Quoting Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net>:
Norm Hansen wrote:
That M1 looks a more like an AK-47 to me.
Guy is the authority but I'm pretty sure that's not an AK.
Guy, what say ye?
I don't know about being much of an authority, because I usually had my head down when these thing were firing at me, BUT, from what I can see in the photo, I'll go out on a limb and say that this is a garden variety SKS Carbine in Caliber 7.62X39 (NGC 7.62X39). Same round as the AK-47 and similar in appearance, especially when exposed to it's muzzle flash. The giveaway though is the folding bayonet and distance between the upper hand guard and the front sight. But I could be wrong... ;) How to tie this into the topic of Astronomy... hmmmm. Ah yes, I have seen some of these through a "scope". ;)