Image by Bob Reynolds, Deer Grove East
Blue in nature is rare. Many birds achieve their color from the pigments in the food they eat. Blue in birds such as the Indigo Bunting is a result of microscopic structures in their feathers which refract and reflect blue light. Image by Tom Auchter
The Running Man NGC 1977) and Orion Nebula (Messier 42) are visible to the naked eye about 1,400 light years away in the constellation Orion. They are the closest region of active massive star formation to Earth. Color images are created by taking individual images with a monochrome camera through separate luminance, red, green and blue filters. Since the objects have very low brightness, multiple long exposures are used to create the final image. A tracking mount that compensates for the earth's rotation prevents star trailing during the long exposures. Camera Santa Barbara Instuments Group STL11000M Telescope Astro-Physics 130mm EDFS f6 Focal Length 780mm Aperture f6 Exposure Time Luminance 9 x 5 min (total 1.75 hr) Red 4 X 5 min Green 4 x 5 min Blue 4 x 5 min Taken 2/26/2009 Image by Tom Auchter
