M82 - Sacred Space Astronomy

Go Observe M82 – The Cigar Galaxy

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Deirdre KelleghanJanuary 8, 2021

Drawing M82 M82 pastels on black paper November 27th 2008 – 22:20 UT 22:45 UT some cloud made it longer to do Transparency Poor ,Seeing 6/10 No filters used Meade 16 inch FL 4000mm 22mm Nagler eyepiece = 181X – Co Kildare Ireland Back in 2008, I had the opportunity to draw something with a 16 inch Meade SCT. My friend’s observatory was in a semi-suburban / rural setting. It took me some time to get warmed up to the detail provided by that instrument. I had never seen the cigar galaxy (M82) before in this way. Then I settled down to draw this long stretched out wonder in the night sky. It was the first time I saw any structure within this object, oh boy it’s great have tracking when sketching. M82 is an irregular galaxy. To my eye, it looked like one nebulous section was pulling away from the other elongated part. The longer part had a curve … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 26, 2018

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Bob TrembleyJune 26, 2018

This entry is part 50 of 179 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars shines like a bright unblinking cinder in the early morning sky; I’m truly astounded at how bright Mars has been getting – and it’s going to continue to brighten until the end of July. This nearing Mars opposition and close approach has been bittersweet for astrophotographers, as the planet is experiencing a global dust storm, and surface features are difficult to resolve. Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) on Twitter: Mars Storm Watch: The dust storm now circles the planet. No signal yet from Opportunity, but no response is expected until skies begin to clear. We continue to listen daily. https://t.co/VwuuPwEpPA pic.twitter.com/8q7lDoezxs — Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers) June 20, 2018 The Moon will be between Saturn and the bright star Antares on the evening of June 26th. With each passing evening, the bright star Regulus appears a bit lower in the western sky, and is getting closer to Venus. Next week Regulus and Venus will appear very close together! The Moon … Continue reading →

