Internet Telescope

Spiral galaxy M33, 2.3 million light years distant from Earth. Photo taken through the Seeing in the Dark Internet Telescope ("SIDINT")

The Seeing in the Dark Internet Telescope is situated at a dark, high-altitude astronomy retreat called New Mexico Skies, at Latitude 32° 54' 14", Longitude 105° 31' 44". It can take pictures of objects throughout the northern sky, plus southern objects down to a declination of about -45 degrees. The telescope's CCD digital camera is too sensitive to take pictures of bright objects in the solar system, such as the Moon and planets—so please do not request images of these objects. The telescope can, however, readily image star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. All its photos are in black and white.

Image Request Form

Fill in this form to request an image taken by the Seeing in the Dark Internet Telescope. Your image will be emailed back to you, usually within a few days (weather permitting). See below for help in selecting an object to image.

All fields must be filled in for your request to be processed. You must be a student or a teacher to request images: Please be sure to fill in the name and location of your school. You may request one image at a time. Once you have received your image, feel free to request another.

What to Photograph

Wondering what to photograph? Go to the star chart and click on "New Mexico Skies" as your location. If you can see an object at any hour tonight, our telescope should be able to photograph it.

Help in selecting object to image with the Seeing in the Dark internet telescope.

• The telescope's CCD digital camera is too sensitive to take pictures of bright objects in the solar system, such as the Moon and planets. But it can image thousands of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Here are some suggestions about picking an object.
• A quick way to pick an object is to look at the current night sky from your location, using our star chart. If you can see it tonight, so can our telescope.
• Location, location location. The telescope is located in New Mexico, at Latitude 32° 54' 14" / Longitude 105° 31' 44". From this location it can "see" objects in the northern sky, plus southern objects down to a declination of about -45 degrees. When in doubt, check our star chart to make sure your object isn't too far south. Keep in mind that objects close to the horizon are seen through much thicker layers of atmosphere, and so will make for relatively fuzzy photos. The clearest views are of objects closer to the zenith. (But at the telescope's altitude of 7,300 feet—2,225 meters—most of the sky is pretty clear!)
• The Sun moves slowly through the sky, along the ecliptic. Objects close to the Sun cannot be imaged at this time (but will be visible in a couple of months). When in doubt, check the star chart.

What would you like to see first? Let's take a look around our galaxy and beyond.

Star clusters are easy to photograph. Open clusters are younger and contain fewer stars than the old, massive globular clusters. Open clusters are found mainly along the disk of our galaxy, which is called the Milky Way after its appearance as a glowing river of light in the skies of Earth, while globular clusters are arranged in a sphere around the galaxy.

"Open" star cluster M24, in Sagittarius. SIDINT 30-second exposure.

The great "globular" star cluster M13, in Hercules, contains at least 600,000 stars. SIDINT 30-second exposure.

Star clusters described as "rich" contain many visible stars, while those called "sparse" have fewer stars but can also be quite alluring. "Tight" clusters are compact, while "loose" clusters are arrayed across a wider swathe of sky. Clusters designated "bright" are the easiest to see with small telescopes, but you will find that the Seeing in the Dark internet telescope can readily image even dim clusters.

M20, the Trifid, an emission nebula in the Milky Way. SIDINT 480-second exposure.

The term nebula applies to many sorts of clouds of dust and gas in our galaxy's disk.

Planetary nebulae and supernova remnants are gas ejected by unstable or exploding stars. The term "bright" nebula in the table below refers to both emission nebulae, which absorb and re-emit the energy from nearby stars, and reflection nebulae, which reflect the starlight. Many nebulae contain both emission and reflection patches, as well as dark nebulae—visible parts of the large, dark clouds that run through our galaxy's disk.

The Ring Nebula, M57, a "planetary" nebula in Lyra. SIDINT 30-second exposure.

M27, the Dumbbell, a "planetary" nebula in Vulpecula, the Little Fox. SIDINT 180-second exposure.

Galaxies are abundant in the night sky. They include spiral galaxies like the one pictured on the left(seen edge-on) and elliptical galaxies, on the right:

Spiral galaxy NGC 7331, 50 million light years from Earth; in Pegasus, the Winged Horse. Note other galaxies in background. SIDINT 180-second exposure.

Elliptical galaxy NGC 185, a little over 2 million light years from Earth. It may look inconspicuous, but it contains some 260 billion stars! SIDINT 300-second exposure.

Prominent Objects in the Sky

Here's a list of intriguing objects, arranged by the season when they're most easily visible and identified by their numbers in the Messier catalog, designated "M."

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