Partial Lunar Eclipse

Photo of partial lunar eclipse shortly after moonrise, taken near the summit of The Great Orme next to the cable car station at approx 220m altitude - Camera EOS 300D with std 18 -55 lens.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

What a fantastic eclipse. It had been cloudy most of the day but an hour or two before the eclipse was due to start the clouds cleared. I was worried about the haze over the Liverpool and Chester area but this proved not to be a problem.
The image was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4500 coupled to a 25mm eyepiece and an ET70 refractor. This is one of many images and has had no processing applied to it yet. I will post further results as and when I manage to do them.

Sun Dogs

Took this picture of a Sun dog last week whilst kayak fishing just off the North Wales coast. Took the pic with my Nokia 5140i phone as I forgot my waterproof camera!

What is a sundog?

A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion) is a relatively common atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with the reflection/refraction of sunlight by the numerous small ice crystals that make up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Sundogs typically appear as a bright and sometimes colorful spot in the sky at a position 22 degrees to the left and/or right of the sun. They are closely related to, and sometimes appear together with, a halo. Less common associated phenomena, collectively called "ice halos," are the circumzenithal arc, upper tangental arc, parhelic circle, and lower tangental arc. There are 14 other named ice halo phenomena that could be seen given optimal conditions.

Schwassman-Wachmann 73P Fragment B

Decided to try and image SW73P as it sails past M13, fragment B will pass through M57 on Monday but the weather forecast doesnt look to promising.
This is a composite of 3 120second exposure taken with a 300D coupled affocally to the LX10

M13 Globular Cluster

Imaged the globular cluster in Hercules last night (4 may 2006) using a Canon EOS 300D and a Meade 20 SCT. Very pleased with the result as this was my first go at imaging M13

Sunspot 875 at sunset

A friend took this pick when we were setting up equipment to image the new moon, the picture was taken with a Canon EOS 20d DSLR and a 400 mm Tamron zoom.

One Day Old Crescent Moon 29th April 2006

On the 28th April I tried (like many others) to image the very new moon, but sadly due to a thin veil of cloud was unsuccessful. The following day was clear and here are the results. The slightly overexposed photograph shows clearly the EARTHSHINE where reflected light from planet earth lights up the part of the moon that's in shadow. I was pleased with this as the Maria are clearly visible. Both shots were taken with a friends EOS 20D and a 400mm Tamron lens. The next chance to see a very thin crescent new moon in the UK will be May 27th.

Toatality - Eclipse 2006

Crescent Shadows - Eclipse 2006

During the partial phases (where most of the sun is covered) the light coming from the thin crescent sun causes shadows to appear different. One of the most obvious of these happens where the light goes through small gaps through leaves in trees etc. This projects lots of tiny crescent suns on to the shadows surface.

Wide shots during totality - Eclipse 2006

Both of these photographs were taken with a Canon Eos 300d with a 15 - 55mm Std lens, managed to take some time out to actually enjoy this bit with my eyes - a sight I will never forget. You cannot compare the colours or quality of light with anything else. I was pleased with the angled shot as I managed to capture Venus also!

Composite image of eclipse 2006

This image is a composite of the whole eclipse, it is composed of pictures taken with the coolpix 4500 and the ETX 70

First Contact eclipse 2006

These are the pictures from my trip to Antalya this year. This was my second attempt at imaging a total eclipse, the first was Cornwall 1999 - which was clouded out! This was FIRST CONTACT, pic was taken using an ETX 70 with a Nikon coolpix 4500 used in eyepiece projection mode. An Astro Engineering Sol-Vu filter was used (I think these use Baader film) It was good to observe some sunspots as the sun had been blank in the few days before the eclipse. I have added the yellow tint in photoshop, as the filter gives a white image.