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"The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects. This is the discipline that deals with the universe's divine revolutions, the stars' motions, sizes, distances, risings and settings . . . for what is more beautiful than heaven?"
- Nicolaus Copernicus, Astronomer
The constellation Orion against a background of stars. When you can see Orion in the sky, it's a sure sign winter is on the way but where I am it doesn't emerge from behind the mountains until about 3am at the moment and the days and nights are still pleasantly hot. Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring a telescope (and the kit I usually have on hand) over to Italy but I did take my trusty Canon DSLR, some lenses, and the Skywatcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM) and that's enough to do some astrophotography. Because the SAM isn't something I take out very often I'm still a novice with it and this is a good opportunity to learn to use it properly...and it's surprisingly versatile once the polar alignment and focus are as good as can be. Previous experiments with SAM weren't spectacularly successful so I'm keen to master it. This shot is a step on the way. For relatively few exposures and not the darkest of locations, a fair amount of detail came out. Look closely and you can see some features on the Orion Nebula and the Running Man Nebula. There is even a hint of the Flame Nebula next to Alnitak (the lowest of the three stars of Orion's Belt in this orientation).
16 x 1 minute exposures at 400 ISO - 33mm f/5
21 x dark frames
no bias frames
no flat frames
Total integration time = 16 minutes
Equipment:
Skywatcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM)
Cullmann tripod
Canon 700D DSLR
Canon 18-55mm lens at 33mm f/5
I went out for a 20km walk through the Brecon Beacons yesterday, part of the way around I noticed the previous 4 peaks I had just walked on lined up into a nice group. These peaks are actually spread over 2 miles (it seems further when you have walked it!!!).
A great day in the hills
Thanks for looking!
On the wall is a framed, yellowed advertisement that proclaimed Prange Brake & Wheel Alignment "Orlando Utilities' Longest Continuing Customer."
Carl A. Prange opened his business in 1924, a year after OUC was chartered as a utility. Prange was a thin, tall man of German ancestry whose auto-service business was renowned for the quality of its work. Orlando's wealthier residents trusted their automobiles to Prange and his three sons, John, Charles and Carl.
In the late 1940s, Prange's had six mechanics. Today it has two: bachelor brothers John and Steve Prange.
Steve Prange, 51, is tall and thin like his grandfather. John Prange, 55, is stout like his Uncle Carl. Steve is the talkative one -- and he doesn't say much. Reticence is a family trait inherited from their father, John.
"They talk more than John did," said their aunt, Anne Randolph, 74. "John, he was quiet, real quiet. Didn't talk much, only when he had to."
Their shop smells of long, deep decades of axle grease, engine oil, brake fluids, cigar smoke and dust.
There's rust in this shop older than most people. The inside of their tiny office looks like a bachelor pad gone bad. Every flat surface is lost beneath piles of auto parts, boxes, rags, manuals and old mail.
"We did some cleaning up around here," Steve said. "A long time ago."
The brothers spend much of their day reading the newspaper and smoking. When work arrives, they do their repairs the old-fashioned way, without sophisticated diagnostic instrumentation. Change has never been high on their priority list. On the counter is an old cash register with a wooden drawer and a service number that goes back to the days when Orlando and Miami shared the same area code. Computers have no place here.
Their customers these days are longtime and loyal. Marvin Chamberlin has been bringing his cars and campers to Prange's since 1949.
"I pass a lot of garages going there. There are very few you find who do work like they do," said Chamberlin, 87, a retired painting contractor.
The brothers ride to work together in John's 1987 Toyota pickup. It's parked in back, next to a wooden table and two chairs where the brothers end their day, smoking cigarettes and cigars, drinking cans of Miller Lite and petting the shop cat, named Cat.
The brothers concede that the glory days of Prange Brake & Wheel Alignment are over, lost to the city that moved on without them.
"Back when they first started out, it was a pretty good business," Steve said. "The only people who could afford cars were top of the line, and there weren't many places to go."
Jupiter, Moon, and Venus (top to bottom) make an uncommon rendezvous while setting in the western sky.
Alignments appear and pass in the Sagrada Familia, even in the gift store. I saw this one coming like a planetary conjunction as I moved along with the crowd in a gift shop.
Water droplets exercise at the club tonight. Thought I'd better try so I can help!
