Latest news with #Celestron
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Venus is at its farthest from the sun on June 1: Here's how to see the bright 'morning star' this weekend
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Venus reaches its point of greatest western elongation on June 1, at which time the dazzling 'morning star' will be at its most distant point from the sun in Earth's sky during its pre-dawn apparition. The rocky planet will hit the orbital milestone at 00.00 a.m. EDT (0400 GMT) on June 1, while Venus is below the horizon for skywatchers in the U.S, according to stargazing website At this time, Venus will be separated from the sun by a gulf of 46 degrees along the line of the ecliptic, which is the apparent path taken by the sun and planets as they journey through the constellations crowding the night sky. The best time to spot Venus for stargazers in the U.S. is during the pre-dawn hours on May 31 and June 1, when the planet will appear as a bright, magnitude -4.3 morning star rising over the eastern horizon, easily visible to the naked eye (remember, the brightest objects in the sky have lower or negative magnitudes). You'll need a telescope with an aperture of at least 60mm (2.4") to see the planet's disk, which appears half lit at this point in the Venutian orbit, according to telescope-maker Celestron. Venus has been a regular fixture in the morning sky following its inferior conjunction on March 22, when it passed between Earth and the sun, marking an end to its evening appearances. Its tight orbit around the sun ensures that Venus never strays far from the horizon, at least in comparison to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, whose distant orbits allow them to be seen throughout the night when conditions allow. TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to see the planets of our solar system for yourself? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. While June 1 may mark the point of greatest separation between the sun and Venus during its morning apparition, it won't be the highest that the planet will rise above the eastern horizon over the coming months. This is because a planet's altitude in the sky is dependent in part on the inclination of the ecliptic relative to the horizon, which shifts throughout the year due to Earth's wobbling orbit. Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
See the crescent moon rise close to Saturn and Neptune early on May 22
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The moon will rise with Venus and the ice giant Neptune in the pre-dawn sky on Thursday, May 22. Stargazers in the U.S. will see the celestial trio rise around 3:30 a.m. EDT (0715 GMT), with the waning crescent moon holding the high ground over magnitude 1.14 Saturn, which will be visible around four degrees to its lower left in the eastern sky. Neptune — invisible to the naked eye at magnitude 7.92 — can be found lurking roughly two degrees (or two finger widths) to the left of Saturn. (On the magnitude scale used by astronomers, lower numbers signify brighter objects). For example, at its brightest, the planet Venus shines with a magnitude of about -4.6.) Neptune may be visible under dark skies with the help of powerful 25x100 binoculars as a star-like point of light, but a small, 4-inch telescope capable of around 150x magnification will be needed to resolve its pale blue disk, according to telescope manufacturer Celestron. Saturn, meanwhile, will shine brightly through binoculars, with the planet's iconic ring system appearing as small bumps, or 'ears' either side of the planet's disk, according to NASA. However, the Saturnian system truly comes alive when viewed through a telescope, which will reveal details in the gas giant's rings, along with a diverse collection of gravitationally bound moons. Larger backyard telescopes with a roughly 8-inch aperture may even be able to resolve the Cassini Division — a gap between Saturn's outer A ring and B ring that comes close to spanning the width of the planet Mercury, under good conditions. TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to see the planets of our solar system for yourself? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. The crescent moon also makes for a fascinating viewing target. The northwestern region is home to the smooth, dark plains of the lunar maria (Latin for "seas"), while the brighter southern highlands are covered in craters left by ancient asteroid impacts. The moon's crescent will slim over the coming days as it approaches the new moon phase on May 27, when it will vanish into the glare of the sun. The following morning, on May 23, the moon will rise to the left of Saturn and Neptune, closing in on a striking close encounter with Venus, a brilliant "morning star" hovering close to the eastern horizon. Venus —often dubbed Earth's twin is climbing higher each morning as it heads towards greatest western elongation on May 31 — the point in its orbit when it appears farthest from the sun in the morning sky, according to Stargazers interested in exploring the wonders of the solar system planets and Earth's moon for themselves should check out our guides to the best binoculars deals and the best telescope deals in 2025. Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Amateur astronomer reveals a colorful portrait of Earth's closest star-forming neighbor (photo)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astrophotographer Greg Meyer captured a breathtaking view of the Rho Ophiuchi stellar nursery and Messier 4 globular cluster while attending a stargazing event in Texas last month. Meyer used a thermoelectrically cooled monochrome astronomy camera mounted on a compact Radian Raptor 61mm telescope to snap 177 separate three- to five-minute exposures of the vast interstellar cloud. All told, it took a grand total of 14 hours and 45 minutes to image Rho Ophiuchi with a series of red, green, blue and luminance filters during the 2025 Texas Star Party stargazing event, which took place from April 20 to April 27. The resulting data was then expertly processed using the astrophotography software PixInsight, alongside Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to create a rich interstellar vista of swirling gas clouds, and dark, dusty filaments. TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to explore wonders of the solar system and the stars beyond for yourself? