Thursday, December 10, 2009

Stars like jewels...



This photo, taken by Thomas Shahan, is one of the most beautiful pictures of the Milky Way that I've ever seen.  It's magical.  Have you ever stayed up half the night just to watch the stars and planets move across the sky?  I did it once on a moonless night at Yosemite, with a group of astronomers. It was freezing cold, but we counted over 20 shooting stars and a half dozen satellites. It's one of the best shows on earth, and completely free...
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21 comments:

  1. DaisyDecember 10, 2009 at 3:10 AM

    It is something love to do... I usually cant sleep at night and watch the stars from my bedroom wndow. Or sometimes I will sit on my door step and keep my eyes fixed on the sky!
    The photo is lovely

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  2. RajDecember 10, 2009 at 3:23 AM

    This is the most beautiful photo I've seen.

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  3. JuniperDecember 10, 2009 at 3:31 AM

    This really is an amazing photo, quite spectacular!

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  4. deadweight on velveteenDecember 10, 2009 at 3:48 AM

    it is definitely one of the most phenomenal visual scapes on offer to us :-)

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  5. EmilyDecember 10, 2009 at 3:54 AM

    OH wow! Lucky you! That sounds fantastic! I was once in Yosemite but it was summer camp and all I did was east smores and sing campfire songs...beautiful photo though! x LZ

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  6. Brian MillerDecember 10, 2009 at 6:18 AM

    oh wow...gorgeous...

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  7. RachelDecember 10, 2009 at 6:36 AM

    terribly delightful.

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  8. UnknownDecember 10, 2009 at 7:42 AM

    Truly amazing picture :-)

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  9. BrandiDecember 10, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    I saw the stars this summer at the Grand Canyon. There are some really incredible pictures of the Milky Way taken with radio telescopes that allow you to see the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy just glowing. (I have a bit of an astrophysics background.) The universe is so incredible and so large, it's just astounding.

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  10. The Childlike EmpressDecember 10, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    oooh, have done any stargazing as of late seeing as i'm in a city, but when i was living in the countryside i was in awe of it every night

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  11. Louis Duke PhotographyDecember 10, 2009 at 8:54 AM

    Oh! That is so amazing!!!

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  12. Melissa BlakeDecember 10, 2009 at 10:32 AM

    Beautiful photo! xoxo

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  13. Mlle ParadisDecember 10, 2009 at 10:34 AM

    Thanks for the reminder! There is really nothing like a night sky flooded with stars.

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  14. Pretty ZestyDecember 10, 2009 at 11:12 AM

    absolutely magical!

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  15. Beadboard UpCountryDecember 10, 2009 at 1:57 PM

    This is an extroardinary picture. When I flew for an airline there was a cold night we were headed towards Portland and for some reason the Aurora Borealis was very visable ( like I heard later all the way down to Texas )It was like we were so close to it and with all the stars they looked like snow. So everyone in the plane turned their lights off... Thanks, I hadn't thought of that in years.

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  16. kelly annDecember 10, 2009 at 4:29 PM

    my grandmother used to work for the jet propulsion lab and i grew up being completely fascinated by stars and planets and space and the night sky. i love saving photos like this to a folder on my computer and posting them from time to time... it's an amazing reminder of how incredible and gorgeous this universe is!

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  17. ValeriaDecember 10, 2009 at 8:39 PM

    :)

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  18. AmandaDecember 11, 2009 at 9:39 PM

    Thank you for reminding me just how magical nature is.

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  19. AnonymousDecember 12, 2009 at 10:48 AM

    Unfortunately, living in this dusty, desert of a city we don't get any starry skies. I grew up in rural Australia, and am used to spending countless nights in the backgarden staring at the stars - I miss that

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  20. UnknownDecember 13, 2009 at 12:07 PM

    Yeah! So funny I just did tonight.
    I am at my parents house in the countryside and
    its amazing how many stars you can see here
    outside the city, its so much darker during the night.
    And: I saw an shooting star!!! Of course I made a wish. Fingers crosses it will come true.

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  21. TheBeautyFileDecember 19, 2009 at 5:51 PM

    Tina....I just found this INCREDIBLE Hubble Telescope photos site and this post reminded me of it....oh my gosh...it's amazing....you must see!

    http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/12/hubble_space_telescope_advent_1.html

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