WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 73- LOOP DE LOOP
This mind-blowing image shows
the retrograde loops of Mars
(brighter) and Saturn. The Red Planet’s
symmetrical S spans 16° while the
ringed world’s path is only 7° across.
The photographer took the first
exposure December 15, 2015. He
finished the sequence November 21,
2016, when Saturn was nearly lost
against the Sun’s glare. • Tu nç Te ze l - MIRROR FOR THE SUN
This stack of four exposures (three
of the Sun and one after sunset to
highlight the landscape) shows our
daytime star’s light reflected in the
Canale Zaniolo, near Voltana, Italy. The
photographer waited four minutes
between shots. • Fabrizio Melandri - OPEN BAR
NGC 1672 in Dorado is a barred spiral
galaxy that glows relatively brightly
at magnitude 9.7. From the nucleus,
which is a starburst region, four
filamentary spiral arms extend out
from the ends of the central bar.
- Warren Keller/Steve Mazlin/
Mark Hanson/Rex Parker/Tommy Tse
- 45P SAILS IN THE DARK
Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
travels through the constellation Canes
Venatici on February 19, 2017. The
photographer captured it, the Whale
Galaxy (NGC 4631, right of the comet’s
head), and the Hockey Stick (NGC 4656,
above the comet). The comet’s head is
green, and its grayish-white dust tail
points to the west, or downward in this
shot. • José J. Chambó - FIT FOR A KING
This wide shot consisting of seven
exposures shows the region around
IC 1396 in the constellation Cepheus.
Dark nebulae made of dust and ultra-
cold gas seem to writhe through the
reddish emission nebulosity.
- Robert Fields
Send your images to:
Astronomy Reader Gallery, P. O. Box
1612, Waukesha, WI 53187. Please
include the date and location of the
image and complete photo data:
telescope, camera, filters, and expo-
sures. Submit images by email to
[email protected].4357
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