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look, see our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. "A favorite among astrophotographers, I wanted to try it from a dark sky area, and I was at the Texas Star Party in April 2025," said Meyer in an email to discussing his observation of Rho Ophiuchi. "This object was rising after midnight with the Milky Way, so [I] was able to get some good data with my portable rig for several clear nights." The Rho Ophiuchi nebula system is the closest star-forming region to Earth, and as such has come under the scrutiny of both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope in recent years. Brightest among the stars captured in Meyer's colorful portrait is the aging red giant Antares, which can be found illuminating the right hand side of the cosmic vista. Above Antares near the top of the frame is the famous Messier 4 globular cluster, which is estimated to be home to some 100,000 stellar bodies, according to NASA. Another dense city of stars designated NGC 6144 can be spotted to the upper left of Antares, while the bright stellar trio of Rho Ophiuchi B, C and D appear to illuminate the surrounding cloud structure at the top left of the image. Related stories: — Rho Ophiuchi: A colorful cosmic cloud in photos — Night sky, May 2025: What you can see tonight [maps] — Antares: Red star at the end of its life As is almost always the case when dealing with deep sky objects, the different elements comprising Meyer's scene are nowhere near as close to one another as they appear. For example, NASA estimates that Rho Ophiuchi is located some 390 light-years from Earth, while Antares — which appears to be totally enveloped in the nebulous structure — is roughly 550 light-years away. Messier 4, meanwhile, is even more remote, sitting some 5,500 light-years from our planet. Editor's Note: If you are interested in sharing your astrophotography with the readers at please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Can Civil Conspiracy Be Asserted Against Some Who Assists The Debtor In Evading A Judgment? Yes, Says Optronics Court
This case starts with a price-fixing scheme to corner the U.S. market for consumer telescopes and ... More binoculars. A California company called Optronics Technologies, Inc., but known as Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, brought an antitrust lawsuit against Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co., Ltd. The lawsuit alleged that Ningbo and some other companies had engaged in price-fixing for the U.S. market for consumer telescopes. Eventually, Orion won a $54 million judgment against Ningbo. After the jury announced its verdict against Ningbo, Orion moved for a restraining order to keep Ningbo from transferring away its U.S. assets. In response to this motion, Ningbo's president filed a declaration with the court to the effect that Ningbo would not transfer any of its cash or other assets located in the U.S. to anywhere outside the U.S. Based on this declaration, the court denied Orion's motion for the restraining order. But while all of this was going on, a company called Celestron Acquisition, LLC, had received certain inventory from Ningbo and thus Celestron owed Ningbo for that inventory. Under its contract with Ningbo, Celestron was required to pay Ningbo within 100 days of receiving the inventory. The day after the jury verdict in Orion's favor, Orion's counsel sent a letter to Celestron's counsel warning Celestron not to assist Ningbo in transferring assets outside the U.S. But, just three days before the first day that Celestron was allowed to enforce its judgment against Ningbo, Celestron paid Ningbo nearly $4.2 million for the outstanding invoices ― sending the money to China. About 10 days later, Orion served Celestron with a notice of levy for any moneys that Celestron was holding for Ningbo, and a few days after the the court entered an assignment order which required that all of Ningbo's accounts receivables be paid to Orion. Of course, by this time the $4.2 million cat was already out of the bag and nowhere to be found. Later, Orion would discover that Celestron's payments to Ningbo were not yet due under the 100-day requirement, and that Ningbo had asked Celestron to "pay as much as possible this week", i.e., before Orion could serve its levy on Ningbo. There was also evidence that Ningbo's counsel and Celestron's counsel had spoken about "judgment enforcement". The court sanctioned Ningbo for making its president's declaration in bad faith, noting that the evidence showed that it was not the ordinary business practice between Ningbo and Celestron for the latter to pay Ningbo early or on request. The court also ordered Ningbo to pay to Orion the $4.2 million that it had received from Celestron. Two years later, Orion sued Celestron and Ningbo for a fraudulent transfer under the California Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (UVTA) and civil conspiracy. The complaint alleged that Celestron and its counsel were copied on filing in the antitrust litigation and also knew of the declaration filed by Ningbo's president with the court. The complaint further alleged that Ningbo's president e-mailed Ningbo's counsel, about "trying to find a way to circumvent the judgment" and wondering whether "it is possible that we ship to US customers through a third party in the future without having to pay Orion." Ningbo's counsel in response stated that Ningbo should collect as much of its accounts receivables as possible. Despite this, another Ningbo counsel the next day told the court at the hearing on the restraining order that, "we are unaware [of any] judgment avoidance plan." The complaint also alleged that Celestron's counsel set up a call with