VERA Mizusawa Station and 10-m Radio Telescopes Look Up at the Constellation Orion
Night Scape Photograph・
At the end of October in Iwate Prefecture, the autumn leaves are very beautiful. Mt. Yakeishidake, which is visible on the western side of Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, is dyed in red during this time of the year. The daytime temperature on the previous day, October 26, was slightly above 20 degrees Celsius, hot enough to sweat. But when it got late at night around 3 am, the temperature went down under 10 degrees Celsius. Beyond the two radio telescopes, the iconic winter constellation Orion shines. The winter is coming. It was in 2008 that VERA measured the distance to the Orion Nebula M42 (more exactly, the Orion KL object) in the constellation Orion to be around 1,364 light-years.
Text by: Osamu Kameya (Mizusawa VLBI Observatory)
Translation by: Hiroko Tsuzuki and Ramsey Lundock (Public Relations Center, NAOJ)
Image Data
| Camera | OLYMPUS OM-D E-M5 Mark II |
|---|---|
| Lens | OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO |
| Exposure | 25 seconds, ISO800, F2.8 |
| Date | 2:59 am October 27, 2016 |
| Photographer | Yutaka Iijima |
| Credit | National Astronomical Observatory of Japan |
| Terms of Use | This image can be used without permission for research presentations, conferences, and school classes. In other cases, it cannot be used without prior permission. If you would like to use it, please fill out an application. In the case of commercial use, a photograph usage fee might need to be negotiated with the photographer, Mr. Yutaka Iijima. |
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