The Sharpest Photos of the Stars Ever Taken

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Hamilton Nolan

08/22/13 04:10PM

Filed to: things we like

Here are some photos of stars in the Orion nebula. They are the sharpest photos ever taken of the night sky. Ever in human history. Heck, that's something to be proud of. Take a minute out of your busy day to contemplate them. [University of Arizona]

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standswithapfft Hamilton Nolan 08/22/13 04:23PM

Disagree. This is the sharpest photo of the stars:

sfmountainbiker standswithapfft 08/22/13 05:06PM

Damn, that's one hell of a watch chain.

KarenDelaneyWalker standswithapfft 08/22/13 05:50PM

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but what is that photo from?

Louis-Winthorpe-III standswithapfft 08/22/13 05:54PM

Bruno Ponce-Jones and Francesa Fiore?

standswithapfft KarenDelaneyWalker 08/22/13 05:56PM

I'm a librarian, so literally - literally - any question you ask me cannot by definition be a dumb question; it's in the Code of Hammurabiblio, so:

In the pic, the lovely pachuca with killer shoes is played by Alma Martinez.

ETA: I've never seen it the movie.

hilikusopus Hamilton Nolan 08/22/13 04:22PM

TVs_Frank hilikusopus 08/22/13 04:46PM

Yea, right, like that's gon-

ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD!

hilikusopus Hamilton Nolan 08/22/13 04:17PM

Hooooooooo. I needed to see something like this right now. A little perspective goes a long way, as it were.

YoDADDY hilikusopus 08/22/13 04:24PM

awesome. Love looking at the stars. Real stars.

YoDADDY YoDADDY 08/22/13 04:33PM

a little perspective does go a long way. That's why I'll sit outside looking up for awhile before I go to bed. Good medicine.

newdegu Hamilton Nolan 08/22/13 04:30PM

Astrophysicist here. I just wanted to clarify for those who don't want to click through that the sharpness has to do with the fact that they use "adaptive optics" to counter the blurring effect of the atmosphere. That's why optical telescopes are usually placed on top of mountains—-to get above as much of the turbulent atmosphere as possible. Up to now, the Hubble Space Telescope has always won the sharpness contest since it's above virtually all the atmosphere (and that was part of the motivation in sending it up in the first place), but since this ground-based telescope has a much bigger mirror than the Hubble, it has been able to get images that are twice as sharp using this new technology.

Tar Bender newdegu 08/22/13 05:30PM

So it IS about size. I knew it!!

whamnomore newdegu 08/22/13 06:00PM

I think I love you.

newdegu Tar Bender 08/22/13 06:15PM

Well, in the context of the resolution limit of a telescope, it really is all about size. There is a physical limit to how well even a "perfect" lens can resolve fine details, and it's inversely proportional to the size of the lens. The bigger the lens, the smaller the details it can make out. It's the Little Red Riding Hood phenomenon—-big eyes really are better to see you with!

nisnosh newdegu 08/23/13 08:06AM

thanks for this! I enjoy gawker the most whenever i read comments by people who are in industries or have jobs related to the article. It's always the most useful. I remember reading an article by hamilton once where he was frothing at the mouth condemning re-insurance, blah blah blah. And then a re-insurance lawyer actually started commenting and responding to various questions with facts and candor, and not in an asshole sort of way, but rather in a "i really enjoy teaching people" way. Very refreshing.