Ningbo's counsel, and only three days later Celestron made the $4.2 million payment. A conspiracy between Ningbo and Celestron was also alleged, whereby Ningbo sent a request to Celestron for payment knowing in advance that Celestron would honor it. Celestron filed a demurrer to Orion's complaint. Several things were asserted in the demurrer, but of importance to us is that Celestron claimed that it could not be subject to the UVTA claim because it was neither a debtor (that was Ningbo) or a transferee from Ningbo (since it had paid Ningbo not the other way around). In response, Orion argued that Celestron owed a duty "not to commit an intention tort against anyone", but had done so by aiding and abetting Ningbo's evasion of the judgment. The trial court sustained Celestron's demurrer as to Orion's UVTA claim. The trial court based its decision on the fact that Celestron was not the debtor (that was Ningbo) and the one transfer that it did make was to the debtor, not from the debtor. Further, the trial court held that Celestron had the right to act in its own business interest by paying its own business debt. Orion appealed. This resulted in the opinion of the California Court of Appeals in Optronic Technologies, Inc. v. Celestron Acquisition, LLC, 108 770 ( Jan. 15, 2025), which we will next examine. The Court of Appeals considered several additional issues on appeal, but we will stick with the UVTA and civil conspiracy claims as those are the ones relevant to this article. Also, here the Court of Appeals is considering Celestron's demurrer, which necessarily presumes that the allegations of Orion's complaint are true, even if not yet proven. The Court of Appeals agreed with Celestron that it could not be a transferee under the UVTA because it had paid Ningbo, not the other way around. This is plainly wrong for reasons that I will discuss more in the analysis section of this article below, but for now let's move on to the more interesting issue of civil conspiracy. Here, Orion argued that even if Celestron could not be liable under the UVTA, Celestron could be liable for conspiracy and for aiding and abetting Ningbo. The Court of Appeals noted that previous California appellate opinion had recognized civil conspiracy and aiding and abetting liability for parties involved in a fraudulent transfer. Further, these causes of action have not been strictly tied to a UVTA claim. While Celestron argued that it could not be liable to Orion under any theory because Celestron owed no duties to Orion, and further than Celestron was merely paying Ningbo's invoice which it owed, the Court of Appeals looked at the surrounding factors to determine that Orion had adequately plead that Celestron had gone out of its way to aid Ningbo's evasion of the judgment by paying the invoice before it was even due. Further, whether or not Orion could recover the $4.2 million against Celestron as that might constitute a "double recovery", Orion could still recover for its collateral losses of such things like attorneys fees, costs and expenses. With all this, the Court of Appeals ultimately held that Celestron's demurrer should have been overruled by the trial court and the matter was reversed and remanded for that purpose. ANALYSIS The main takeaway from this case obviously goes to the civil conspiracy and aiding and abetting issue. A party who knowingly assists a debtor in evading a judgment can be liable to the creditor under those theories ― and those theories are not tethered to the fraudulent transfer issues. This has broad implications. This application of liability to third-parties could apply, for instance, to a trust company that assists a debtor in distancing assets for the purpose of defeating creditors. It could apply to professionals who assist a debtor in evading a judgment. It could also apply to a financial firm that facilitates the transaction. The only immutable requirement seems to be that the party knowingly assist the debtor in evading the judgment. To say that this makes post-judgment transactions very dangerous would be a considerable understatement. Effectively, anybody who assists the debtor in evading a judgment is potentially buying into the judgment themselves, or at the very least exposing themselves to the creditor's attorney fees to attempt to remedy the judgment evasion. Some might argue that this has always been the case, but the relatively few appellate opinions have brought the issue into such stark contrast as in this case. We will have to see how far the appellate courts are willing to extend these theories. In the meantime, the best counsel is that if a debtor seeks assistance that might disfavor a creditor, run. It's just not worth it to get involved. Going back to the fraudulent transfer issue, I stated earlier that I thought the Court of Appeals got this part wrong. Let me explain why I hold this view. Celestron argued, the trial court agreed, and ultimately the Court of Appeals agreed, that there had been no transfer from Ningbo as the debtor to Celestron. Rather, the only transfer involved, in their view, was Celestron's payment of the judgment ― a one-way transaction. What really happened here is that Ningbo held an obligation (or an account receivable if you prefer) that was not yet due against Celestron. When Celestron paid that obligation, Ningo essentially transferred the obligation back to Celestron and it was then cancelled out by the payment. Normally, in ordinary commercial transactions, this does not result in a fraudulent transfer. The reason is that the transferee can assert the good faith for value defense of UVTA § 8. This defense requires that the transferee be both in good faith (which means something like "not in cahoots with the debtor to cheat creditors") and that reasonably equivalent value be exchanged by the parties. The problem here, of course, is that if Orion's allegations are to be believed, Celestron could not have been in anything like the good faith required by § 8. An alternative theory would be that the fraudulent transfer occurred when Ningbo delivered the inventory to Celestron. At