1200mm

Day for Night

2012-02-14T21:51:00.000+13:00

The recent Centaurids shower was a good excuse to head out to the nearby Satellite Station for a meteor party. Unfortunately the meteors were a bust due to a full moon and light shower this year, though 4 or 5 were seen - though not by me, sadly.

On the upside, ValHallen and I had managed to sweet talk a couple of the lovely ladies at work into loaning us their cameras, so I was equipped with a shiny new 550D (AKA Rebel T2i - thanks Rach!) and Val a 60D (chur Steph!). ValHallen and I were instantly in love - with the cameras, I hasten to add. Anticipation was fairly high in the same way that Sirius is fairly bright.

After a few minutes finding my way around the control layout of the 550D, I came across Live View. I've been living in the wrong decade apparently. After wasting 20 or 30 minutes quite regularly trying to focus on our old SLRs through the viewfinder, the zoomed Live View of the newer Canons was just an amazing joy. Getting pin-sharp focus was a breeze. I did find the LCD screen tended to light when I really didn't want it to, but that was no doubt due to inexperience with the camera, I'm sure it's not hard to turn the LCD off properly. That aside, I loved the 550D so much I didn't even bother trying the 60D - can't take too much excitement in one night at my age.

Hints were dropped the next morning to darling wife about a new camera, but I didn't even get halfway through my initial appreciations of Live View before I was shot down in flames, and beaten about the head with a list of things that we needed to spend money on first. She's right, but boy those cameras are awesome! One day...

Anyway, enough lusting after things I can't afford (neither can you ValHallen!), the actual shoot turned out great. A couple more pics still to develop, but these are the first ones to catch my eye. I think the big surprise for all of us was just how much light a full moon casts. With a long enough exposure, it quite literally looks like daylight, not just in the amount of light but the range of colour revealed. Click the link below to jump to Flikr for larger pics...

Moonlit Day

Plus ...

2012-01-31T21:14:00.002+13:00

The blog now has it's own Google+ account, as part of the general upgrading and dealing with even more accounts to update!

Click to meet up!

Southern Skies in February

2012-01-31T00:52:00.000+13:00

So, what to look forward to this month?

Straight up early in the month, the moon is full on the 8th, which unfortunately coincides with the peak night of the Centaurids meteor shower.

The moon then proceeds to last quarter on the 15th and is new again on the 22nd.

Early in the month, Both Jupiter and Venus will be visible in the west, during the early part of the evening. With Saturn and Mars rising later in the evenings, towards midnight. These planets will continue their dance around the skies this month.

Orion is very visible this month, so some awesome M42 opportunities will be able to be had, 1200mm is thinking of a stack for that one, through the scope on AstroCam 2 :)

The Seven Sisters (Pleiades/Matariki) is also hanging around and is stunning even through a small pair of binoculars.

The 1200mm crew is planning our first star party of 2012 on February 8 to attempt to pierce the full moon's glare and see some Centaurids from the meteor shower.

And finally, there's another small meteor shower (Gamma Normids) starting up on the 25th of February, that will peak in March.

Clouds and Skies

2012-01-31T00:34:00.001+13:00

Clouds and Skies, a photo by Astronomr on Flickr.

Well last night rolled around, and after a very nice time just quietly stargazing with Jacqui, I charged up the gear and headed out to the Satellite Station road with The Hulses. The more feminine part of the two had just taken delivery of a new Canon 5d mkII and wanted to give it a good hard testing, so I was only too happy to show them one of my favorite spots for Star shots.

‘Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth’ « Flickr Blog

2012-01-26T16:41:00.000+13:00

‘Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth’ « Flickr Blog:

Pale Blue Dot indeed :D

'via Blog this'

Wow

2012-01-26T09:50:00.000+13:00

Video: Aurora Australis from the Space Station - Boing Boing:

Just can't get enough of this:

2012-01-25T23:23:00.001+13:00

or this

Star Party!

2012-01-25T00:43:00.000+13:00

Ok, so looking to organise a little something for the Centaurids this year!

Facebook Event up here:

If you're not invited and would like to come along, email me :D

In praise of … stargazing | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian

2012-01-24T13:16:00.000+13:00

In praise of … stargazing | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian:

Go go Prof. Brian!

Awesome Graffitti ...