Fernando Comeron January 15, 2021 at 5:22 am on JWST update – Hexagons in SpaceIncidentally, you can see that we at the European Southern Observatory (ESO, of which Ireland is a member too) did something that bears some resemblance several years ago. We invited visitors to our headquarters near Munich on the open doors day in 2011 to put hexagons together to reproduce a...
Fernando Comeron January 15, 2021 at 5:07 am on JWST update – Hexagons in SpaceNice article, Deirdre -and actually hexagons in space are very common, although very tiny. Carbon hexagonal cycles are at the basis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a class of molecules that compose the cold interstellar medium. So hexagons are pretty much everywhere in the Universe!
Bob Trembley January 14, 2021 at 2:01 am on In the Sky This Week – January 12, 2021Thanks for keeping me honest! :) I corrected it to say "Mercury appears slightly higher above the horizon each evening." When you advance days in Stellarium at dusk, you see Jupiter and Saturn get lower each day, and Mercury getting higher. Venus gets a bit lower each morning in the...
Joseph O'Donnell January 12, 2021 at 10:03 am on In the Sky This Week – January 12, 2021"Mercury appears slightly higher above the horizon each morning" I believe you mean Venus or am I missing something?
Christopher M. Graney January 4, 2021 at 10:50 am on Carols versus Matthew on the Star of WonderVery interesting -- I had never read the "Gospel of James", or "Protoevangelium of James", until now. Below is its whole section about the star, for those not familiar with it. Remarkably, the same problem is found in it. It follows Matthew in talking about the magi. No one knows...
Christopher M. Graney January 4, 2021 at 10:43 am on Carols versus Matthew on the Star of WonderI should have been more clear. When I said "This sounds just like the Great Conjunction of 2020", I meant it sounds like that *kind* of thing -- something no one who was not an astronomer would have noticed it just by chance.
Alfred Kracher January 2, 2021 at 10:47 am on Carols versus Matthew on the Star of WonderEmbellishments of Matthew’s simple “star” into a spectacular miracle are all but irrresistible. Already in the apocryphal 2nd century Gospel of James it shines with an “incredible brilliance amidst the constellations and making them seem dim.” And over the centuries artists of all kinds have further expanded on these exaggerations,...
Fr. Timothy Sauppé January 2, 2021 at 5:30 am on Carols versus Matthew on the Star of WonderI thought the biggest objection to the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction being the “Star of Bethlehem” was the 800 year cycle of its occurrence viz. the timing is off. Also, I am reminded of a comment of an amateur astronomer when he went to Chile, up in the Andes. He said there...
Stan Sienkiewicz December 26, 2020 at 1:07 pm on The Sun Illuminates Fort AncientYes, while not quite following the astronomy it still is fascinating to see what these early N American people did to their environment. As to why they did it and your article disagreeing with the solstice explanation reminded me of the book, Motel of the Mysteries. It is a funny...
Joel Hopko December 24, 2020 at 1:09 pm on Bah! Humbug. Science.And a very Merry Christmas to you Professor. May your spirit and inquiring mind continue to brighten our New Year! Joel Hopko
Fr. Timothy Sauppé December 21, 2020 at 6:04 pm on Was Jesus Born on December 25? The Fight Between Inculturation and Radical Certitude.Just saw this Socrates In The City from 2005 with Eric Metaxas interviewing Colin Nicholl. His book and thesis is that the Star of Bethlehem was one big comet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mT-8O8S_Fw&t=1s
Bob Prokop December 21, 2020 at 12:08 pm on Was Jesus Born on December 25? The Fight Between Inculturation and Radical Certitude.It's interesting that Tolkien chose March 25th as the date the One Ring was cast into the fires of Mount Doom (see the appendixes to The Return of the King for the date). It can't be a coincidence that the destruction of evil in Middle Earth coincides with the Annunciation...
Fr. Timothy Sauppé December 21, 2020 at 10:35 am on Was Jesus Born on December 25? The Fight Between Inculturation and Radical Certitude.Here is an interesting take by Liberato De Caro, Ph.D., of the Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council in Bari, Italy, who led the research, proposes that the date of Jesus’ birth. He posits 1 BC for Jesus’ Birth. For your consideration. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/liberato-de-caro-nativity?utm_campaign=NCR%202019&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=102396683&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9xKkcgGuiy7rFyWiX8fgbgA63Wabi_9C-VcU6QmESl4QYoKUDYHXm6DrY_jGwbVptu0roDhgBz363uEIX8dd6P7oOaBQ&utm_content=102396683&utm_source=hs_email
Bob Prokop December 18, 2020 at 7:52 am on Pursuing the ConjunctionLooks like we're going to be clouded out here in Maryland. But I did get a good look at the two planets last night (Thursday). They were already practically on top of each other! So it has not been a total loss. By the way, your December 14th drawing is...
Fr. James Kurzynski December 14, 2020 at 6:42 am on Follow the Money, the Science, or the Theology? A Second Reflection on the Forthcoming Artemis Moon Mission.Thanks Ed! I so appreciate your thoughts! As a fellow "Star Trek" fan, I can appreciate you insight! :)
Fr. James Kurzynski December 14, 2020 at 6:38 am on Follow the Money, the Science, or the Theology? A Second Reflection on the Forthcoming Artemis Moon Mission.Absolutely! Send me a message through the "Contact US" tab!
Br. Guy Consolmagno December 12, 2020 at 10:09 am on ⓜ Cosmology and ExpertiseOh, yes!
Richard Gabrielson December 10, 2020 at 9:19 pm on ⓜ Cosmology and ExpertiseBr. Guy -- be SO GLAD those were private messages instead of questions from the audience at a big conference!
Ed Yepez December 10, 2020 at 4:31 pm on Follow the Money, the Science, or the Theology? A Second Reflection on the Forthcoming Artemis Moon Mission.I think I was too young to appreciate "Earth Rise", when I first saw it. Probably only after a few years of education, did I start to appreciate what the effort was to take that picture, and then the fragile beauty of the Earth (in contrast with the "Magnificent Desolation")...
Ed Yepez December 10, 2020 at 3:42 pm on “Cosmos: Possible Worlds”, 4-6: Screaming from the BleachersI was watching this with my son (15y/o), and I kept feeling like something was Not Quite Right, but I do not have a good enough back round to explain it without coming across the wrong way. Nathaniel really enjoys Cosmos, and I am happy he does. "Trope", that's a...

Sacred Space Astronomy

Blog of the Vatican Observatory Foundation

Tag Archives: M82

Go Observe M82 – The Cigar Galaxy

In the Sky This Week – June 26, 2018

JWST update – Hexagons in Space

ⓜ Curiosity and the Exploration of Mars, I

A Platonic journey

In the Sky This Week – January 12, 2021

Specola Guestbook | June 16, 1924: Knut Lundmark and Sten Asklöf

The World’s Worst Astrophotographer sees and shares the 2020 ‘Christmas Star’