Total Lunar Eclipse

[davenn]

Hey gang

for those living in Australia, New Zealand and the greater eastern Asia and Alaska.
There is a total eclipse of the moon this saturday nite 10 Dec.
the eclipse starts 1131hrs UT = 2231hrs eastern daylight time ( Sydney, Canberra, Melboune Australia), 0031Hrs NZ DLST.
The eclipse last for some 6 hrs. The totality stage lasts for 51 minutes

a good chance for some deep red pics of the moon
Steve, I know you like your photography

Dave

 

[(*steve*)]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[(*steve*)]

A few photos for anyone interested

 

[daddles]

If you're in the US, check here for times. Where I live, the moon will be about 10 degrees above the horizon at totality, so I'll be up on my roof trying to view it. It's also going to be around 20 deg F, so I'll have to dress warm...

 

[(*steve*)]

Totality was about 90 minutes before I posted those images, so if you weren't there, you missed it.

 

[davenn]

good one Steve

I though for a while I was going to miss it entirely, here in Sydney. The sky was totally cloudy and some showers up to 1700hrs EDT slowly cleared. I got a couple of pix just as it was starting and after 15-20 mins the cloud rolled in again
It cleared ~ 5 mins before totality started yipeeee, but missed photo'ing virtually the entire partial stage.
the pix below vary from ~ 500th sec and ISO ~ 200 when eclipse was just starting, to 1 sec and ISO 800-1600 during totality. My new Pentax K5 mounted on my telescope, in what we call prime focus.
That is .... no eyepiece in the telescope and no camera lens on the camera, instead the telescope is the telephoto lens... Newtonian 22cm (~8inch) mirror, 1000mm f/l, @ f4.5

cheers
Dave

 

[daddles]

Ha -- well, I won the Idjit of the Year award. A friend alerted me to the eclipse on Sunday, Dec. 10th. I did everything right except get my wife, daughter, and granddaughter up on the right day (I did it this morning, a day late). They're NEVER gonna let me forget this one...

 

[davenn]

lol ooohh dear oops

actually Sunday was the 11th that doesnt help either

The next total eclipse of the moon isnt till 15 April 2014, not good for us in Australia
but great for the USA. So there ya go start planning and book the nite well in advance so no last minute interventions by the wife etc haha

Dave

 

[davenn]

There are astro 2 events in 2012 I want to see. Both visible from Australia
first the transit of Venus across the sun in June and a total eclipse of the sun in November.

The transit of Venus be fully seen fom the central and eastern Australia, eastern Asia. NZ, Hawaii and much of central and eastern Russia.
The USA and Europe will see a glimpse of the transit either prior to sunrise or sunset depending of if you are in the eastern or western parts of those areas.

This is the last transit of Venus for over 100 years !!! they come in pairs 8 years apart separated by some 107 years. So its unlikely that anyone one living today will see the return in around 2117.

The narrow path of the total eclipse of the sun on 14th November starts a couple of 100km east of Darwin in nthrn Australia, crosses the lower Cape York Peninsula and crosses the coast 1/2 way between Cairns and Port Douglas and out into the South Pacific Ocean. where it doesnt cross any other signif land mass before it finishes over the ocean way down near Easter Island.

this is the last total eclipse of the sun to cross the Australia Continent till 2023 where it briefly crosses a small peninsula in Western Australia and 2028 will be the next main total eclipse crossing over much of the Australian Continent

Dave

 

[(*steve*)]

There are astro 2 events in 2012 I want to see. Both visible from Australia
first the transit of Venus across the sun in June and a total eclipse of the sun in November.

Maybe I should come and visit you for those :-D

I'm not sure whether my main problem was the wobbly tripod (didn't bother get the "good" one out) or the pair of teleconverters (200/2.8 with 1.4x and 2x teleconverters) or the motion blur (exposures during totality were between 3 and 5 seconds) or the atmospherics, or the difficulty in achieving good focus, or the high ISO (1600). I think all contributed.

I've taken great shots of the night sky with a 50mm lens on a dark night in the middle of the pacific ocean (on a small island away from light pollution). But this was not one of those nights...

I've thought of getting a small telescope, but I really don't do this often enough for it to be worth the expense. (And if I did, I'd probably start lovingly at something like this -- and my wife would no be pleased)

 

[davenn]

Maybe I should come and visit you for those :-D

Yeah we should have an eclipse party in Cairns next November .... Mark aka Poor Mystic lives up that way

I'm not sure whether my main problem was the wobbly tripod (didn't bother get the "good" one out) or the pair of teleconverters (200/2.8 with 1.4x and 2x teleconverters) or the motion blur (exposures during totality were between 3 and 5 seconds) or the atmospherics, or the difficulty in achieving good focus, or the high ISO (1600). I think all contributed.

probably a multi contribution, but there are 3 musts....

1) sturdy mount,
2) shutter cable release. absolutely essential
3) shorter exposures .... you with those teleconverters have ~ 700 - 800mm f/l you cant have multi second exposures that are unguided they will guarantee to blur.
with a 50mm lens you would get away with ~ 8 - 10 sec on a starfield before you start seeing trails. As your f/l increases (ie magnification goes up) the drift speed across your field of view will increase proportionally.

That totality one of mine was 1 sec at ISO 800

I've taken great shots of the night sky with a 50mm lens on a dark night in the middle of the pacific ocean (on a small island away from light pollution). But this was not one of those nights...

ahhh yes .... back in Dec 2002 my wife and I travelled to Sth Australia for the total solar eclipse we went a way up into the desert ~ 100km ( on the main highway towards Coober Pedy) past the Woomera turnoff. On the way back to Port Augusta it well after dark and we stopped a truck parking area not a light for miles other than a few cars. The sky was just so black.

I've thought of getting a small telescope, but I really don't do this often enough for it to be worth the expense. (And if I did, I'd probably start lovingly at something like this -- and my wife would no be pleased)

hahaha ... but she will still ... if like most women... spend a small fortune in shoes that sometimes only get worn once or twice !!

what about this one...

http://www.ozscopes.com.au/celestron-9-25-inch-cpc-schmidt-cassegrain-telescope.html

link for it was down the page of the one you linked to. Thats a much more affordable price
Now I suggested that one for a good reason. It uses a fork mount which are a breeze to aim at an object manually. The German Equatorial mount that was on the one you linked to and several others down the page, are a nightmare to aim at anything. It would drive you insane is a very short time

cheers
Dave