ASTRO ART
Postcards and Stickers
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcards
And talk about a gift that keeps on giving!? For every one of these postcards you put a postage stamp on and send thru the mail (Don't worry Gen Zs, instructions are literally written on the card. Sorry, Gen Alphas we haven't got around to making an instructional Tik-tok yet) that friend or family member will be able to collect $4.20 rebate after booking their Dark Ranger Telescope Tour.
BEFORE you even ask: Sorry but we can only afford to honor one postcard rebate per booking. I mean, you only paid $0.50 for card and $0.62 for the stamp. Isn't gifting the potential 375% return on your investment generous enough?
Q: Is the $4.20 rebate a 'weed' thing?
A: If you have to ask that question, the real question you should be asking of a Dark Ranger is
about the enigmatic answer to the ultimate question: "What is the meaning of life, the
Universe, everything?" and you'll get more than 42-dimes ($4.20) worth of a reply about how
we are merely doing our part to keep Douglas Adams meaningless gag baking the brains of
strags more than any amount of marijuana could.
Q: Will you really let me do a credit card transaction for purchasing a single postcard?
A: No. We will cancel and refund any order less than $3.00 in value + shipping. That means
you'd have to buy 6 or more.
Milky Way Postcards
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Dark Ranger Telescopes
All DRTT telescopes are named from Douglas Adam's 5-part trilogy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Arthur is not our largest scope but being a Stellarvue 180mm refractor, he is nevertheless our flagship. Similarly, the Orion Spur, aka Winter Milky Way (somewhat obscured by Arthur), is not as grandiose as the Sagittarius Arm, aka Summer Milky Way, but it is the more sublime. Come and see it for yourself. Sadly, most humans never have, nor ever will.
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Front Row Milky Way
The tiny bit of our galaxy we see while being inside the vast thing, is also named “The Milky Way." It was "The Night River" to the Sumerians. Not only more G-rated than the origin story the Greeks later told, it's better geography. We are near the confluence of the starry tributary, Orion Spur (Winter Milky Way) and the mighty stelliferous current, of the Sagittarius Arm (Summer Milky Way). Together, like so much luminous water, they flow core-ward, as if returning to the sea.
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Trailhead to the Milky Way
Some ask, "Is the tour walking or driving?" We reply, "Neither. Everything happens at our observatory. Our BIG telescopes bring the Universe to you." Besides, we'd need 6 people to carry 1 telescope on a hike, or a semi to drive 6-7 of them anywhere. Dark Ranger Telescope Tours began in 2014. Since then, we've fought to keep Utah's Milky Way bright by denouncing light pollution; all the while entertaining guests with our scopes and by sharing enthralling space science stories.
Galaxy Postcards
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
Some say, if stars are buildings, then galaxies are cities. Wait! Cities don't eat each other! Astro-analogies are hard, but not for Dark Rangers. We insist galaxies are more like amoebas. They can engulf each other! Long ago a big galaxy tried to devour Andromeda, yet she prevailed, shredding its arms, adding those billions of extra stars to her bulk. Only her attacker's core remains undigested. Called M32, it orbits close to her larger core like a snack for later — as if in a food vacuole.
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Triangulum Galaxy (M33)
Some say the Andromeda (M31) is the only galaxy visible to the naked human eye. But at the Dark Ranger Observatory we say, "It's cold here! Humans should remain clothed at all times." And, "Want to try seeing the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) without a telescope?" M33 is 5 times smaller than M31, but on a dark winter night, and with good, averted vision, it's there! Yet not everybody can see it that way. Many need a BIG telescope. No problem! We have plenty.
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - The Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565)
The Needle Galaxy’s distance is uncertain (30-50 Mly?), because after 240+ years of observation, astronomers have never detected a star exploding as a supernova (our best galactic tape-measure) within the Needle. We know it is a massive galaxy with 1-trillion stars. Since big spiral galaxies should get ~2 supernovas per century, the Needle is way overdue. When one finally happens, we will print a revised postcard, making this version a collector's item. Try to keep your copy nice.