2012-01-23T18:50:00.001+13:00

Isaac Asimov, a photo by perreault on Flickr.

is awesome

The Stars in the Cold Night

2012-01-17T21:01:00.001+13:00

Image via Wikipedia

Today marks the 100th anniversary of Capt. Robert Falcon Scott reaching the south pole. Imagine the stars and aurora australis he would have seen from there, on those cold, clear nights.

Capt. Scott was one of my heros growing up, and although this post isn't about stars or anything, I just wanted to salute the man's achievement.

On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades all perished from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

Suddenly, Meteors!

2012-01-15T15:59:00.002+13:00

http://www.rasnz.org.nz/Meteors/2012Meteors.htm

Thanks to Earth and Sky for the link :D

Astronomy Illustrations of the 1800s

2012-01-15T15:30:00.001+13:00

Pop over to Retronaut for the goodness. Is as awesome as pirate monkeys!

Went out for a timelapse last night as it was clear(ish), lens promptly fogged up - my fault for not following my own procedures ... give that man a cone. Will see what i can salvage and post.

Also, for a tickle. Here's what happens to a Flickr account when The Bad Astronomer notices you :)

Click to visit the aforementioned Flickr account, the shot he noticed was here. Of course I did tell him about it :D

Seasons Greetings, and more love and joy

2011-12-26T05:11:00.001+13:00

Hot off the CCD this morning, some better shots of Comet Lovejoy in the south-eastern sky. Also I expect I should do a big shout out to everyone for the holidays eh? Happy Solstice celebration all, whatever form it takes for you, from 1200mm.

Love, Joy, a new star in the East... must be Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:37:00.006+13:00

Christmas Eve down under, and an early morning wake-up call for the boys was rewarded with some great views of Comet Lovejoy. Initially we were disappointed to hop out of our beds and convene at Val's house, only to find the horizon cloudy - then realised there was a pretty glorious comet sitting above said clouds. Cue rush for cameras!

I think we both probably ended up with one decent shot each as we were about half an hour too late to avoid the sun making it's presence felt. Nevertheless it was well worth the 4am alarm, and should reward early risers for a few more days. The wise men can't be far away...

[Val]
Urrrrgh, yeah, what he said about the 4am thing. I got a couple of good shots, unfortunately, my best one was my first one, making it hella out of focus. Oh, and Bill, traditionally a comet appears when a prince dies, rather than when one is born ;)

Nebulinks 23 November

2011-11-23T18:31:00.000+13:00

Ok, so not done one for a few days, this of course means that This is going to have to be a bigger one! Enjoy the links!

The View from Chajnantor:

Russia, France to team up on new launchers:

CHAPS Pressure Suits Evaluated During Simulated Missions In Centrifuge:

Name That Telescope Array - News Blog - SkyandTelescope.com:

New satellite gets INSANELY hi-res view of Earth | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine:

News Update: Hubble & Spitzer Heir to Open Eye to Cosmos in Search for Signatures of Life:

NASA - Expedition 29 Crew Lands:

China plans major effort in pursuing manned space technology:

Images Captured with DMK 21 and DBK 21 Camera:

Countdown! NASA's Dream-Machine Search for Mars' Life Imminent:

Color of the Moon:

NASA Satellite "Drove Over" the Cloud Streets of Hudson Bay | Flickr - Photo Sharing!:
NASA - Claritas Fossae, Mars:

Nebulinks 20 November

2011-11-19T14:54:00.001+13:00

Well! NASA is at it again (we love NASA)

New NASA missions to investigate how Mars turned hostile
Cygnus X-1: A Stellar Mass Black Hole:
Saturn's Northern Storm:
In Wolf s Cave:
NASA Extends MESSENGER Mission

and just for a change ...
Cosmic particle accelerators get things going

And the pretties ...
A History of the Sky

Also, my partner in the stars, gfkBill flew off to Taiwan this morning for a week. No stars for him in the big cities! He did leave me the tracker tho, so I will be playing a round with that :D

Safe journey bro

Nebulinks: 18 November

2011-11-18T14:40:00.000+13:00

Scumbag Nasa!

Waits till 2 days after my first ever article is posted then releases the Highest-Resolution Map of the Moon Ever *sigh* no matter what you do with this hobby, NASA always wins ... here's why:

NASA Orbiter Catches Mars Sand Dunes in Motion:
NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars:
Close Encounters of the Galactic Kind:
@NASAJPL: A #3DThursday look at the ...

but that's ok NASA, I forgive you, just keep em coming guys!
Europa's ocean stuffs here:

Then here's some cool and pretty things ...

