Friday, October 29, 2010

Orion Widefield

Here's another from my excursion last night

Notice the star in the top left, how it's orange compared to the rest? That's Betelgeuse (pronounced beatlejuice), and it's more than 1,000 times bigger than our sun. It's older, and could blow up into a supernova at any minute. It might already have, but we wouldn't know because it's several lightyears away.

It's older, which means it's colder, hence the orange. The hottest stars burn blue.

15 comments:

  1. That's awesome. I love stars, though i don't get to see many due to the light pollution where I live, sucks.

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  2. "and could blow up into a supernova at any minute"
    i wanted to comment with "it might already have", but then i read on :p

    it's really amazing to think about what's out there. stars planets, solar systems, galaxies, each one so very different and unique.

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  3. Wow, thanks for the info, never knew that.

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  4. omg i've been waiting for a blog like this. i love your pictures!!

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  5. Beautiful photos on this blog, i cant wait to see more!

    Are you in the countryside away from light pollution to get such great sky photos or is it just a long exposure?

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  6. RBA: Both! I live in Colorado near the rocky mountains

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  7. beautiful picture. I love to look at the stars sometimes too

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  8. Oh man this is so cool
    I love the blue hue.
    Man I hate living in the city :|

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