Unexpected hazard: dust on the surface of the water!!
Panasonic G1 + 14-45 lens + 5x macro lens. Off camera flash.
From lower left to upper right - Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon and Mars in pretty much a straight line. Mercury was just out of shot below Venus - not even the fisheye could get all five at once!
Day 208-365
The new underground line between Washermanpet and Korukkupet readied by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited. This line included two station as part of Phase 1 extension to Wimco Nagar. The line will offer the residents of North Chennai neighbourhoods access to the transport system. It is expected to be ready in 20 months after contract are awarded.
2 kms of the line will run beneath the northern suburbs of New Washerman pet and Korukkupet. The alignment from Thyagaraya College to Korukkupet Junction have been formed up. Also, authorities have marked areas of potential impact of work on the buildings around proposed stations and tunnels.
According to sources, the silty clay soil will make it easy for boring machine to cut through. However, as the stations have to be built around the 2 km stretch, which is extremely congested, the underground stations will be tough. Phase I of the extension line will begin at Washermanpet underground station. This is part of the Airport - Washermanpet corridor. The tunnel for the line will begin near the Mint flyover. This will be bored under the railway line to Beach station.
Those of you that know me know I love Bandits....Milwaukee Road still in action decades after the end in '85. So, when a series of absolutely incredible events led me to G67 parked in Nashotah Siding, in a perfect location for photo ops, without a crew, and a solo Soo 4512 in proper position cab forward, I let the shutter start snapping. G67 sat there from around 17:00 to about 21:20, most of the time with me trackside, and I got a ton of great shots. I'll share the best ones here.
This shot is figuratively and literally planetary alignment for me in so many ways.
Note: This would have been a photo of two white dots on a black background, but its actually two planets, Venus and Jupiter that ‘appear’ to be close together this week. I composed the shot with the planets peeking at us through the branches of a bare tree to make it a little more ‘interesting’. (Best i could come up with at the time based on where i was with my family).
This is actually what astronomer refer to as a planetary ‘Alignment’ or ‘Conjunction’.
We are looking at them ‘Across’ the solar system. They’re not actually next to each other.
Using a baseball field as an example, say you hit the ball out of the park and can take your time trotting around the bases as the crowd goes wild. As you start your jaunt to first base and glance to the left, across the baseball field, think of the pitcher’s mound as the Sun, the second baseman would be Venus and center fielder, Jupiter. The two planets just ‘appear’ to be close together based on your line-of-sight from where you are, but are actually very far apart and in different parts of the Solar System, or baseball field :—).
So, that is what we are seeing this week.
The Planetary Alignment of Mercury, Venus and Saturn very early this morning also to the upper right is the star Spica making a (not very straight) line.
Should have got up earlier but it is Sunday, plus was absolutely freezing Brrrrrr!!!
~Please view on black~
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My Astrophotography Set
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Using a green laser to see where the telescope is pointing.
This is an individual frame from the timelapse that I posted earlier today. 20 sec exposure with a Samyang 14mm lens at f/2.8 and 6400 iso.
I spent a day at Griffith Park's Observatory, and took a loop of the area along Hollywood, Sunset, Santa Monica Blvds. Visited Koreatown and Chinatown before a nightly departure. LA is huge and the traffic is terrible!
When life knocks you down, just roll over and enjoy the stars :)
This shot is from a few years back, when I was out at Trillium Lake to enjoy the Perseids Meteor Shower. Being my first night-out shooting, I consider myself lucky to have captured the Perseids. It really did not start out that way. The first half of the night was more of hide and seek, as the meteors were adorning the skies, especially where the camera was not pointed at. I was much worried that the possibilities would only go down, as the moon was coming up.
As the night was wading, the moon was coming up the horizon. But only after I decided to stop chasing the Perseids, did I notice that the moon brought in Venues and Jupiter along, in a lovely celestial alignment. As I zoomed in to capture the night sky along with the Moon, Venue & Jupiter - a Perseids - decided to join the show too. I couldn't be more glad, when all things came in alignment :)
Perseids Meteor Shower is one of the more consistent meteor showers in the northern sky. Its coming up in a few weeks (Aug 12-14, 2015) and the waxing crescent (3%) would not be hindering the same. Have you planned where you would be enjoying the show from for 2015 ?!