My Astronomy Page

" Wheels within wheels in a spiral array,
A pattern so grand and complex,
Time after time we lose sight of the way,
Our causes can&##39;t see their effects."

Neil Peart, Rush
Natural Science...Permanent Waves, 1980

These are my early pictures which I put up to display the progress I was making as I gained experience.

First I had to see what a timed exposure looked like after it was developed. So I chose the Allen Expressway as my test subject, and did some timed exposures to see what they would look like. This one has a subway train moving through it.

After I developed this roll of film, I realized that the cars moving through the field of view were like a painters brush moving across the canvass.

Here is a timed exposure of the moon setting. Although the moon is clearly over exposed, it is my first official moon picture.

This one I couldn&##39;t resist putting up. It is looking the same way as the moonset in the above picture, west toward an approaching thunderstorm.

The view from our condo to downtown.

Finally, out into the night sky, from The Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. My first moon pictures. Notice that I have no idea what film speed, type, or any of my exposure settings are. That will come later as I start to log my shots. When I took these pictures, I had never heard of prime focus. After I showed my first results to an experienced astronomer, he suggested I try shooting without an eyepiece...how bizarre I thought...but how cool when I started to try it later. This picture was taken using "eyepiece projection" with a 25mm eyepiece

Zooming in to the same area as above, I obviously have poor focus. Focusing is to become one of the great challenges for me later on. This picture was taken using "eyepiece projection" with a 10mm eyepiece

Not bad focus, but a little under exposed.

My first attempt at Jupiter. You can see 3 of the moons faintly.

And here is my first Saturn picture.

As you will see later, I still have a bit to learn about framing the subject and centering it properly. I will be able to get the whole moon into the frame when I start using a field reducer. (it also works when the moon is at a quarter or less)

This picture had the greatest impact on me so far. When I had the roll developed, I went through and most of the shots hadn&##39;t turned out, but then I saw this one...it was almost in focus, there was colour and the stars were pretty steady. M42, my first Nebula. I used Fujicolor Press 1600, and the exposure was just under 3 minutes. I had read so much about film speed, and how long it takes to get extra-solar objects to show on film. I made an educated guess that with this film speed, and given that stars would trail if the exposure exceeded 3 minutes, I ought to get a result. Here it is. The rings in the lower right are imperfections in the shot.

What&##39;s so special about this picture? Its the first picture I took of Jupiter that shows the cloud bands. Clearly underexposed, but a step forward!

This one&##39;s better....this is using the eyepiece projection method, the next picture will show the prime focus result.

In this picture, you can see the 4 brightest moons around Jupiter, but the background is not dark enough, and Jupiter is overexposed...how do you fix that!?

Now back to Saturn...again eyepiece projection, and a little overexposed. Could be focused better to...but getting better. The sky is dark, and there is an indication of shadow.

Back to M42, I decided to see if the first picture was a fluke. No, as a matter of fact, this is even better. There is better detail in the structure. And the red colour is better.

Cassiopeia

Pleiades star cluster M45

Orion, in March, 2003 Saturn is in the upper right

Back to the Moon again, zooming in on a crater, but there is an annoying bright spot in the middle. Not sure what caused it.

On the evening that this picture was taken, in the beginning of April, 2003, I was observing with friends when I noticed a dark spot on Jupiter. It turned out to be the moon Callisto transiting the surface and you can clearly make it out in between the cloud bands.

On the same evening as above, we then became aware of a second event. As Callisto was transiting in front of Jupiter, Io&##39;s shadow started to become visible, as Io also transited the planet. Because Io is smaller, it isn&##39;t a third object in view, and Callisto isn&##39;t casting a shadow.. Use averted vision and maybe you&##39;ll see the 2 dark spots better. They are both between the cloud bands.

Saturn again...I&##39;m trying to get the Cassini division, but I just don&##39;t have the resolution yet...as I said, focus is the prime concern now...

This picture is a great improvement. I took it with 400asa black and white film. Centering is pretty good, as is exposure and focus.

********Jupiter Movie*********
here is an avi of Jupiter with my Quikcam adapted to connect to my telescope

This may be a surprise, I was there on April 16th. I had a business trip to New York, and this is the view from my NY Office window.

