Wow what is this?

• by AdamQureshi

  can anyone tell me what this is?

  Posted January 9, 2014 12:22 AM

• by JeanTate in response to AdamQureshi's comment.

  It's a bright star in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

  The 'spikes' are due to the vanes which support the secondary mirror in the telescope; the general colorful appearance mostly due to lots of internal reflections within the camera; the central circles due to saturations ... different CCDs (the detectors in the camera) behind different filters getting overwhelmed to different extents.

  Happy hunting!

  Posted January 9, 2014 12:29 AM

• by AdamQureshi

  woah thanks, it looks amazing

  Posted January 9, 2014 12:31 AM