Starfield from Dawn, 21 Mar 11. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

It’s a starfield! This is a great picture and was taken by the Dawn spacecraft’s framing camera.  The camera was powered up for a test after a six month hibernation along with some of the other instruments on board.

Back to trying to find this view on my planetarium software, easier said than done with no targeting data.  Actually if you’ve ever done the matching thing, it can be very challenging even when you know the area.

Oh, if you have a planetarium program or better yet your own pictures of starfields and want to try mapping them out OR you just want to see targeted parts of the sky or objects like M57 say, give The Aladin Sky Atlas a try (I use the JAVA applet on the right), you will find the manual useful.  Note: you may get a security certificate notice, always have, probably always will, I’ve never had a problem and I’ve been going there for years.   Also this is for deep sky objects so stick to galaxies, nebulae and the like.