h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear Galaxie Babe and associates!!

Thank you for this marvellous exposituon about the Heavens which I love to look at but which I really know very little about.

You have made it clearer for me, but the distances are so immense that my tiny mind just cannot absorb it or even envisage it.

Anyway I am going to download it so that if we do manage to go to Cape Town for Christmas that my son and I might be able to identify at least some of the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere - easier to do "down under" where in general the night skies are a very profound black with so many twinkling stars.

Thank you again

Christiane
AlsoRan80
Saturday the 28th February 2009 (I think it is!!)

It's a very original piece that gives a good insight into just what some of the attractions are for amateur astronomers. It's not all just stars y'know.

I've been using the Astronomy Picture of the Day as a source of nebula pictures for desktop wallpaper for some months now. Just saving as wallpaper always gives a bit of a kick when I switch the 'puter on.

This is my current one:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090222.html

Deke

Oh, dear Deke,

You really are the kindest person and have so much patience.

Thank you so much.

It is an entirely remarkable wonderful pitcure. when you say you use it for your desktop wallpaper, do you mean you use it for the background to your monitor when you switch on your ocmputer?

I wonder how I could do that. Mind you, being a radiographer in my youth, it alsp reminds me of some rather odd things one saw in A and E, !!

But still I would never have believed that the colours were so vibrant and quite beautiful.

Some young person picked my name and wrote to me. S/he said she was an astrophotographer. I replied and said I was a real amateur. Her name is kariblake. She sounds interested and interesting. The name of her thread to me is Hello and is dated today.

well. I do not know how you cope with the vastness of the infinte Universe. I often feel quite threatened when I think of everything that we do not know. and the total vastness of the Heavens.

I mean. 1,500 light years away. That means it occurred when St. Augustine was being converted and preached. !. Heavens. !
Or doesn't it mean that?!
!

Nice to chat to you.

Go well

Christiane
AR80

Hi Christiane

>>when you say you use it for your desktop wallpaper, do you mean you use it for the background to your monitor when you switch on your computer?<<

Yes, exactly that.

>>I wonder how I could do that.<<

Well assuming you are using Windows, just go to the APOD site and click anywhere on any one of the pictures you want with the ‘Right hand’ button of your mouse. (as in Not the usual left one).
When a drop down list arrives, click on ‘Set as Background’ with the left mouse button. (Nothing else). Next time you clear the screens you should have the picture.

>>But still I would never have believed that the colours were so vibrant and quite beautiful<<

Unfortunately you would be right not to believe it, as most of the pictures you see like that one are ‘false colour’ representations. They are taken with filters, or in Ultra Violet or Infra Red to enhance some aspect of the subject to make it stand out. The reality for an amateur with a small telescope is that all you can see is a small smudge of white light. It takes something like the Hubble telescope to get pictures like that.

>>how you cope with the vastness of the infinite Universe. I often feel quite threatened when I think of everything that we do not know. and the total vastness of the Heavens.<<

I’ve never felt threatened by it. I like to think I’ll roam around it one day.

>>That means it occurred when St. Augustine was being converted and preached. !. Heavens. ! Or doesn't it mean that?!<<
If he lived 1,500 years ago then yes, that’s about what it means. What you see today, the light that you see started off from there 1,500 years ago. It’s the nearest thing to time travel you’ll get.

All the best
Deke

Dear Deke,

Oh dear! whilst editing my reply I lost it. I shall reply tomorrow, when my brain is hopefully once again in forward gear. !!

thanks for all the wonderful information. Much appreciated.
Christiane