Hubble Image
Gallery
Site Navigation
FASCINATING NIGHT SKY
I have always been fascinated with the night sky. As a child I still remember how excited I was when my parents bought me a small refractor telescope. Jupiter and it's moons, Saturn's rings and craters on the lunar surface were the extent of my observations in those days. Now after many years I have returned to Amateur Astronomy, the hobby of my youth, to look deep into the night sky with awe and wonder.
A LOOK INTO THE PAST
Because of the vastness of the cosmos relative to our tiny existence here on earth, we use the "light year" to measure distances to the celestial bodies we observe from our tiny planet. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. A light year is the distance light travels in one year.
Besides the sun, the closest star to our planet is located in the triple star system Alpha Centauri. It's name is Proxima Centauri and it is approximately 4.3 light years away. When we observe Proxima Centauri we are actually looking back in time. What we see is the light that left the star 4.3 years ago.
Visitors
 | ||||||
M27 Dumbbell Nebula
www.fascinatingsky.com - 08/28/2008