Midnight sun, hourly:

Marco Mahler - Recycling Art - Tom Samui:

Welder's Glass on a 7D | Flickr - Photo Sharing!:

Psychedelic Saturn storm! | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine:

Nebulinks

2011-11-18T00:14:00.001+13:00

Planning a Twilight Shot:
NASA - NASA Probe Data Show Evidence Of Liquid Water On Icy Europa:
Light from the Vacuum

and Just cos I like pretty things:
Pixar's New Trailer

Also, found this one from @Astro_Ron, he has the best view of the moon ...
https://plus.google.com/photos/116214152295449083654/albums/5666051127624568881

Some nice photo DIY

2011-11-16T23:39:00.001+13:00

An acquaintance of ours, Luke, has been working on the timelapse goodness. Including this little beauty:

Yep, that's a home-made, motorised dolly :) The man has this to say about it:

This is my first go at making a slider. It is built from 2 shelving rods, and a small moving trolley from Mitre10. It is motorized by an old BBQ rotisserie motor and pulled along by nylon fishing line. Its just over 2m long, and this version was about 35cm wide.

I have since moved away from using the trolley ,and built a small slider, also reducing its width to about 15cm. with this motor it takes only 30 min to slide along the 2m rail. my next iteration will have a smoother geared motor, (1 or 2 RPM) enabling a longer adjustable slide time and will eventually have a pulley system in place to enable forward and reverse motion.

No shots available from it yet, but we're interested to see how they look when they do come out! Especially any night shots you feel like doing bro!

Update: Tracker v1.6

Nebulinks

2011-11-16T22:28:00.000+13:00

NASA - Montage:

Just goes to show that no matter how good you get ... NASA always wins. While we're on the subject of NASA ...

Voyager's Backup Thrusters Ignited for Deep Space Eternity:

GO YOU LITTLE BEAUTY GO!!!

Star Tracker Update - Assembly

2011-11-16T21:51:00.008+13:00

The Star Tracker is now up and running! I've done some initial shooting sessions, which I will report on soon. For now here are some assembly pics, sans electronics. It cost me two (cheap, of course!) tripods to make one tracker. Why, oh why, are tripod camera shoes not a standard size? Would that be so hard? But I digress...

Below you can see some pics of the tracker assembled. The black spray paint was an added cost, but well worth it I think, for that extra touch of class. Tomorrow, if I have a good day at work locked away writing animation lectures, I'll post pics of the electronics. And I will try to take a picture of the camera on the tracker, for which I will have to dig out a mirror or another camera, for obvious reasons!

Evening Walk?

2011-11-16T21:28:00.006+13:00

Some of us aren't at work tonight, and great minds think alike apparently, so here's a shot of Venus chasing her speedy brother Mercury across the evening sky. New Zealand is apparently one of the best places in the world to see Mercury, I'd have to agree!

Planetary goodness.

2011-11-16T20:54:00.001+13:00

Pity I have to work tonight ... Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all visible to the naked eye. Ahhhh, the dance of the planets :D

Tracker - The Garage Sessions (a DIY post)

2011-11-16T09:03:00.001+13:00

1200 Tracker

Yup, here are the photos direct from Bill's garage of the Great Tracker Caper which I am happy to report, seems to be working pretty well! Hopefully more on that from Bill soon!

In other news, the nice folks over at DIY Photography noticed some of my moon shots on Flickr and asked me to write a quick tutorial about them, so I did! You can find it here.

1200mm

Day for Night

Plus ...

Southern Skies in February

Clouds and Skies

‘Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth’ « Flickr Blog

Wow

Just can't get enough of this:

Star Party!

In praise of … stargazing | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian

Awesome Graffitti ...

The Stars in the Cold Night

Related articles

Suddenly, Meteors!

Astronomy Illustrations of the 1800s

Seasons Greetings, and more love and joy

Love, Joy, a new star in the East... must be Christmas!

Nebulinks 23 November

Nebulinks 20 November

Nebulinks: 18 November

Nebulinks

Some nice photo DIY

Nebulinks

Star Tracker Update - Assembly

Evening Walk?

Planetary goodness.

Tracker - The Garage Sessions (a DIY post)