Amateur Astronomer Discovers Massive Gas Cloud Over Andromeda Galaxy

[SLD]

Amateur astronomers are making ground breaking discoveries that professionals have missed. Apparently no one ever noticed a huge cloud of doubly ionized Oxygen gas over Andromeda. Apparently they were using telescopes that were too large and missed it. But Amateurs using simple 106mm wide scope, found it after 111 hours of data in narrowband light. It’s causing quite a stir in the community and major news outlets have picked it up. It’s amazing that they are finding so many things that professionals have missed. This is not the only amateur discovery of astronomical objects. Amateurs have also been important in variable star observations.

A Recently Discovered Gas Cloud Near Andromeda Stumps Astronomers

Clues to the origin of this enormous cloud of gas have been maddeningly vague

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[Harry Bosch]

Amateur astronomers are making ground breaking discoveries that professionals have missed. Apparently no one ever noticed a huge cloud of doubly ionized Oxygen gas over Andromeda. Apparently they were using telescopes that were too large and missed it. But Amateurs using simple 106mm wide scope, found it after 111 hours of data in narrowband light. It’s causing quite a stir in the community and major news outlets have picked it up. It’s amazing that they are finding so many things that professionals have missed. This is not the only amateur discovery of astronomical objects. Amateurs have also been important in variable star observations.

A Recently Discovered Gas Cloud Near Andromeda Stumps Astronomers

Clues to the origin of this enormous cloud of gas have been maddeningly vague

www.scientificamerican.com

View attachment 41919

Awesome story!

 

[thebeave]

Amateur astronomers are making ground breaking discoveries that professionals have missed. Apparently no one ever noticed a huge cloud of doubly ionized Oxygen gas over Andromeda. Apparently they were using telescopes that were too large and missed it. But Amateurs using simple 106mm wide scope, found it after 111 hours of data in narrowband light. It’s causing quite a stir in the community and major news outlets have picked it up. It’s amazing that they are finding so many things that professionals have missed. This is not the only amateur discovery of astronomical objects. Amateurs have also been important in variable star observations.

A Recently Discovered Gas Cloud Near Andromeda Stumps Astronomers

Clues to the origin of this enormous cloud of gas have been maddeningly vague

www.scientificamerican.com

View attachment 41919

Awesome story!

Yep.... its great to see this sort of thing coming from dedicated amateurs. It renews my faith in mankind after reading about Chelsea Handler earlier this week:

Chelsea Handler says she thought the sun and moon were the same until she was 40

 

[Shadowy Man]

What would be really useful would be using two filters of the same width but one on-band and one off-band. I look forward to the spectroscopic follow-up they claim is ongoing.