Nebulae Postcards
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Crab Supernova Remnant (M1)
On July 4th, 1054 A.D., Chinese astronomers beheld a 2nd Sun shining in the daytime sky — for 3 weeks! It remained visible at night until 1065 A.D. They had witnessed the implosion and explosion of a supernova, 6500 ly away. In the 1700s, the remnant, a debris field, was rediscovered with telescopes. Its spinning core, a pulsar, continues to illuminate this star death nebula. Life is lucky supergiant stars are rare. Their cataclysmic deaths are only beautiful from a safe distance of 200+ ly.
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Dumbbell Star Birth Nebulae (M27)
Elderly stars bloat becoming red giants or supergiants, frying any nearby planets until the star runs out of fuel. For supergiants, a supernova-death is sudden and fierce (buy the M1 postcard, it's a blast!). Death for smaller stars is slow and anticlimactic. For 10,000 years this star has been in hospice, its white dwarf core sloughing off layers of plasma debris, creating the Dumbbell Nebula (M27). In 40,000 years, the core will be too dim to make the cloud glow. So, see it now!
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Orion Star Birth Nebula (M42)
Stuff is made of atoms. Atoms smashing together make bigger atoms in these chaotic cauldrons of fusion we call stars. Because these vast space clouds can be categorized as star birth nebulae or star death nebulae, we can say, "Everything in the Universe begins and ends its life as a nebula.” To learn about explosive star deaths, you'll have to buy a different postcard. This one celebrates life, showing how deep inside the Orion Nebula (M42), ultra-hot, supergiant stars are being born.
Star Cluster Postcards
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Double Star Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884)
The Double Star Cluster has the most colorful mix of stars. Stars change color as they age in this sequence: blue, white, yellow, orange, red. They are "born" in clusters, like huge litters of puppies. Also like dogs, those born bigger age faster and have shorter lifespans. Giant stars only live for millions of years, but dwarf stars live for billions. Since our Sun is a medium-sized yellow star, we could say it is like a cocker spaniel, age 5 billion, with 8 billion years more life to live.
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Hercules Globular Cluster (M13)
Once in a blue moon astronomers name things well (e.g., stars clustered in globs are called globular clusters). Big ones like M13 have 1/2-million stars so densely packed that the distances between stars are measured in light-weeks, instead of light years. Since these globs are almost as old as the Universe, all their massive stars died billions of years ago. The remaining stars, being smaller than our Sun, age very slowly. Yet, occasionally they collide, becoming bigger "blue stragglers
Dark Ranger (TM) Postcard - Pleiades Star Cluster (M45)
Stars are born in clusters. As young stars mature they go their own way, like teens after graduation. In this way, most clusters fall apart. Cultures demarcate the brightest of those widely scattered stars to draw their constellations. There is only 1 star cluster that is also an entire, though small, constellation — the Pleiades (aka Corn Maidens, 7 Sisters, 7 Sages, Subaru, etc.). Too many names with too many stories for a postcard. But you can book a telescope tour to learn them told live.
DARK RANGER(TM) STICKERS
Solar System Stickers
Dark Ranger (TM) Stickers - Sol's Inner Worlds
This 5" x 7" sticker set features rocky planets, asteroids, and a comet near perihelion (closest approach to the Sun). Collectively these worlds are known as the inner Solar System objects that orbit our star known as Sol. The colored pencil artwork was done by www.deepskykelly.com
Dark Ranger (TM) Stickers - Sol's Outer Worlds
This 5" x 7" sticker set features Ceres (largest of the asteroids) gas giant planets, ice giant planets, and Kuiper Belt objects like Pluto and it's moon Charon. Collectively these worlds are known as the Outer Solar System objects that orbit our star known as Sol. The colored pencil artwork was done by www.deepskykelly.com
