Picture of the Month

Click on the small images to see the larger ones.

	2011-04: Solar Prominence This shot was taken through a Spectrum 60 (altered PST) solar telescope and Toucam Pro webcam on 11/12/10 by Wayne Reed. It is a composite of separate video sequences at 2 different exposure levels and combined to show both the sun disk and the prominances in hydrogen-alpha light. The blue dot represents the size the earth would be at the same distance.
	2011-03: M45 - The Pleides Another in a series of fine images by Dick Steinberg, taken at Blue Mountain Vista Observatory.
	2010-12: Jupiter and Galilean Satellites Jupiter and two of its Galilean moons were captured recently by DVAA member Jim Sweeney using a 7-inch Astrophysics refractor and eyepiece projection. Jim used a modified webcam to capture a 300 image video from which this final image was derived.
	2010-11: Comet Hartley 2 + the Double Cluster Comet Hartley 2 (103P/Hartley) approached to within .12 Astronomical Units of earth on October 20, 2010. (DVAA member) Gary Trapuzzano imaged this beautiful scene from Cherry Springs State Park on the night of October 9th, as the comet crossed the starfields of the constellation Perseus. Gary used a Tele Vue TV101 (4", f/5.4) telescope and Canon 50D camera. Also shown is the famous "Double Cluster" (NGC 869, 884) at lower left.
	2010-10: NGC 206 by Dick Steinberg Individual stellar members of NGC 206, a bright association of hot OB stars in the outer spiral arms of M31, are well shown in this Dick Steinberg image. It was captured using a 12.5 inch f/8 astrograph.
	2010-09: Kitt Peak Sunset by Gary Trapuzzano Located 56 miles southwest of Tucson, AZ, Kitt Peak National Optical Observatory supports the world's most diverse array of astronomical observatories. DVAA member Gary Trapuzzano captured this dramatic sunset from a spot near its 6,880 foot summit in June, 2010.
	2010-08: Jan Romer - Porter Turret Perhaps no telescope epitomizes the spirit of amateur telescope making and amateur astronomy in America as does the remarkable Porter Turret Telescope. DVAA member Jan Romer's work in acrylic, entitled Night's End, beautifully captures the icon in morning's twilight. This award-winning painting commemorates Stellafane's 75th Year. Photo courtesy Ken Slater/Springfield Telescope Makers.
	2010-07: Andrew Hitchner @ ALCON Andrew Hitchner posed with proud parents Jennifer and Gary at ALCON in Tuscon, AZ after receiving the First Place award in the Astronomical League’s National Young Astronomer competition. A 5” refractor from Explore Scientific sealed the deal. By all accounts, Andrew’s presentation, “A Study in Stellar Spectroscopy,” went very well. We’re not surprised. Photo by Al Lamperti.
	2010-06: Vince Scheetz at Flagstaff DVAA member Vince Scheetz poses at the prime focus of the 13 inch Abbot Lawrence Lowell Telescope at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. With this instrument, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet, Pluto, on February 18, 1930. Picture by Joe Lamb.
	2010-05: NGC2841 Wheeling high overhead on May evenings is the constellation of Ursa Major with its many attendant island universes. This beautifully detailed image of NGC2841, a 10.1 magnitude spiral, was captured in March, 2008 by Frank Colosimo from his Blue Mountain Vista Observatory New Ringgold, PA. This galaxy subtends 10.1 arcminutes and lies at a distance of 50 million light years.
	2010-04: Deneb and its Environs This spectacular Milky Way vista with its multitude of stars, clusters, emission and dark nebulae was imaged with a modified Canon camera and barn-door tracker by Gary Asperschlager from a rural New York state location.
	2010-03: DVAAers at WSP While much of the northeastern U.S. struggled with record snowfalls, intrepid DVAA members Jim Hoffman, Marilyn Michalski and Vince Scheetz enjoyed clear weather and southern deep sky wonders from the 2010 Winter Sky Party, held this past February at West Summerland Key, FL.
	2010-02: STS130 Taking Off by Mike Atwell This dramatic photo by Mike Atwell captures STS-130/Endeavor rising from Pad 39A in the early morning hours of February 8th. This, the last night launch of the shuttle program, was the 32nd flight to the International Space Station. Mike and fellow DVAA member Gary Trapuzzano photographed the launch from the NASA Causeway, approximately eight miles southwest of the pad. A Canon 50D was used at the focus of an 80mm f/6.8 William Optics refractor.
	2010-01: Mars by Wayne Reed North is up, east to the right in this remarkable Wayne Reed image made on October 1, 2005 with an 8" SCT. The image shows the planet 37 days prior to opposition. In this view, the longitude at the Central Meridian was 240 degrees, apparent size: 17.8 arc seconds, and distance: 0.525 AU. The prominent albedo feature, Syrtus Major, is seen near the western (left) edge.
	2009-12: The Double Cluster by Donald D'Egidio and Michael Atwell This image of the Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) in Perseus was made by Donald D'Egidio and Michael Atwell from Springfield, Pennsylvania. Also known as "h and Chi Persei", this object may be viewed with the naked eye from a dark sky location. The clusters are approximately 7,000 Light years away. They are very young and are rich in hot "O" type stars.   South is at the top in this image and the field is 144 arc-minutes wide.
	2009-11: Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy by Dick Steinberg An image captured by Dick Steinberg from his home in Narberth. It contains an arc of a gravitationally lensed and highly redshifted (z=2.73) Lyman-Break Galaxy (LBG) surrounding a considerably nearer (z=0.38) large Red Galaxy (LRG). (Dick prefers that this object's distance is described in terms of redshift, but note that the estimated distance is thought to be around 11.1 billion light-years!)
	2009-10: Sketch of the Black Brant XII/CARE test by Jan Romer A sketch by Jan Romer which portrays the the 9/19 atmospheric Black Brant XII/CARE test launched from the Wallops Flight Facility. (It was observed from Frank Colisimo's home on Blue Mountain.)
	2009-09: M101 by Gary Trapuzzano Image taken April 29 at CSSP using a Canon 50D, TV-101 telescope, Webcam Guiding, 63 min. exposure, ISO800 (11x300, 2x240)

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