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aamukherjee A Slice of Entropie -
alchymista Alchymista -
crownedrose Fading Like A Dead Star -
expose-the-light Quarks to Quasars -
kenobi-wan-obi CWL -
abluegirl A Blue Girl -
perscientiamlibertas A Matter of the Most Pleasant Fraternal Confidence
kenobi-wan-obiTime lapses of the late autumnal nights in the Italian Apennines. — Lorenzo Comolli
Winter constellations, from Orion to Canis Major (with the bright Sirius) shine in early morning sky above the ancient statues of Nemrut Dağı or Mount Nemrut.
The World Heritage site is located at top of the 2130-meters high mountain in southeastern Turkey, 40km north of Kahta, near Adıyaman. In 62 BC, King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene built on the mountain top a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues (8-9 meters high) of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, Armenian and Persian gods, such as Hercules-Vahagn, Zeus-Aramazd or Oromasdes (associated with the Persian god Ahura Mazda), Tyche, and Apollo-Mithras. The statues have Greek and Persian features.
As noted by the photographer “This is the highest place in the region and you can easily distinguish the odd-shaped peak from great distances, as there is an additional 50 meters of pyramidal tumulus topping. On the morning of September 26, I woke up before the start of morning twilight and climbed the steep path to the monument.
I hurried to beat the approaching dawn and also all the tourists coming to watch the sunrise. It was already getting bright. This picture shows the eastern terrace statues and their separated heads lit by the Moon”. — Tunc Tezel.
“This is a composite of all the Geminid meteors captured over Pendleton, Oregon on the evening of December 13, 2012. I took these from Emigrant Hill. In the valley below, you can see the light “footprint” of Pendleton, Mission, the Wildhorse Casino, and several other smaller towns. Fog has enveloped most of the cities below.” — Thomas W. Earle
Geminid Meteor Shower 2012 from Mt. Hehuan, Taiwan by 星天日和
When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal
From a radiant point in the constellation of the Twins, the annual Geminid meteor shower rained down on planet Earth this week.
Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Guisard (Los Cielos de America), TWAN
Recorded near the shower’s peak in the early hours of December 14, this skyscape captures Gemini’s lovely shooting stars in a careful composite of 30 exposures, each 20 seconds long, from the dark of the Chilean Atacama Desert over ESO’s Paranal Observatory. In the foreground Paranal’s four Very Large Telescopes, four Auxillary Telescopes, and the VLT Survey telescope are all open and observing.
The skies above are shared with bright Jupiter (left), Orion, (top left), and the faint light of the Milky Way. Dust swept up from the orbit of active asteroid 3200 Phaethon, Gemini’s meteors enter the atmosphere traveling at about 22 kilometers per second.
A Geminid meteor over Tandis valley, Persian gulf, Iran. — photo by Amirreza Kamkar
Evening Twilight over the dome of 2.5-meter Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma, Canaray Islands. — Nik Szymanek
“Winter stars trail over the Xarez Cromlech, in Monsaraz, Portugal. The location is a part of a Dark Sky Reserve area covering 3000sq km in southern Portugal. The Alqueva Dark Sky reserve is the first area in the world to be internationally certified as a Starlight Tourism Destination by the Starlight Foundation, supported by UNESCO, the World Tourism Organization, and the IAC.” — Miguel Claro
“During last night’s star observation at Korakio Oros, Pilida Corfu I was steering the beautiful dark nightsky when suddenly a Fireball so bright came up to the sky and scared me so much that my heart was beating like crazy, Spectacular moment! Luckily I have put my Canon eos 40D with the 15mm fisheye lens at right place at the right time.” — AstroVox//B.Metallinos
