Rising Moon

After years of looking at the Moon and photographing it for the past few, I still have to admit that it is one of my favorite night sky objects. Even though when it is up it washes out a good portion of the other objects, I never get tired of looking at it. I finally had the chance to catch a wonderful event - a full Moon rising from the horizon when it was large and orange.

I went out on July 24, 2010 with my good friend Bob of Blackholes and astrostuff fame. We were on time and set up and ready to go, but where the heck was the Moon? Our Moon phase info was accurate and we knew it was up, but what in the world was going on? It turns out that for one, there was a lot of forest-fire smoke in the sky above the horizon where we were looking for the Moon. The next problem is that we were out in our calculation of where it would be rising. So, by the time we noticed it, it had risen a couple of Moon widths from the horizon. No worries though, all turned out well and we were able to catch some decent shots.

The next night, July 25, 2010, we were both out at separate locations shooting the Moon again. It was cloudy in the area it was rising, but alas, the clouds dissipated and the Moon was out in full force. It was huge to say the least and looked amazing. I wish I had my telescope with me that night to take some Moon pictures through that, but I didn't. No problem. I managed to get some shots I was very happy with. Below are photos from both evenings. All were shot using a tripod-mounted Nikon D90 with a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens and a 1.5x teleconverter, with a remote shutter release. Enjoy.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I was in Lethbridge, AB this past week and noticed that the Moon was up during the day. There is a neat looking bridge there called the High Level Bridge. It is used by trains to cross a large valley. It is the largest of it's kind in the world. I've been wanting to photograph it for some time now and finally had the chance. I went out on a day when there was little cloud cover and the Moon was visible during the day.

It also gave me a good chance to finally use my Canon 40D. I will be posting pictures taken with the Canon soon, but for now, here are the photos taken with my Nikon D90.

Perigee Moon and Mars

Finally, I've been able to put up a new post after a two month hiatus. By hiatus I mean cloudy, snowy and cold weather interfering with my picture taking and observing with the telescope. However, I am happy to report that I was able to snap the perigee Moon last night and Mars. It was the first time I've ever seen Mars through the lens of my camera. I'm hoping it will warm up a little so I can observe it through my scope.

October Night Sky Events

October is a good month for observing. The sky is darker earlier, it's still not terribly cold outside (we hope), and there are different objects to see. For example, the Orion constellation is up and with it, the Orionid meteor shower.

On Oct. 8 at about 6 a.m., Venus should be shining brightly near the eastern horizon. Below that, depending where you are, you might spot Mercury and Saturn. By Oct. 13, at about 6:30 a.m., Saturn will have moved to the upper left of Venus. On Oct. 16, in the eastern sky, just before dawn, there should be a conjunction with the crescent Moon and Venus and Saturn. Then on Oct. 26 or 27, the Moon and Jupiter should be in conjunction at just three degrees apart.

A major event this month is the lunar landing of the LCROSS lunar rover. I believe it should be visible if you have a 10" or larger telescope. There is a countdown clock on the right side of this page.

Another important event this month is the RASC Saskatoon Centre open house at the Sleaford dark site. It is located about 65 kms east of Saskatoon and offers great celestial viewing. This event will be held on Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24. There will be a convoy of cars leaving from the east end of the Saskatoon Field House parking lot at 7 p.m. on both nights. The Sleaford site is operated jointly by the RASC Saskatoon Centre and the U of S Department of Physics and Engineering Physics. RASC club members will set up their own telescopes, in addition to the U of S telescopes that are setup there. For more information call 966-6429. Make sure to take warm, weather appropriate clothing.

Additional viewing events for October:

Oct. 7 - Moon 0.1 deg N of Pleiades (M45)
Oct. 8 - Draconid meteors peak; Mercury 0.3 deg S of Saturn
Oct. 10 - Moon 1.2 deg N of M35 (open star cluster in Gemini)
Oct. 12 - Occultation of the Moon and Mars
Oct. 13 - Moon at perigee (369067 kms)
Oct. 15 - Zodiacal light visible in eastern sky before morning twilight for the next two weeks
Oct. 21 - Orionid meteors peak
Oct. 25 - Moon at apogee (404166 kms)

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.

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.

Orange Moon

"I'm an orange Moon

I'm an orange Moon

Reflecting the light of the Sun"

Orange Moon - Erykah Badu

I was driving home last night and the Moon was beautiful. It was orange. Most of the rest of the sky was cloudy, but there was the orange Moon, just floating there. I was able to capture it before it clouded over. The current Moon is referred to as an apogee Moon due to the distance from the Earth it is. The Moons average distance is about 380,000 km. An apogee Moon is at it's furthest point from the Earth. It is about 406,000 km away right now. A perigee Moon can get as close as about 360,000 km. Enjoy.

Moon Again

I tell you, I really must love the Moon or I'm obsessed. Something like that. Anyway, I was out again tonight shooting the Moon. They are probably the best shots I've ever taken of the Moon. They were shot through my Orion telescope with my Nikon D90. The first ones with the entire Moon in the frame are with the 2x barlow. I don't have a 2x barlow of my own yet, so I borrowed one from Bob of Blackholes and Astrostuff. Thank you Bob for that. I think they turned out well. Must have been something in the air. Oh, I know, there were no clouds, so it's what was not in the air tonight! The first four shots look to be the same picture, but they are not. Slightly different settings for each one. Anyway, enjoy.

The following pictures were taken using a 3x barlow. Definitely not quite as clear, but that's partly due to the telescope as well. If the scope was bigger with a longer focal length, the pictures should be really clear. However, even these 3x barlow shots turned out good tonight.