This is my first half decent deepsky image. It is M82, a galaxy seen edge on, 12 million light years away. I didn&##39;t quite get the desired results, but its still worth putting up.

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	First I had to see what a timed exposure looked like after it was developed. So I chose the Allen Expressway as my test subject, and did some timed exposures to see what they would look like. This one has a subway train moving through it.
	After I developed this roll of film, I realized that the cars moving through the field of view were like a painters brush moving across the canvass.
	Here is a timed exposure of the moon setting. Although the moon is clearly over exposed, it is my first official moon picture.
	This one I couldn&##39;t resist putting up. It is looking the same way as the moonset in the above picture, west toward an approaching thunderstorm.
	The view from our condo to downtown.
	Finally, out into the night sky, from The Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. My first moon pictures. Notice that I have no idea what film speed, type, or any of my exposure settings are. That will come later as I start to log my shots. When I took these pictures, I had never heard of prime focus. After I showed my first results to an experienced astronomer, he suggested I try shooting without an eyepiece...how bizarre I thought...but how cool when I started to try it later. This picture was taken using "eyepiece projection" with a 25mm eyepiece
	Zooming in to the same area as above, I obviously have poor focus. Focusing is to become one of the great challenges for me later on. This picture was taken using "eyepiece projection" with a 10mm eyepiece
	Not bad focus, but a little under exposed.
	My first attempt at Jupiter. You can see 3 of the moons faintly.
	And here is my first Saturn picture.
	As you will see later, I still have a bit to learn about framing the subject and centering it properly. I will be able to get the whole moon into the frame when I start using a field reducer. (it also works when the moon is at a quarter or less)
	This picture had the greatest impact on me so far. When I had the roll developed, I went through and most of the shots hadn&##39;t turned out, but then I saw this one...it was almost in focus, there was colour and the stars were pretty steady. M42, my first Nebula. I used Fujicolor Press 1600, and the exposure was just under 3 minutes. I had read so much about film speed, and how long it takes to get extra-solar objects to show on film. I made an educated guess that with this film speed, and given that stars would trail if the exposure exceeded 3 minutes, I ought to get a result. Here it is. The rings in the lower right are imperfections in the shot.
	What&##39;s so special about this picture? Its the first picture I took of Jupiter that shows the cloud bands. Clearly underexposed, but a step forward!
	This one&##39;s better....this is using the eyepiece projection method, the next picture will show the prime focus result.
	In this picture, you can see the 4 brightest moons around Jupiter, but the background is not dark enough, and Jupiter is overexposed...how do you fix that!?
	Now back to Saturn...again eyepiece projection, and a little overexposed. Could be focused better to...but getting better. The sky is dark, and there is an indication of shadow.
	Back to M42, I decided to see if the first picture was a fluke. No, as a matter of fact, this is even better. There is better detail in the structure. And the red colour is better.
	Cassiopeia
	Pleiades star cluster M45
	Orion, in March, 2003 Saturn is in the upper right
	Back to the Moon again, zooming in on a crater, but there is an annoying bright spot in the middle. Not sure what caused it.
	On the evening that this picture was taken, in the beginning of April, 2003, I was observing with friends when I noticed a dark spot on Jupiter. It turned out to be the moon Callisto transiting the surface and you can clearly make it out in between the cloud bands.
	On the same evening as above, we then became aware of a second event. As Callisto was transiting in front of Jupiter, Io&##39;s shadow started to become visible, as Io also transited the planet. Because Io is smaller, it isn&##39;t a third object in view, and Callisto isn&##39;t casting a shadow.. Use averted vision and maybe you&##39;ll see the 2 dark spots better. They are both between the cloud bands.
	Saturn again...I&##39;m trying to get the Cassini division, but I just don&##39;t have the resolution yet...as I said, focus is the prime concern now...
	This picture is a great improvement. I took it with 400asa black and white film. Centering is pretty good, as is exposure and focus.
******Jupiter Movie*******	here is an avi of Jupiter with my Quikcam adapted to connect to my telescope
	This may be a surprise, I was there on April 16th. I had a business trip to New York, and this is the view from my NY Office window.
	This is my first half decent deepsky image. It is M82, a galaxy seen edge on, 12 million light years away. I didn&##39;t quite get the desired results, but its still worth putting up.