Astronomy

72 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2015

1. SWE ET S PI R AL
   NGC 4945, also known as Caldwell
   83, is an edge-on spiral galaxy in the
   constellation Centaurus. It shines at
   magnitude 8.8 and lies some 12 mil-
   lion light-years away. (16-inch Dream
   Telescopes astrograph at f/3.75,
   Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, LRGB
   image with exposures of 70, 18, 18, and
   18 minutes, respec tively) • Kfir Simon


2. CHANGING FACE
   From July 25 to August 8, 2015, Venus
   showed rapid changes. The planet’s
   phase dropped from 12.9 percent (left)
   to 2.6 percent, and its apparent size
   increased from 47.6" (left) to 56.2".
   (14-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain
   telescope, ZW Optical ASI174MM CCD
   camera) • Pete Lawrence


3. LOOP DE LOOP
   The so-called Cygnus Loop is a
   supernova remnant. It contains many
   individual sections designated by
   names and numbers, including those
   in the Veil Nebula complex. The entire
   loop has an apparent diameter of
   3°. (Quantum Scientific Instruments
   683ws-8 CCD camera, 200mm Canon L
   II f/2.8 lens set at f/4, Hα/OIII/SII image
   with 4 hours and 20 minutes of expo-
   sures) • Richard S. Wright Jr.


4. MOST TRANQUIL
   The compact grouping of the Moon,
   Venus (the brighter of the two points
   below the Moon), and Mars on
   February 21, 2015, was hidden behind
   clouds, which dumped about 16 inches
   (40 centimeters) of snow on the area
   around Dagyenice Reservoir near
   Bursa, Turkey, but thankfully for the
   photographer the next evening was
   clear. (Canon 6D, 24mm f/1.4 lens set
   at f/3.2, ISO 400, 2-second exposure,
   taken February 22, 2015) • Tu nç Te ze l

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