Share Some More Astronomical Trivia

[Knight of Clear Skies]

This made for a fun and interesting thread last year so I thought it was worth another spin. Does anyone have any astronomical trivia they'd like to share?

Here's a seasonal snippet: The angels at the beginning of It's a Wonderful Life are Stephan's Quintet.

(That's not a supernova in the left hand image between the two bottom galaxies, that's Clarence! They appear about 35 seconds into the video below.)

[Beulah]

Excellent! Never realised it was an image of real galaxies - perhaps an artist's impression...but look how far imaging has come...t'internet is too slow to play video so I'll watch it later.

Must admit though, I do enjoy seeing 'vintage' space images - considering how difficult it is today to capture good exposures with computerised gear... 

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Yes, vintage astrophotographs have an appeal all of their own. It must have been particularly exciting for those early astrophotographers who were seeing, and trying to make sense of, many DSOs for the first time.

There is a nice collection of early astrophotographs here. I particularly like the discovery image of the Horsehead Nebula (1888) and the Pinwheel Galaxy (1899).

There is also a searchable catalogue of early photos here (click More in the Details column to see a larger version of each image).