Author | Lightnews

David Ridge

@dridge.bsky.social

630 followers 650 following 150 posts

Husband, father, grandfather (my most important roles), retired minister (not considering myself a Christian, given what that has come to mean), left of center, follower of science and advocate for human rights. Politically outspoken but on hiatus now.

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

🔭This is about the size of the Milky Way, but at 42,000,000 light years away, NGC 5248 appears to be one fourth the size of the full Moon. It crosses the meridian (the imaginary line in the sky running north-south thru the zenith) on or about 10 pm (DST) on June 1. ].

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 14

Well done, Boulder! I got tired of taking pics and I got there as many people were leaving... 5,000? 6,000? A LOT of people🥰

Reposted by David Ridge

Stephen Blackmoore @stephenblackmoore.com · Jun 11

LOS ANGELES CIVIL UNREST SCALE

1992 RIOTS

TRADER JOE'S
SILVERLAKE PARKING

HOLLYWOOD BOWL
INTERSECTION
AFTER A CONCERT

XMAS WEEK
HOLIDAY SHOPPING AT
GLENDALE GALLERIA

LAKERS/DODGERS
CHAMPIONSHIPS

CURRENT LEVEL AND WEATHER
68 AND FAIR, AND ABOLISH ICE

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

7) [disclaimer: I did not know all this. I tip my hat to Frank at SetiAstro for his powerful program called What's in My Image. To other astro-imagers, if you've got a solved FITS file, his program will work for you - setiastro.com

Seti Astro

My ongoing journey through our cosmos from my backyard. Astrophotography of our solar system, galaxies, nebula, and clusters to explore. Adding new projects as photons are collected.

setiastro.com

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

6) Look up on a clear night. Lens help. Cameras are even better... (click on image to zoom in). This was about 13 hours of exposure.

Seti Astro

My ongoing journey through our cosmos from my backyard. Astrophotography of our solar system, galaxies, nebula, and clusters to explore. Adding new projects as photons are collected.

setiastro.com

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

5) And in the lower center-right is a galaxy with possibly an active black hole at 56,000,000 ly distance. In this image, astronomers have identified at least 15 quasars -- active galaxies in which the luminance of the black hole's consumption of surrounding material outshines the galaxy itself.

Seti Astro

My ongoing journey through our cosmos from my backyard. Astrophotography of our solar system, galaxies, nebula, and clusters to explore. Adding new projects as photons are collected.

setiastro.com

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

4) Directly above NGC 5248 is a Seyfert galaxy (also an active black hole) about 330,000,000 ly away. In the upper right is a "normal" galaxy, edge on, that's about 54,000,000 ly away.

Seti Astro

My ongoing journey through our cosmos from my backyard. Astrophotography of our solar system, galaxies, nebula, and clusters to explore. Adding new projects as photons are collected.

setiastro.com

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

3) Also included in this image are two very small "fuzzies" (galaxies) in the upper left corner that are about 1,000,000,000 (billion) light years away, one of which has an active black hole, i.e. consuming surrounding material.

Seti Astro

My ongoing journey through our cosmos from my backyard. Astrophotography of our solar system, galaxies, nebula, and clusters to explore. Adding new projects as photons are collected.

setiastro.com

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

1) Located in the constellation Bootes, it is on the edge of the Virgo supercluster of galaxies (of which the MW is also a part).

Seti Astro

My ongoing journey through our cosmos from my backyard. Astrophotography of our solar system, galaxies, nebula, and clusters to explore. Adding new projects as photons are collected.

setiastro.com

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 11

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 2

And good catch

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 2

You are absolutely right. I realized after I posted it that I had the wrong designator but no way to change it but to remove and repost

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 2

I think that depends on the degree of certainty you'll accept for a "yes" 😉

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Jun 1

🔭 A cache of photons collected on my prior telescope has finally been processed... NGC7822, the largest galaxy of the Deer Lick group. It's about 127,000 light years across.

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 23

Autocorrect 🙄... My intent in posting this...

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 23

My intent in paying this was for You to copy this sheet to your own repository to make it your own, adding your own data.

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 19

... end star of the handle of the Big Dipper...

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 18

That's interesting! I need to pull this up on a larger screen to appreciate it more fully

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 18

The image on the right, M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy, is almost three times the size of the Milky Way with two and half as many stars. 21 mly away to the south of the end star of the Big Dipper, it presents a beautiful spiral structure with lots of Ha regions clearly visible.

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 18

Roughly the same diameter as the Milky Way, its elliptical shape contains roughly twice the mass of the MW and an active nucleus and a black hole at least 250 times the mass of our own.

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 18

The image on the left reminds me of dancing south of the border 😁 At about 29mly away, the Sombrero Galaxy brims with about 800,000,000,000 solar masses, making it one of the most massive communities in our cosmic neighborhood.

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 18

🔭 A bit negligent in my recent image posting

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 11

🔭

David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · May 11

The Sunflower Galaxy hangs out about 30,000,000 light years and it's overhead at about 10pm at the end of May.

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David Ridge @dridge.bsky.social · Apr 16

Near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, M51 hangs out in our cosmic backyard (if the back fence was 31mly away 😉). At 75% the size of the Milky Way, one might wonder how many civilizations call it home. 🔭

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