The Moon and Venus!

One these days the snow will melt and I can take pictures outside rather than inside through a window.

Moon

Location: Monroe, CT (Bedroom Window)

Date/Time: 3/22/15 ~9:00 PM
Camera: Canon Rebel T3i
Telescope: Orion ED 80mm Achromatic Refractor

Mount: Fixed Tripod

Focal Length: 600mm
Exposure: 1/30 s
ISO: 200

Moon
Location: Monroe, CT (Bedroom Window)
Date/Time: 3/22/15 ~9:00 PM
Camera: Canon Rebel T3i
Telescope: Orion ED 80mm Achromatic Refractor

Mount: Fixed Tripod

Focal Length: 600mm
Exposure: 1/20 s
ISO: 200 

Venus
Location: Monroe, CT (Bedroom Window)
Date/Time: 3/22/15 ~9:00 PM
Camera: Canon Rebel T3i
Telescope: Orion ED 80mm Achromatic Refractor

Mount: Fixed Tripod

Focal Length: 600mm
Exposure: 1/3 s
ISO: 200 

Venus
Location: Monroe, CT (Front Door)
Date/Time: 3/22/15 ~9:00 PM
Camera: Canon Rebel T3i

Mount: Fixed Tripod

Focal Length: 55mm

f/6.3
Exposure: 1/3 s
ISO: 200 

Misty Moon

Misty Moon through the skylight...

Date/Time: 2/26/15 9:09 PM
Camera: Nikon D3000
Focal Length: 75 mm
Exposure: 1 s
f/7.1
ISO: 800

Date/Time: 2/26/15 9:08 PM
Camera: Nikon D3000
Focal Length: 145 mm
Exposure: 1 s
f/7.1
ISO: 800

Always After the Perfect Snowflake!

Prelude to the next unit.

Snowflakes always have six sides or fingers as ordinary ice crystallizes in the hexagonal crystallographic system.  Crystalline solids are substances in which the particles are arranged in an orderly, geometric, repeating pattern.  They also have definite melting points (0 deg. C for ice) unlike amorphous solids such as rubber or glass.

Astronomy for Wimps

Orion through the bathroom skylight.  It was 10 degrees (F) outside but nice and warm inside...

 Nikon D3000, 15 s, F/8.0, ISO 800


Nikon D3000, 30 s, F/8.0, ISO 800

 Nikon D3000, 15 s, F/8.0, ISO 800, Photshop

Learning and Playing with New Software

Captured these shots with an Orion Star Shoot Eyepiece II Camera attached to an Orion EQ 8 Reflecting Telescope mounted on a Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount in October 2014.  It has taken me this long before playing with the images.  The Star Shoot Camera actually creates a video which must be processed.  I used the planetary stacking program, RegiStax, to process the images and then Photoshop and Picasa for final tweaking.

Moon Shot 10-6-14, RegiStax, Rotate Crop

Moon Shot 10-6-14, RegiStax and Photoshop, Rotate and Crop

Original Moon Shot 10-6-14, RegisStax

Original Moon Shot 10-6-14, RegiStax and Photoshop

Exploding Mamajuana

On our recent trip to the Dominican Republic for our nephew's wedding, we brought back a bottle of an indigenous concoction, Mamajuana.  It is made by allowing rum, red wine, and honey to soak in a bottle with tree bark and herbs. The product's claim to fame is that it is an aphrodisiac but it also 
claims to be an aid in circulation and digestion.  

It did taste good on a tour that we took so we bought a bottle to take home.  Unfortunately, it spontaneously exploded on our counter before we had any.  It must be powerful!  I'll have to order more.

The only thing I can think of is a secondary fermentation, some of the sugar reacted with bacteria or yeast to produce carbon dioxide similar to what happens when you add sugar when bottling a home brew...

Orion Nebula & Betelgeuse

Bracing the Cold for the First Observation and Photo session of the New Year!

Object: Orion Nebula
Location: Monroe, CT
Date Taken: 01/01/2015
Telescope: Orion SkyView Pro 8 EQ Reflecting Telescope
Other Telescope: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
Camera: Nikon D3000
Other Camera: none
Temp: 28 deg. F
Processing: Adobe Photoshop (subtract noise)
Exposure: 25s
Iso: 1600
Other Equipment Used: Astro-Tech Coma Corrector and Flattener for Newtonian Reflectors

Object: Orion Nebula
Location: Monroe, CT
Date Taken: 01/01/2015
Telescope: Orion SkyView Pro 8 EQ Reflecting Telescope
Other Telescope: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
Camera: Nikon D3000
Other Camera: none
Temp: 28 deg. F
Processing: none
Exposure: 13s
Iso: 1600
Other Equipment Used: Astro-Tech Coma Corrector and Flattener for Newtonian Reflectors

Object: Orion Nebula
Location: Monroe, CT
Date Taken: 01/01/2015
Telescope: Orion SkyView Pro 8 EQ Reflecting Telescope
Other Telescope: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
Camera: Nikon D3000
Other Camera: none
Temp: 28 deg. F
Processing: none
Exposure: 25s
Iso: 1600
Other Equipment Used: Astro-Tech Coma Corrector and Flattener for Newtonian Reflectors

Object: Betelgeuse
Location: Monroe, CT
Date Taken: 01/01/2015
Telescope: Orion SkyView Pro 8 EQ Reflecting Telescope
Other Telescope: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
Camera: Nikon D3000
Other Camera: none
Temp: 28 deg. F
Processing: Adobe Photoshop (subtract noise)
Exposure: 25s
Iso: 1600
Other Equipment Used: Astro-Tech Coma Corrector and Flattener for Newtonian Reflectors

Object: Betelgeuse
Location: Monroe, CT
Date Taken: 01/01/2015
Telescope: Orion SkyView Pro 8 EQ Reflecting Telescope
Other Telescope: none
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
Camera: Nikon D3000
Other Camera: none
Temp: 28 deg. F
Processing:none
Exposure: 25s
Iso: 1600
Other Equipment Used: Astro-Tech Coma Corrector and Flattener for Newtonian Reflectors