A Pause in the Posts

I have been a bit lax in posting to my blog. I would like to say that I have been out doing astrophotography, but that is simply not so, given the weather lately.

I have, however, been doing a bit of work with some of the images that I have already taken, as seen below:

Nebulousity around the star, Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus. The nebulousity contains the "North American Nebula". The North American Nebula is below, and to the left of Deneb, the bright star in the image.

This is an image of the sword in the constellation Orion. The top star is actually the "Running Man Nebula. You can see what seems to be a shadow of a man running in the glowing gas in the top of the image. The center in the famous "Orion Nebula" This is a "stellar nursery", an area of dense gas that is collapsing to form young stars. You can see this gas around the center of the sword, and also looping down to the bottom star in the sword.



In the image above, you can see the Milky Way as it appears from the Blue Ridge Parkway, south of Roanoke. Located in the area of whitish gases above the highest treetop is the area of the center of our galaxy. Behind all those stars and gases is the Milky Ways' massive "Black Hole". In case you don't think that light pollution is bad, the glow of light around the bottom of the image is wasted light from Rocky Mount. VA, and Martinsville VA.



Here is an image I shot of a "Full Moon" in 2007. In case you are wondering, there was no colored filter in this image. This is the color of the moon as it rose that evening.

I hope to get more shooting time in the near future, so keep an eye on this blog.

Did you see the Total Lunar Eclipse?

The Total Lunar Eclipse happened this morning. I got up early to get my cameras to an area that had a nice SW horizon. I headed south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, knowing that there were no overlooks facing SW. I planned to find a good view along the road and shoot from there.
As I moved up in elevation, I started clearing the low haze in the valley that was blocking my view of the moon. As I drove, I could see the eclipse starting to take place. I found a spot to shoot and started to set up my cameras. By this time the moon was starting full umbral eclipse. I lined up the eclipsed moon in my viewfinder and started to focus, but was having difficulty. I shot once, and saw that the focus was off. I went to refocus, and could not see the moon. I stepped back away from the viewfinder to look, only to see that the moon had slipped behind a bank of clouds that was rising from the valley floor. I started to look around, and It was the same everywhere. I could see stars directly overhead, but all around me was clouds along the horizon. A quick assessmant told me that I would not be photographing this eclipse, so I packed a way my gear and started home. I did, however, get to see the eclipse, thus completing my bookends. I saw the moon rise while eclipsed on March 3, 2007, and I watched the moon set while eclipsed on August 28, 2007.
Was it worth getting up to see? YES!!! Would I do it again, knowing that the results would be the same. YES!!!
Lunar Eclipses are a wondrous sight, and even a small glimpse of one is worth the effort.

Here comes the Total Lunar Eclipse

That's right, Folks. We will be having a total Lunar Eclipse on the morning of Tuesday, August 28, 2007. You will have to have a good, low western horizon for best viewing of this event......and, of course, clear skies. The eclipse will start as the moon is sinking to the horizon on the east coast, with the moon setting while in Umbral eclipse (that is, when the moon is darkest during the eclipse). The harkening sunrise will probably brighten the sky before the moon sets, but I am willing to take a chance to see the event. I was able to see the lunar eclipse earlier this year, on March 3rd, when the moon rose while eclipsed. It only seems appropriate to see this moon set while eclipsed. The eclipse will start at 4:51 AM, with totality starting at 5:52 AM. You will have to set your alarm clocks early, but it should give you time to get to work after the event.

Busy Me

Folks,

I apologize for the lack of entries. Been on vacation, and lots of astronomy busyness. Had a chance to observe the Perseid Meteor Shower on the evening of Sunday, August 12, 2007. Our observing spot in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia gave us a beautiful, clear canvas, and we watched hundreds of the flashes of beauty grace the sky. I had several cameras set up, and I managed to catch a few of the meteor photons on my digital sensors. I plan to post some soon.

Keep looking at the stars, and keep your outside lights turned off. Light the world with your heart, not your electric bill.

Weather Control

I do not have too much to report in the blog, since we have been under siege by the summer weather pattern. It usually consists of hot days, afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms, and humid nights. The moon is also on it's way to full, so that rules out fainter objects and nebulosity. Double stars are always a possibility, if you can find them through the moonlit haze. I have never been much of a moon watcher, so nights with a visible moon do not work well for me.

I plan to head up on the mountain to observe the planets of Venus and Saturn as they pass within a field of view on Saturday evening, weather permitting. But, after that, we have a full moon, so I will probably pack up after a look at Jupiter.

In the beginning

I am into the night sky. I love astronomy. I love almost everything about astronomy. I am into the faint fuzzies. I dig double stars. I yearn for meteor events, and planetary dances. I love looking up at the night sky, and releasing all of my worries, so I can free my mind to the infinite possiblilties for myself, mankind, and the universal unknown. Feel free to take this trip with me. I will try to log what I do and see as I work towards knowing more about the universe around me. So grab a seat. Lets go for a ride. Destination: Unknown.