[J_rod7]

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Hey Yo Orion,
My Max/Cass is a 127-mm diameter Primary mirror, with total Focal L. at 1540-mm. The f=12.1, and is equivalent to ~350x without the Barlow multipliers; also a full spectrum of filters. Haven't got a camera for it yet.

Dantheman,
Great shot there of NGC 4565. That's one I don't yet have on my walls. And, yes, it is said that our own galaxy is as thin as a pancake if viewed on edge.

Raulduke,
That massive Gamma-burster very likely when the first Galaxies and Stars were forming from primordial Hydrogen. There were no heavier elements around then, so Stars could grow to HUMONGOUS size (a technical term). Someone asked me about that one once, and following is a little write-up I gave 'em...:

An explosion of that magnitude is most likely produced by the Collapsar event of a HYPERNOVA STAR. HyperNovas result from HyperMassive single Stars which are in the range of 120 to 160 Solar Mass. Such stars are also 'First-Generation' stars within young, newly forming Galaxies. (Remember, we are also looking backwards in Time 12.2-Billion+ years, or more). When such HyperMassive Stars collapse, they instantly form a "Black Hole" with all the equivalent mass of 120 to 160 Suns all converted to Pure Energy (There is no MASS or Matter "inside," only Energy equal to the Mass times the speed of Light squared, E=MC^2, a truly HUGE amount of energy).

SuperNova Stars, which are more common, are generally in the range of 10 to 30 Solar Masses. SuperMassive Collapsars also instantly form "Black Holes."

Our Sun (equal = 1-Solar Mass) is a 'Third-Generation' Star, since it has accumulated all the elements higher than Iron (on the periodic chart) within itself, which were produced in the explosions of 'ordinary' Nova Stars - having less than 3-Solar Mass, and distributed throughout it's collected planets (Terra, Mars, Pluto, Malona, &c). First Generation Stars, on the other hand, accumulate only from coalescing huge cloud-masses of Hydrogen with some Helium, and with no heavier elements, when they ignite by Fusion into the Star. With no heavy elements to begin with, is the reason such Stars can grow so large. We don't see such HyperMassive Stars in our neighborhood, as these are in the first evolution phase of young Galaxies.

When ANY Star collapses into a "Black Hole," all of the Stars' Angular Momentum is converted into Spin. Then all the Energy inside the Event Horizon is now spinning at a very high 'velocity' which, like a monstrous Electro-Magnetic Generator, Polarizes the "Hole" (creates a pair of poles) which focuses Energy from the Accretion Disk, where the remaining mass of the Star from it's outer 'shell layers' is still being converted into Energy.

"Black Holes" with Jets are in the 'Feeding' stage. Ours, at the Core of our Galaxy, is currently in a 'Quiescent Mode.' (But there are signs that it may begin soon to feed again.)

These Focused beams include extremely Energetic Gamma, and also lesser energetic Energy down through X-Ray bands, Visual Light bands, and all down into the Radio-Frequency bands - all this in a continuous spectrum. It is ONLY when the Polarization Axis is pointed directly in our direction, are we able to "see" them. Like having the barrel of the Canon pointed at us. "Black Holes" and their Galaxies are oriented in every possible direction. Therefore, for each one that we do see, there are hundreds of thousands more which we can't see (Ratio less than 1/100,000), but they ARE there too.

Oh, and thinking about "Black Holes," some new theories have proposed there are micro-holes, little balls of energy with strong gravity, smaller then a proton. There's supposed to be Gazillions of these (High-Math here). But myself, I think this theory is full of holes. Anyway, here's artist conceptions of one of these micro-beasties...:



A micro black hole, also called a quantum mechanical black hole and inevitably a mini black hole, is simply a tiny black hole for which quantum mechanical effects play an important role.
http://www.ecopolis.org/in-space-hap...trange-things/


And this next is a concept of Gravity Waves...:



In physics, a gravitational wave is a fluctuation in the curvature of spacetime which propagates as a wave, traveling outward from a moving object or system of objects. Gravitational radiation is the energy transported by these waves. Important examples of systems which emit gravitational waves are binary star systems, where the two stars in the binary are white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes.
http://www.ecopolis.org/wp-content/u..._2phmedium.jpg




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