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#stars

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100 years ago, Cecilia Payne discovered what the stars are made of It might seem obvious today, but it was just 100 years ago that we discovered that the Sun, and all stars, are made of hydrogen and helium. We should thank Cecilia Payne for that. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #science #stars

100 years ago, Cecilia Payne d...

Big Think100 years ago, Cecilia Payne discovered what the stars are made ofFor centuries, even after we knew the Sun was a star like any other, we still didn't know what it was made of. Cecilia Payne changed that.

New JWST image just dropped.

This object is called Herbig-Haro 49/50. It's the outflow of a still-forming star hidden from view to the lower right of the orangish cone of material oriented diagonally in this image.

As stars form they eject excess matter in the direction of their poles of rotation. That material encounters the interstellar medium in the vicinity and lights up in response. "Like the wake of a speeding boat, the bow shocks in this image have an arc-like appearance as the fast-moving jet from the young star slams into the surrounding dust and gas."

Purely by coincidence, the outflow lines up with a distant background galaxy, which is the circular pinkish/blue object at upper left.

More info about the image: science.nasa.gov/missions/webb

So to continue on my previous post talking about auroral mist, this is a prime example of a quality mist like view from my camera. While most of the aurora shots you see are very bright, visible to the naked eye, these type of images are the aftermath of such storms. The energy that was brought into the earths magnetic field is dispersed, and creates a much duller to the earthly observer aurora. But with the magic of a good camera and a proper lens, we are able to capture the hidden beauty of these mist like states.

This was shot on my back porch north of Fairbanks Alaska a few months ago after a very intense substorm.
Settings were 8” exposure, 2500iso, f1.8 20mm lens.


#aurora #nothernlights #auroraboreale #alaska #fairbanks #naturephotography #arctic #astrophotography #nightsky #stars #beautifulworld
View from my driveway tonight. With these auroral bands, you have a maximum level of energy that is stored in the earths magnetic field. When these maximum levels are reached, it creates a breakup, or otherwise known as a corona. Where the magnetic bands swirl and break apart, releasing the concentrated energy into a more broad, mist like auroral haze.
But for those few minutes of eye watering wonder, it’s quite a good time.


#aurora #northernlights #spaceweather #atmosphere #auroraborealis #winter #stars #astrophotography #homesweethome #backyard
Had my last official aurora tour of the season last night. We got hit by a CME during the day and we weren’t sure if it would hold until night time hit in Alaska.
Luckily we were in for a treat, with huge columns and deep red and blue colors covering the sky.

It’s been an amazing season, I’ll keep posting up photos here and there but it’s time to relax with friends and family for a while.

#auroraborealis #northernlights #aurora #astrophotography #nightsky #sun #stars #naturewonder #beautifulworld
SOUL: the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life; the moral and emotional nature of human beings. (source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary) I watch the local and national news too much. As a result, I am witness to people facing serious life challenges that are beyond my own measured world. To me, the Soul People series reflects aspects of intrinsic humanity, including the suffering, alienation, confusion as well as the quest for joy, peace and understanding that people experience in their day to day lives. Depending upon the "soul" within, they deal with these challenges differently. In these images I am trying to explore and visualize what that might look like.
This artwork is now available on Redbubble:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/gretchenkdeahl/shop
(100% human-made) human imagined, drawn and painted, no AI whatsoever.
#art #artist #illustration #illustrator #spiritual #drawing #paintings #noAI #childrensbooks #fineart #artwork #nature #childrensart #artforchildren #interiordecor #mastoart #art #artistsonmastodon #artlover #artlovers #decor #popart #artnet #artlover #artlovers #handmade #supportthearts #friend #love #space #stars #galaxy #soul #child #face
This was taken a few months ago when we still had snow on the spruce trees.

Normally in Fairbanks we dont get a lot of snow. The storms that dump snow along the coast and partial interior mountain ranges usually have very little left by the time they reach the interior. What it does give us is cold temps and clear skies, which is perfect for holding the little snow we do get, and having great aurora viewing.

This winter started out normal, but over the past few months we have had consistent warm temperatures and wind, which has removed all the snow from our usually laden trees.

I always am on the lookout for aurora images using terrestrial nature as a foreground, up here that is mainly trees. So when I discovered this little pocket a few meters away from my winter cabin when I moved in, I was ecstatic.

But getting a corona framed directly overhead of this pocket was another thing. Since I’m out on tours most nights, I rarely have time to do any shooting at my house. And usually when I do, I get so caught up in the moment, that by the time I realize it would be a good view from “the spruce pocket”, it’s too late. But on this night I was ready for it and wow what a show. Personally this is one of my favorite images from this winter as it is the culmination of a lot of planning and patience.

Sony a7iii 20mm, 4” 1600iso f/1.8 touched up in affinity

#aurora #northernlights #auroraborealis #alaska #astrophotography #winter #lookup #sonyalpha #stars #nightsky #winterwonderland #nature #neonlights