Found a pic of the Hale-Bopp comet

[CathyA]

While looking for an older pic of something, I came across our pics of the Hale-Bopp comet. I loved that thing. Every evening and every morning, I'd look for it up in the sky for a whole month. I was sad to see it go.
I sent the roll of film to be developed and they sent the negatives back, saying there wasn't anything on them! I sent it back with a note, saying it was a comet, and to develop them all.
How cool to have pics of it!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/Hale-Bopp2_zps1872789c.png

[rosarugosa]

That is great - thanks for sharing!

[Tussiemussies]

Amazing you were able to get it on film!

[Gregg]

Very sweet CathyA! We had the telescope set up and spent a good deal of time watching it as well.

[Yossarian]

Hey, isn't that a spaceship I see behind the comet?!

[Yossarian]

One of the guys on another site I hang out on has a dang nice home telescope and took these. Pretty cool hobby.



http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc517/c_golema/Saturn.jpg
Saturn. ~800 million miles away.



http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc517/c_golema/dad93efb7a7c5825825a64c45f5dd009.jpg
The complete HorseHead and Flame. R, G, B, Hydrogen and Oxygen III spectrums combined.[/quote]

[CathyA]

WOW!! .....is this really possible with a home telescope?

[Mrs-M]

Cool! Love all the pics!

[Yossarian]

WOW!! .....is this really possible with a home telescope?

I don't know anything about telescopes but here is what he has:

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc517/c_golema/45a18a3f.jpg
The Scope - A Meade LX200 10" SCT




http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc517/c_golema/Scopeimagingsetup2.jpg
The optical train as set-up for photography. A Nikon D300 is the primary camera.


Takes pictures like the ones I posted and these:


http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc517/c_golema/SombreroGalaxy.jpg
The Sombrero Galaxy. It's ~28 million light years away.




http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc517/c_golema/WhirlpoolGalaxy.jpg
The Whirlpool Galaxy. It's ~23 million light years away.

[Mrs-M]

The planet (top picture, Sombrero Galaxy), I've never seen before. Resembles Zills (finger cymbals) sandwiched together. So interesting.

The vast distance between us, and far away galaxies, is humbling.

[Mrs-M]

CathyA, Yossarian, when you look into the dark vastness of space, are you convinced we're the only ones? The only, beings?

[Mrs-M]

Me, neither. I simply do not buy it.

[Yossarian]

Convinced? No.

Here is a cool collection from the Hubble telescope. Honestely I don't think we are actually capable of comprehending the question much less knowing the answer.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/cosmology/results/100/

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by Yossarian.
Honestely I don't think we are actually capable of comprehending the question much less knowing the answer.Excellent point. That site is over-the-top wow! Thanks for posting, Yossarian. It will be my evening escape starting tonight.

[CathyA]

I want one of those!! Dang......I should have asked for one of those for christmas, instead of a DVD. ;)
Gosh.....what would one of those cost? ..........maybe $30,000??
Guess I better start saving my pennies.
Incredible pics!
I can't think about space too much. Its just so overwhelming.

[Mrs-M]

It is overwhelming, isn't it, CathyA.

[CathyA]

I just looked a couple up online. I probably guessed way too high for the price, but it seems like it should cost that much, for those kind of pictures, so far away.

Just going out in the field at night and looking at the stars overwhelms me! I would probably pass out if I looked in a telescope and saw some of those pics that Yossarian posted. haha

[Gregg]

I don't think the answer to "are we alone?" is particularly difficult. There isn't any logical argument I know of that proves our situation is unique. We can really only say that we haven't yet discovered a lot of places with qualities similar to Earth where our version of life would be possible. In the wider scope why limit ourselves to thinking life is only possible as carbon based, water dependent marriages of amino acids? Probably because it's comforting to think someone else out there is going through the same challenges as a species that we are. Or maybe we are just hoping they are taking good care of their casa so we have a place to jump to when ours is trashed.

[CathyA]

Wait......you mean "E.T." wasn't a true story????????? :)

I'm sure other life forms look really different from us. Maybe viruses are from other places?
Its funny how most of our outer-space figures have arms and legs and eyes.........
Maybe they're already here, and we just can't see them with our sensory organs.

[Mrs-M]

My thoughts to a T, Gregg, although I did watch a space special not too long ago that touched on technology being used to listen-in on and pick-up on outer space radio signals/broadcasts (all types), and to date, nothing has been found. Then again, when considering the vastness of space in addition to the endless number of planets, stars, and galaxies it holds, I'm not surprised over the findings.

CathyA. For sure, it's a definite possibility.

[Gregg]

I was always a little suspect about the listening post idea. I loved the movie "Contact" and grant you that if we ever did hear something it would at least prove the existence of life elsewhere. But when you consider a signal from a source even relatively close by could be hundreds of thousands of years old its not like we will be chatting on the phone any time soon.

[Mrs-M]

Yes, absolutely. Additionally, the technologies being used to hone-in on signals, may not even be techno-advanced enough to accomplish/execute, but I have always found it so incredibly interesting and awe-inspiring. Never fails to allow my imagination to run wild and silly just thinking about it.