An image like this does not require an expensive telescope. It does require an expensive hydrogen-alpha filter (which can easily run to several thousand dollars). But that is the only really expensive item that is needed. More than anything, what it requires is very good seeing, which means being in one of those rare places on Earth where such seeing is common, or in getting lucky elsewhere, or something in between, using lucky imaging to acquire many frames over a short time and combining the best (or increasingly, the best regions) of each to optimize brief moments of clarity.Astonishing !!!!
From my non-astronomer/non-scientist point of view, I must presume (given the clarity of today's APOD) that the almost infinite orders of magnitude greater cost for other platforms must in some manner provide significantly greater information.
I *hope* so.
!!Statistics: Posted by Chris Peterson — Wed May 15, 2024 3:27 pm — Replies 4 — Views 438