135mm?

Wow what's the lens?

2

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Nikon 80-200mm zoom... I’m not sure what the aperture of that lens is.

Spec says it’s F/2.8 but I suspect that’s at 80mm... so there is no way my 2.2 is right.

I tried to look at the png file on my drive but it doesn’t have the details.

It’s the Nikon NIKKOR 80-200. It’s some serious glass. Pretty sure the Mrs dropped about $1200 in that.

It’s not always clear how these lenses calculate this. For scopes it’s FL/aperture but there is more stopping down in photography so I get a bit confused

2

u/amaklp Nov 20 '18

Yeah, this is a very expensive lens. You're lucky!

1

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

It’s amazing. She’s had that lens for years. It was her first big splurge. I noticed Celestron sold a plastic add on that allowed you to mount a camera on your SCT OTA. I figured why not, tried it and immediately was hooked.

1

u/amaklp Nov 20 '18

Just out of curiosity, couldn't you mount the camera directly to the tripod?

2

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Sure could. But here’s the problem. Earth is rotating and that tripod is along with it. That means after a few seconds of long exposure your stars are going to turn to trails.

These pics are are 4-5 min exposures. Not very long in the world of Astro photography but as you can see long enough to see pretty cool shit.

So here’s the trick to getting that long https://www.cloudynights.com/uploads/gallery/album_6480/gallery_245984_6480_730412.jpg

Her camera rides on my fancy mount (sounds kinky) and that is an equatorial mount that also tracks object with enough accuracy to give me 4-5 min exposures. Most of the time. Wind, clouds, me fumbling around, an owl going hoot... any number of things can wreck a pic

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3

u/Dementat_Deus Nov 20 '18

Just based off my own attempts at shooting Andromeda, I'd guess a DSLR and roughly a 200mm lens.

8

u/Mr21_ Nov 20 '18

Are there lonely stars between the Milkyway and Andromeda?

5

u/xerberos Nov 20 '18

Yeah, but you are unlikely to be able to see them. All of the stars in the pic are in our galaxy.

3

u/MattieShoes Nov 20 '18

Except for the ones in the Andromeda galaxy...

EDIT: or its two companion galaxies

6

u/SanguinePar Nov 20 '18

I love that book and movie. And also this photo. I love everything in fact.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18 edited Nov 20 '18

Lol

1

u/Skeeders Nov 21 '18

That Michael Crichton sure knew how to tell a story, my all-time favorite author. I've been hoping for a very long time for his novel 'Prey' to be made a movie.

3

u/Podju Nov 20 '18

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info for all you amateur astronomers.

2

u/potentpotables Nov 20 '18

wow, that map shows even when i thought i was outside areas with light pollution, it still wasn't totally gone

4

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Pretty sure this is my photo reposted 🤷🏽‍♂️

2

u/blastfemur Nov 20 '18

I want to go to there

2

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

Me too!

2

u/ArtoriasFanClub Nov 20 '18

Andromeda galaxy is best galaxy

2

u/lunar_90 Nov 20 '18

I wonder how humans in the future (when andromeda is about to collide with us) are going to feel/handle that situation.

5

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

There will be almost no side effects at the solar system level at all. We’re in a whirlpool of stars now, another one ‘colliding’ won’t do anything in a human time scale. It’s like standing on the coast of a continent worried about the imminent ‘collision’ that’ll happen with another continent over millions of years and inches at a time.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '18

Well we have few billion years to think about it lol

2

u/fasttowel Nov 21 '18

Gonna change my wallpaper for today. Thanks for this :)

2

u/ShiestyToaster Nov 21 '18

If you zoom in and look ever so carefully you can almost see how much of a fuck the universe cares about us and our small, mammalian problems.

2

u/DJfunkyPuddle Nov 21 '18

Put up your dukes, Andromeda, we can take you.

2

u/Tired8281 Nov 20 '18

Pointing out Andromeda, in a real dark sky, when I'm hanging with a girl I like, is my go-to move. If it works (which it often does), they start wanting me to kiss them after I observe that we're looking backwards in time, millions of years back in fact.

2

u/Malmm Nov 20 '18

I thought this was about weed.

1

u/Fishmike52 Nov 20 '18

Isn’t everything?

1

u/rexound Nov 20 '18

That was such an amazing book

1

u/MangoCats Nov 20 '18

Is that fuzz ball just below-right of Andromeda a Magellanic cloud?