the time of this delivery, a claim existed against Ningbo (which would later be liquidated to the $54 million) and Orion was an existing creditor of Ningbo even if Orion did not yet hold a judgment. Recall that in fraudulent transfer, the "claim" arising when the liability arises, not when there is a judgment. In fact, the judgment is largely irrelevant to fraudulent transfer law other than to liquidate the amount of the debtor's liability to the creditor. Under the Insolvency Test of UVTA § 5(a), a voidable transaction occurs if the debtor was insolvent at the time of the transfer and there was no reasonably equivalent value exchanged between the parties. The insolvency test would have been satisfied if the $54 million judgment rendered Ningbo insolvent (this I don't not know, but let's assume it is true). The reasonably equivalent value part would have been satisfied by Celestron's obligation to pay the $4.2 million, but as we have seen this obligation did not arise until 100 days after delivery of the inventory. Thus, it is possible that Orion might have met the insolvency test. To this end, it should be recalled that in determining insolvency, UVTA § 2 provides that "Assets under this section do not include property that has been transferred, concealed, or removed with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors or that has been transferred in a manner making the transfer voidable under this [Act]." If Orion had come up with proof that Ningbo was removing other assets to China to avoid a then-potential judgment, those assets would be taken off Ningbo's balance sheet as well. Anyway, it is fun to speculate about such things but we will probably never know. It is all water under the bridge now anyway. The point is that in these voidable transaction cases it is often good to be creative if one is representing the creditor because you never know what might stick. Another issue that Celestron argued, and the Court of Appeals seemed to struggle with, was the concept of "double recovery" insofar as Orion might recover the $4.2 million from both Ningbo and Celestron. This argument comes up all the time in fraudulent transfer litigation and it is, frankly, silly. A voidable transaction action is a creditor's remedy and whatever the creditor recovers in terms of avoidance or a money judgment is credited against the judgment against the debtor. Thus, it is quite impossible for there to be a double recovery so long as this crediting properly occurs. But, again, the main takeaway from this case is that anybody who gets involved with a debtor that is evading a judgment is skating on some really thin ice. We'll have to watch the appellate opinions that come down later to see just how thin that ice may be.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Amateur astrophotographer captures a stunning galaxy 24 million light-years from Earth (photo)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astrophotographer Ron Brecher has captured a stunning deep sky image of the spiral galaxy M106, located 23.5 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Brecher imaged the distant galaxy for a little over 32 hours on nights spanning from March 27 to April 17, 2025. The finished portrait reveals the swirling arms of M106 focussed around an active, red-hued galactic core - an active star-forming region that is home to a ravenous supermassive black hole. "M106 is classified as a Seyfert galaxy, meaning it has an active nucleus," explained Brecher in a post showcasing the image on his website. "It's thought that part of the galaxy is falling into a supermassive black hole near the center — it is sort of cannibalizing itself." While M106 is too faint to be spotted in the night sky with the naked eye, it is an excellent target to view with a small telescope, though as noted by NASA, a larger telescope would be needed to resolve fine details. To find M106 in the northern hemisphere, stargazers need only locate the Big Dipper asterism of Ursa Major, and use a stargazing app to find the bright star Alkaid, and dimmer Psi Ursae Majoris. M106 can be found around the half way point between these two stellar giants. TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to see galaxies in the night sky? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. But M106 isn't the only galaxy in this image. "The other prominent galaxy, at the lower left, is NGC 4248," continued Brecher. "It also shows pink nebulae. There are many more galaxies in this image. Look for fuzzy patches and needle-like structures that look different from the sharp, round stars." Brecher wrote on his website that he never believed that he would get into astrophotography, but became captivated by the pursuit after buying a 4.5-inch reflector telescope for his son, and watching the night sky while soothing his then newborn daughter. His first forays into imaging the night sky saw Brecher capture the moon by holding a 'point and shoot' camera up to the eyepiece of his Celestron Ultima 200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. He has since experimented with numerous cameras, mounts, scopes and software to image cosmic objects ranging from Earth's moon, to monstrous deep sky galaxies. Brecher's latest portrait of Messier 106 was captured from his home outside the Canadian city of Guelph using a Celestron 14" Edge HD telescope situated in a SkyShed enclosure - which, as the name suggests, is a purpose-built shed with a removable roof. Brecher processed the images he captured using a series of red, green, blue, and hydrogen-alpha filters with his CMOS QHY600M astronomy camera, before processing the resulting data using PixInsight software. If you're looking for a telescope or binoculars to observe galaxies like M106, our guides for the best binoculars deals and the best telescope deals now can help. Our guides on the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography can also help you prepare to capture the next skywatching sight. Editor's note: If you want to share your astronomy photographs with our readers at please email it to spacephotos@
