Welcome. My name is Terry
Belia and I live in the Dallas Texas area. I am a member of
the Texas Astronomical Society. I have been
active in Amateur Astronomy and Astrophotography since 2001.
Enjoy the links on this site and take a look at my images.
They are updated frequently so check back
often.
I have a
Feedback link at the bottom of this page.
Your comments and contact information are appreciated.
Video:
Wonderful Time Lapse video taken in
April, 2009 at the
Texas Star
Party, held at the Prude Ranch near Ft. Davis, TX. The red
lights you see are used by the observers and imagers. White light ruins
night vision so red lighting is the preferable illumination. Note the
rising of the Milky Way towards the end of the video. While our Solar
System is located in the Milky Way Galaxy (which contains somewhere
between 200 and 400 Billion stars) what you are seeing rising into the
sky is actually a bright band of our Galaxy.
Video created by
Texas Astronomical Society member, and club photographer, Andy
Cheng.
Image of the Month:
Collision Of Two Galaxies
Arp 148 is the staggering aftermath of an encounter
between two galaxies, resulting in a ring-shaped galaxy and a
long-tailed companion. The collision between the two parent galaxies
produced a shockwave effect that first drew matter into the centre and
then caused it to propagate outwards in a ring. The elongated companion
perpendicular to the ring suggests that Arp 148 is a unique snapshot of
an ongoing collision. Infrared observations reveal a strong obscuration
region that appears as a dark dust lane across the nucleus in optical
light.
Arp 148 is nicknamed "Mayall's object" and is located in the
constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, approximately 500 million
light-years away.
Credit: NASA, ESA
Click on the image to enlarge
Next Month:
2012 and Asteroid Eros 433.
Preparing The Space Shuttle For A
Launch:
The following
are rarely seen activities of the preparation of the Space Shuttle. The
general public is usually only able to see the shuttle on the launch pad or
during a launch. This presentation offers behind the scenes images of
the shuttle during it's preparation for launch. To view this
presentation, click on the image to the right.
**Note** Requires
PowerPoint Presentation. If you do not have PowerPoint, you can
download a free version of their presentation tool from Microsoft's
website. Click on the link below.
The Hubble Deep Field: The most important image ever taken.
It is the farthest we have ever seen into space using the most
advanced telescope we have.
Weather / Sky
Conditions:
General Forecasting, Weather data, and Astronomical viewing forecasts for
Dallas Texas, Atoka, OK, and robotic imaging locations in N.M. and
Australia.
The Clear Sky Clocks above are the
astronomers forecast. They show at a glance when, in the next 48 hours,
we might expect clear and dark skies for one specific observing site.
The site is specifically intended for amateur astronomers. The forecast
data comes from a numerical weather model run by The Canadian
Meteorological Centre.
Apollo Landing
Sites
NASA's
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or
LRO, has returned its first
imagery of the Apollo moon
landing sites. The pictures show
the Apollo missions' lunar
module descent stages sitting on
the moon's surface, as long
shadows from a low sun angle
make the modules' locations
evident.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Camera, or LROC, was able to
image all six Apollo sites.
The satellite reached lunar
orbit June 23, 2009 and captured the
Apollo sites between July 11 and
15. Though it had been expected
that LRO would be able to
resolve the remnants of the
Apollo mission, these first
images came before the
spacecraft reached its final
mapping orbit. Future LROC
images from these sites will
have two to three times greater
resolution.
All
images credit:
NASA/Goddard Space
Flight Center/Arizona
State University
Click each
thumbnail image to enlarge
Lunar map of Apollo landing sites
Apollo 11
Image width: 282 meters (about 925 ft.)
Apollo 12
Image width: 200 meters (about 656ft.)
Apollo 14
Image width: 538 meters (about 1,765 ft.)
Apollo 15
Image width: 384 meters (about 1,260 ft.)
Apollo 16
Image width: 256 meters (about 840 ft.)
Apollo 17
Image width: 359 meters (about 1,178 ft.)
Photo Albums:
Click on the various Image link buttons to access Astrophotography and other assorted
pictures including the Texas Astronomical Society dark sky site.
Click on image for larger
view
My Equipment:
Click on the
My Equipment button to view images of
my equipment and accessories.
