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How many facts are there to be known or learned about all the objects and phenomenon in our entire universe? Just think: there are about 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe, that’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars; then there are many of those stars that have planets in orbit around them. Then consider the moons that orbit those planets and the comets and asteroids, the galaxies these stars form, the nebulae and black holes and everything else that’s out there. The amount of information and data is really quite mind-boggling. This article definitely will not contain every fact about astronomy, but they are very interesting facts nevertheless.

We will start by taking a look at a small section of astronomy: “the brightest stars seen from the Earth”. That is excepting the Sun which is roughly 250,000 times nearer than the next nearest star. In fact, it is so bright that when the sky is viewed from the Earth, it blinds out all the other stars in the sky during a phenomenon called daytime.

Remember that according to the scale for the magnitudes given, lower numbers are brighter. Our Sun would be about -26.73, while the full moon is -12.6. So, with that in mind, here are the top 5:

#5 is Vega, meaning ” falling eagle” in Arabic. is in Lyra. It’s more or less 25 light years away and has a magnitude of 0.04.

When considering these astronomical facts, please remember that ‘brightest from Earth’ doesn’t mean largest or brightest. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it appears so bright because it is so near compared to other stars.

#4 is Rigel – a very bright, bluish-white supergiant star in the constellation Orion. It is a binary star, with an average apparent magnitude of 0.12. It’s scientific name is Beta Orionis. Rigel is Arabic for ‘foot’. It’s about four light years from Earth.

#3 is Arcturus. The name is Latin/Greek and means ‘guardian of the bear’. This star is roughly 37 light years away. It is in the constellation of Bootes, behind The Great Bear. It has a magnitude of 0.00

#2 Canopus – the Greek name of the pilot of the sailing ship Argo in the stories of Jason and the Argonauts, is the brightest, however, because it is 313 light years from Earth, it’s only second in this list of the five brightest stars seen from Earth. It has a magnitude of -.62.

#1 is Sirius, which translate from the Greek as ’scorching’. It’s also sometimes called the ‘Dog Star’ because it is the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Major, which means ‘The Big Dog’ in Latin. It is situated only 9 light years from Earth, which makes it easily the second closest of these top five. It has a magnitude of -1.44, which makes it very easily the brightest star that can be observed in the night sky.

These few data don’t even scratch the surface of subject of astronomy but it’s something for you to think about the next time you gaze up into the night sky.

Are you interested in Astronomy for Beginners? If you are then, please visait our website at http://astronomy.the-real-way.com

Have you ever noticed how magazines, newspapers, and web designers are able to combine multiple photographs together to create really great collages or merged images? Do you wish you could do that?

With Adobe Photoshop, you can. Photoshop has all that you need to create some amazing digital collages from many different photos. In fact, Photoshop is the choice of professionals when it comes to editing and manipulating digital photography.

It has become the standard in the graphics industry to merge two or more photos into one collage or digital photo. Examples of this are all around. As a photographer, a web designer, or a graphic artist, it will be to your benefit to learn how to do this merging yourself.

The first thing you need to do, before you actually start working on your digital collage, is to spend some time planning your final image. What do you want it to be? Knowing Photoshop is important, but it is just as important to plan and lay out your image before you begin using Photoshop.

In Photoshop, the Layers Function is what you will use. This is great for being able to experiment with all of the options available.

Take time to consider the following things when planning your collage.

Take time to chose your photographs. This is important, because the images that are merged should be somewhat complimentary. They may be of the same general theme, they may have the same setting, or they may be of a similar color scheme. Considering these things will result in a more professional final image. Photoshop’s “eyedropper” function allows you to check and look for colors that are complimentary.

Once you have determined which photographs you would like to use, it is time to think about composition. Unless you are quite experienced, the best thing to do is to browse the Internet and find some examples of digital photo collages that really appeal to you. Study them. What is it about them that attracts you to them? Do they relay the message intended by the artist or advertiser? Look at the composition. Consider what it is that makes the images blend together so well.

You can work in multiple layers with Adobe Photoshop. You are able to spend some time experimenting with your composition using this function. This gives you the advantage of being able to “get it right” before everything is placed permanently.

Before you decide Photoshop is too difficult for you, be sure to check out these excellent video tutorials. Jeanene is an amateur photographer as well as a writer of articles and e-books.

Astronomy is the study of the universe. It is a serious science, but also a very pleasurable hobby. Therefore, whenever an astronomy picture of the day is offered to people, they usually grab it. There are plenty of such pictures to choose from, and plenty of interesting objects out there to keep people looking.

Of course ,NASA is one of the primary sources for an astronomy picture of the day. This site, NASA.gov, shows a new picture each and every day. There is also a section that shows videos. These could be used to create your own image site. Saturn’s moon Enceladus was the ’star’ feature on November 5, 2008.

This photo was taken by a passing spacecraft. It can reproduce details the size of a bus. The ice on this moon reflects as glare, nearly 100% of all the sun light that hits it. So you would need to wear sunglasses! This moon is so unusual that Cassini will continue to fly by for more pictures later on in its mission.

NASA retains an archive of all the astronomy footage of the day dating all the way back to June 16 of 1995. It was a ‘what if’ photo of the Earth posing as a neutron star. The image is a computer generation. The most interesting feature is that the constellation of Orion is visible twice. Even light from behind a neutron star is visible because the dense star bends the light around it. This causes some objects to be seen twice.

The entry for September 8th, 1995 was an amazing image of the central part of the ‘Milky Way’ galaxy taken by NASA’s COBE satellite. This area is usually not visible because of the dust obscuring it. But COBE scans in infrared, so produced that fantastic picture of our very symmetrical galaxy.

The astronomy picture of the day was identical on January 1st, 2000 and January 1st, 2001, the reason being that both dates displayed this image is that the majority of people considered the year 2000 as the first year of the third millennium.

However, the third millennium actually commenced on January 1st, 2001. NASA figured it was just better to just do it on both dates. apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010101.html displays man’s view of the universe as it progressed from mere objects orbiting the Earth, all the way to the ‘Big Bang’ creating the universe as we know it today.

NASA has many more days with their very own unique astronomy picture of the day. Visit their web site, NASA.gov to view them.