I am gamifying #GaiaMission data and here is one project that I'm excited about: a galactic treasure hunt. It works on mobile, the web and in VR. You travel to star systems within 10 parsecs (33 light-years) and search for valuable alien artifacts. horizon.meta.com/world/65227…

Gaia DR4, when combined with other recent data sources like Hi-GAL and WISE, may allow for the first detailed and accurate maps of the local spiral structure. I am looking for some similar science fiction maps to use as inspiration. Any suggestions?

✨The Milky Way "breathing" 📡ALMA and @chandraxray , create the most detailed map ever obtained of the cold gas around Sagittarius A*. The astronomical team has provided compelling evidence of a black hole wind sought for decades.

The 'Lion Nebula' in Cepheus is a faint but beautiful cloud of glowing gas, and one of those deep-sky targets that really comes alive through astrophotography. This large emission nebula is shaped by massive stars, whose intense radiation and stellar winds light up the surrounding hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur gas. I captured this from my backyard using a large refractor telescope and a color astronomy camera. This is the most detail I've ever been able to collect on this target! 🤠 Camera: bit.ly/3CaQWUI Mount: bit.ly/4qIlq4e Telescope: bit.ly/4shlAjE Image Details: 120 x 300-seconds 10 Hours Total Exposure Processing Guide: bit.ly/4oe2pqp

The 'Eagle Nebula' in Serpens is one of the most iconic deep-sky objects in the night sky and is home to the famous Pillars of Creation. This glowing region of hydrogen gas is an active stellar nursery, where young stars are forming inside towering columns of dust and gas sculpted by intense radiation and stellar winds. I captured this from my backyard during my testing of a new astrophotography telescope - and I am pretty impressed with it - hopefully you saw the video! 🙂 Camera: bit.ly/3CaQWUI Mount: bit.ly/4qIlq4e Telescope: bit.ly/4shlAjE Image Details: 50 x 180-seconds 2 Hours, 30 Minutes Total Exposure Processing Guide: bit.ly/4oe2pqp

This is the Orion and Horsehead Nebula in a single shot! I captured this with a wide field lens and created it using RGB and Ha data!! I love how it came out!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘂𝘀 ✨ 65h

The explosion is over, but the consequences continue. About twelve thousand years ago, a relatively normal star in the constellation Vela suddenly exploded, creating a strange point of light briefly visible to humans living near the beginning of recorded history. The outer layers of the star crashed into the interstellar medium, driving a shock wave that is still visible today. The featured image, taken piecemeal over 60 hours from the Khomas Region of Namibia, captures some of that filamentary and gigantic shock in visible light, with details highlighted by hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) emissions. As gas flies away from the detonated star, it decays and reacts with the interstellar medium, producing light in many different colors and energy bands. Remaining at the center of the Vela Supernova Remnant is a pulsar, a star as dense as nuclear matter that spins around more than ten times in a single second. Image Credit & Copyright: José Mtanous

🌌 Vela Supernova Remnant My second image from @NebulaPhotos astrophotography workshop in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile 🇨🇱. I highly recommend his workshops! The intricate glowing filaments of this supernova remnant, lit up under the pristine dark skies of the Atacama Desert. What’s left of a massive star that exploded ~11,000 years ago ✨ Full resolution and details on Astrobin: app.astrobin.com/u/Shaun?i=i… Equipment: • Telescope: @williamoptics RedCat 51 • Mount: @zwoastro AM5N • Camera: @zwoastro ASI294MC Pro • Filters: @optolongfilter L-Ultimate (Ha OIII dual narrowband) #Astrophotography

More photos I took on my recent trip to Chile 🇨🇱 1: Wide shot of Crux, Coalsack, Carina, etc. 2: Closeup on Running Chicken Nebula 3. Closeup on Statue of Liberty Nebula #astrophotography

Corona Australis Molecular Cloud, Close and Wide #astrophotography

Same nebula, three very different ways to capture it. This is the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, photographed using three different astrophotography setups: Smart Telescope Dedicated Astronomy Camera DSLR Camera Each image tells a slightly different story. The smart telescope version shows just how far beginner-friendly, all-in-one astrophotography systems have come. It is simple, automated, and surprisingly capable. The dedicated astronomy camera version reveals the deepest detail, contrast, and structure thanks to a cooled camera, telescope, filters, and a more advanced imaging workflow. The DSLR version has a classic broadband look, with rich color and a wider-field feel that reminds me why so many of us started astrophotography this way. There is no single “right” way to photograph the night sky. The best setup is the one that gets you outside, learning, experimenting, and enjoying the process. Which version do you like best? 🤔

Gamma Velorum and part of the Vela SNR This is my first release from several pictures coming out of my trip to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. More on astrobin: app.astrobin.com/i/3ale5g #astrophotography

Many people are not actually reading this. Arxiv is -not- banning the use of AI, or papers which used AI to generate proofs, code, etc. They are banning people who upload papers in which the AI content was (very clearly) not actually checked by the human author(s).

What is your favorite galactic map orientation? mastodon.social/@galaxy_map/…