Iridium Flare

Finally I was able to take a picture of a Iridium flare. Magnitude of -4.0 from Iridium 65 taken by Nikon D60 for 30s.

Evening sky with red clouds

The evening sky colored red!

Article from VVS on Solargraphy

Inserted are the articles from Jef De Wit publised in Heelal (VVS) oktober 2012

Article from Urania on Solargraphy

Article from Jef De Wit from Urania volume 24 / number 4 sept 2012

My First Solargraph

Today, after six months I opened the solargraph. The can was still intact and the photopaper was well preserved. The paper was humid and still fixed against the wall of the can. Looking at the picture you will see some interesting aspects. In the front (at the bottom of the picture) you see my garden with the trapoline in the middle and the trees some further.

Also the top of the sunpaths is not captured on the picture. On the inverted pictures the many black band show the poor spring without "sun".

Original (not inverted)

Original Inverted by Photoshop CS4

Edited  colors intesified by Photoshop CS4

Edited Black/White Photoshop CS4

The Moon and the Effect of Focal Length

Ever curious what the effect is of Focal Length. Attached photo shows the moon with different focal length. Background picture shows the moon with focal length 3000mm, the smaller ones 400mm and 200mm. All pictures taken with Nikon D60.

Celestron Travel Scope D70

This evening tried my new Celestron Travel Scope D70/400.
The moon was the target. Installing the Travel Scope is easy. I used my camera tripod instead of the Celostrons tripod as I already want to take some pictures. The view is sharp and since it's very light easy to handle.
Installing the Nikon D60 on the oculair is easy but limits the scope to handle easily as it become more heavy. Make sure the scope is rigour mounted and the tripod secured with some weight.

The Nikon D60 was connected using T-connector and the focal was enlarged with 5cm tube to have the moon sharp in the field. It's not needed to use a barlow 2x as the moon will not be in the focus.

May 19, 2013 - Nikon D60 - Celestron D70/400 1/50 ISO100