Andromeda galaxy

Did you know you can see a galaxy with the naked eye? It’s true, though you do need a dark, clear sky free of moonlight. You can make it out with the naked eye if you know where to look. As someone who’s been at this a long time, I use a trusty star atlas, but nowadays there are apps you can download for stargazing. Viewed through a small pair of binoculars, it is a spectacular sight. The Andromeda Galaxy—as it is known—lies about 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is a spiral galaxy containing billions of stars, much like our own galaxy, the Milky Way. These galaxies may eventually collide, as Andromeda is moving toward us, though that is a long way off; the predicted collision between Andromeda and the Milky Way is expected to occur in roughly 2–5 billion years, resulting in the formation of an elliptical "blob" galaxy dubbed "Milkomeda" or "Andromeway." This so-called "collision" is expected to be more of a gentle merging than a violent smash-up—it must be an amazing sight in the sky!

The image is a single 15-second exposure. 

Milky Way

Imagine being able to see our own galaxy, the Milky Way, with the naked eye. But you have to get away from all light pollution, away from cities and even local lights. The moon must not interfere either. Wait to get night vision (10-40 min), no lamp on or mobile phone on - then you will see the Milky Way as a band across the sky. These pictures were taken in Gekland and there you can also see the center of the Milky Way, which is seen as a large cloud in the night sky. This part of the Milky Way cannot be seen from Sweden.

The center of our galaxy is located 26,000 light-years away from Earth in the Sagittarius constellation. It features a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*, which is about 4 million times heavier than our Sun. Thick cosmic dust hides this busy, star-packed region from normal view.

Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains between 100 and 400 billion stars. Because we are inside the galaxy and obscured by thick clouds of gas and dust, we can only roughly calculate the total by measuring the galaxy's mass and observing the movement of its stars

Night sky disappearing?

Is this night sky soon gone forever?

We have light pollution, Starlink satellites, and soon maybe sun-reflecting satellites too?

 Light pollution is the overuse or misdirected use of human-made artificial lighting outdoors, altering natural light levels at night. This global environmental problem obscures the starry sky, wastes energy, and harms both human health and ecosystems.

 More than 10,000 Starlink satellites currently orbit the Earth. We see them crawling across dark skies, no matter how remote our location, and streaking through images from research telescopes.

SpaceX recently announced that it wants to launch one million more of these satellites as orbital data centres for AI computing power.

 Mirrors in Space? The FCC Just Approved a Sun-Reflecting Satellite, and Astronomers Are Worried

For now, a single satellite has been cleared for a test demonstration, but the company making it hopes to eventually launch 50,000 of them into orbit.

 This picture was taken on the southern part of the island of Zakynthos, Greece, during a family vacation. Most of the island has light pollution that ruins the night sky, so we took a drive to the southern part where there is no city. And the next mainland to the south is Libya, so the sky was amazingly dark and beautiful. The center of the Milky Way appeared as a cloud in the night sky.

 It would be devastating in many ways if the night sky disappeared more and more, even today not many people have seen a truly dark starry sky. The only way for us to realize our place in the universe, how small we are and that we have to take care of each other.

Dusk meets the northern lights

Dusk meets the northern lights over the sea on the east coast of Sweden. As darkness falls, the Milky Way emerges, our galaxy consisting of billions of stars. The image shows the area in the Swan with a lot of nebulosity with the bright star Vega next to it. Below the Milky Way, faint colors of the northern lights are visible, which are eaten up a little by the twilight. Among the rocks are bright areas that are marble, a beautiful place with an exciting geological history.

Center of our galaxy

The center of our galaxy rises from the ocean late at night off the east coast of Sweden. The center of the Milky Way is the dense core of the galaxy, located about 25,000–28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. At its absolute center is the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (not visible in these photos, still under the sealine), which weighs about 4 million solar masses. The area is hidden behind thick space dust and is characterized by an extreme density of stars. 

Bedrock and night sky

1.9 billion-year-old bedrock, limestone, and marble. Limestone bedrock refers to bedrock that is dominated by limestone, a sedimentary rock that primarily consists of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate). This type of bedrock creates unique conditions for both plant life and landscape forms. Limestone is a relatively soft and water-soluble rock. When acidic rainwater penetrates the soil, it dissolves the limestone, creating various types of cavities. 

The image at the bottom shows something called Boudinage. It is a geological structure that occurs when a relatively stiff (competent) rock is stretched and broken into smaller pieces within a more easily deformable surrounding. The result often resembles sausages lying in a row, which gave rise to the name (from the French boudin, meaning blood sausage).

In the sky, the colors of dusk can be seen, but the northern lights also emerge along with the Milky Way.

A beautiful view on the east coast with fluorescent water in blue and algae in red. In the sky, the Milky Way is seen in the Cygnus area with the large nebula NGC 7000. Low on the northern horizon, a faint aurora is also visible with nice colors and some pillars.

A view from planet Earth

Small Fungus standing and almost looks like stargazing under the night sky. Fungi break down dead organic matter like cellulose and lignin, returning vital nutrients to the soil. Without them, the world would be buried under organic debris. Fungi are major players in the carbon cycle, storing carbon in the soil and helping to regulate the climate. Some fungi have the ability to digest pollutants, helping to clean up the environment. Beautiful planet!

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Comet Lemmon and the open cluster Plejades

Another session with clouds and mist. I managed to see Comet Lemmon again between clouds and it was a beautiful view through the binoculars. Behind me the open cluster M45, Plejades, the Seven Sisters was a beautiful sight. At a distance of about 444 light-years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and the nearest Messier object to Earth, being the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky

Comet Lemmon through binoculars

Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) is making its closest approach to Earth, only 0.6 AU away. The comet is about as bright as a 4th magnitude star, making it a borderline naked-eye object that looks terrific through small telescopes. The view through binoculars was great!

Red Aurora in moonlight

 My sons friend calls and tell me there is a Aurora show outside. It started with some green colors and the bow in the north. Later on the activity gets stronger. From the bow pillars starts to move and getting higher in the sky with some colors. Getting back home and looked from my backyard I witnessed one of the strongest red colors I´ve seen, dark red easily seen despite moonlight! 

Some photos of september nightsky

 

Total Lunar Eclipse 2019

A very cold and clear morning for the Total Lunar Eclipse. Getting up early with my son and his friend to drive to the old churchruin. My goal was to capture the blood moon through the window of the ruin, I was not sure if this was possible but I made it after all. It was a great sight indeed.

Some more photos from Tänndalen