Northern Lights In the North (Sort Of)

I had the chance to finally capture some Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) on April 5, 2010. I was out with my good friend Bob of Blackholes and Astrostuff and went just outside the city limits to catch them. They didn't last too long, so we had to work fast. For my first time photographing them, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. At first, I was skeptical about how the shots would turn out, because I was using my Nikon D90, which is notoriously bad for the level of noise it introduces into night shots. But, with a little tweaking using my software, I was able to get the shots looking half-decent.

Aurora's are basically the emission of photons in Earth's upper atmosphere. For a more detailed description, please click here. I can try to explain it but I'm not a science-type guy and therefore wouldn't do it justice. Also, in the title, I have sort of in brackets. The reason for that is because while we may be fairly north of some places that can see the Northern Lights, we are not far enough to see the amazing ones that are seen in the Arctic. They still look pretty awesome.

And a special thanks to Planetaryman (my Dad) for being my newest follower.

Enjoy the photos. And hopefully, Blogger won't butcher them too much this time.

Sundog Days of Winter

"Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns?"

Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 3

The word sun dog (or sundog) originates from the Greek word parēlion, meaning "beside the sun". The scientific name is parhelion, plural parhelia. It's essentially a phenomenon in the atmosphere formed by plate shaped hexagonal ice crystals (in high and cold cirrus clouds) that create bright spots of light, often a luminous ring (or halo), on either side of the Sun. The ice crystals are called diamond dust and drift in the air at a low level. Sundogs orrur when the Sun is at a 45 degree angle and is at its lowest point. Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light, typically displaying the colors of the rainbow (red closest to the Sun, with orange then blue farthest out) to the left or right of the sun at the same distance above the horizon as the sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Here in Canada, they are most prevalent during the winter months when the air is coldest and more ice crystals are in the sky.

Below is the first-ever photo of a sundog taken be myself in January 2010.

And The Fight Is On...

Well, I've done it. I've bought a Canon camera. After much deliberating, I have taken the plunge back to Canon. I sold my Nikon D80 and bought a Canon 40D. I have kept my Nikon D90 however. I have an 18-55mm image stabilization lens for the D90 and I've ordered the same size lens for the 40D. Both will have batter grips, and remote shutter release cables.

I've heard nothing but great things about the 40D. My friend Bob, of Blackholes and Astrostuff has a 40D. I've always loved how his photos turn out so much more full of color than mine. The major difference is in the sensors on the camera. The Nikon is not an ideal camera for night photography, in my opinion. It introduces too much noise and red color into the photos. The Canons is rated far superior for night photography than the Nikons.

One thing I noticed at the Cypress Hills Star Party (SSSP 2009) in August, is that everyone had a Canon DSLR for night shooting. I had the chance to meet Alan Dyer while there and bought his book (that was co-written by Terrence Dickinson), The Backyard Astronomer's Guide. Even in that book they recommend strongly that Canon is the only way to go for night photography. So, how could I pass up the chance to improve my night shooting of the stars by not getting this camera? Truth is that I couldn't.

I haven't had a chance to use the 40D yet, due to the weather, but hopefully soon. I'll also be ordering the necessary adapters to attach the Canon to a telescope, similar to the set up for my Nikon. As soon as I have some results, I'll post them. For now, I have a picture of the Nikon D80, Canon 40D and Nikon D90, respectively, so you can see how they all look.

Daytime Crescent Moon

After seeing my friend Bob of Blackholes and Astrostuff post photos of a daytime crescent Moon, I got thinking, I don't think I've really photographed a daytime Moon through my telescope. So, I thought I'd give it a try. I've got to tell you, it's not as easy as it would seem. It is harder to find the Moon when it's not shining at 3 million candle power in a telescope eyepiece. Also, it's much harder to focus on the Moon during the day, especially when it's kind of faint. Below are my first photos taken through my Orion 4.5" telescope. They are all taken with a Nikon D90, some with a 2x barlow and the last two with 3x barlow.

The Moon with Jupiter

I'm not sure if it was an official conjunction tonight, but in my world it was. The Moon and Jupiter were close enough to get in the same frame when taking pictures tonight. For some reason, my camera was not behaving, so I was only able to get a couple of decent shots.



These next two photos were taken by using the multiple exposure function on my Nikon D90. I took two exposures; one of the Moon, then adjusted the settings, and snapped Jupiter.

Aurora, Galaxies, and Jupiter, Oh My

I went out to the RASC Saskatoon Centre's dark site a few nights ago to capture some images. The sky was amazingly clear, until the dew started to fall. However, I still managed to snap some neat stuff that I've never photographed before. The night was full of wonderful sights, including Aurora, Jupiter, Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy, Pleiades, meteors, and a jet airplane.

I tried to upload the images I shot and Blogger completely messed them up, so I've linked the photos below to my Flickr account, so if you click on a photo, it will go to my Flickr site.

Anyway, I managed to catch some good shots of the Milky Way, including some with meteors streaking through them. I also snapped Jupiter with the Milky Way; the Milky Way with Cassiopeia, the Andromeda Galaxy and a meteor streaking by; Jupiter and the Milky Way, Andromeda and the Pleiades; and the Pleiades with aurora. I also got a jet flying through a Milky Way picture. That was kind of neat.

I should also mention that all of these photos were taken using only a Nikon D90 with an 18-55mm lens on a tripod.

The photo below is of the Milky Way and a meteor streaking by just to the right of center.

Here is the same shot with a little different editing. It hopefully appears lighter.

Here is another attempt at the same photo to edit it so it's brighter.

This photo is photo of the Milky Way with a jet flying through the photo. I thought it was kind of neat.

This photo is of a brief appearance of the aurora.

This is more of a close-up of the Pleiades.

This is a wide angle shot with the Pleiades toward the bottom just to the right of center.

This photo has the Milky Way going down the middle of it, with Cassiopeia in the middle of the picture. The Andromeda Galaxy is to the right of center and about one third of the way from the right side of the photo. It looks like an orangey, fuzzy ball.

This photo has a meteor in it toward the bottom just right of center.

This photo has Cassiopeia in the middle toward the top, with Andromeda to the right of that and a meteor toward the lower left.

This is a wide angle shot with the Pleiades in the lower right.

This photo has Jupiter shining bright on the lower left and the Milky Way on the right side.

Here is the same photo with different editing.

This one has the Milky Way running down the middle with two meteors forming a V about one third from the right side, just above the middle.

This photo is of Jupiter and four of its moons.

Waning Moon and Jupiter

Not much to say about this. It's pretty obvious what it is. Just happened to catch the Moon and Jupiter the other night before the clouds rolled in. I wanted to try out my new Celestron 2x barlow again and was extremely happy with the results.




These were taken with my 3x barlow.




These ones of Jupiter and three of it's moons were taken with the 3x barlow as well.

Almost Perfect Moon

Tonight the Moon was about 99% full. It was clear out, there was no wind and I was able to capture some great shots. They were all taken through my Orion 4.5" telescope using a Nikon D90.

This first shot was with just the camera and no barlow lens.


These next shots were taken using a Celestron Ultima 1.25" - 2x barlow (part # 93506). I was able to order it from our local store Neural Net Interactive. It was the first time I had used it, so I was anxious to try it. I think the results speak for themselves.






These next two shots were taken using a Antares 3x barlow that I bought from Khan Scope in Toronto, ON. I'm not terribly happy with the overall quality of this barlow. I think if I could, I would have gotten a Celestron one. Oh well, live and learn.