Sky Watch Friday

.

We have been doing a lot of yard work and and home projects lately,
so no blogging for a couple of months.

I hope everyone is doing well.
I'll try to catch up on visiting everyone over the next couple of weeks.
It's raining here, so no outside work.

I thought I would share out March calendar (with a sky),
and a March moon (made with a point and shoot through the eyepiece of one of our telescopes).

Click on the photos and scroll for better full page views

Calendar of a Photo made on the Haul Road
Dalton Highway
414 mile gravel road
This is one of the really good sections


March Moon

Happy Sky Watch and have a good weekend.

For other SWF posts,
see the SkyWatch site here.

Troy and Martha
.

Venus Jupiter Moon Conjunction

Sky Watch Friday

Everyone was Watching
(Except where it was cloudy. 'bummer')

It was a great sight on December 1. The Moon, Venus and Jupiter were at conjunction (pretty close together). Venus is the lower planet. I had to shoot quite a few shots to get the Earthshine to show on the dark side of the Moon. Photo shot at dusk using a Nikon D200, 18-200 mm lens, at 200mm, with tripod.

Be sure to click on the photos for full page views.

Conjunction 1
(Notice the jagged edge of the terminator, where
sunlight meets the night side of the Moon. This
is caused by the craters on the Moon)

I am including a great scenic photo of the event by my photo buddy photographer, brother, J.S. Mullens. His photo is using the same camera lens combination zoomed to 35mm focal length to capture the scenic shot. It was shot in Ft. Worth after dark, hence the city light glow. I really like the silhouette and event combination. If you like his photo, leave a comment and I will pass it on. I have been trying to get him to set up a blog to show his photography and great photos of New York and Chicago as well as Ft. Worth.

Conjunction 2 by Jimmy
©2008 J.S. Mullens

Another terrific blog of the event is over at Bob Johnson's
Blackholes and astrostuff. Click here.

For other SWF posts,
see The SkyWatch site here.

Troy and Martha

.

Fall Approaches

SkyWatch Friday
Day and Night

Fall approaches

Red and Orange rises,
From the depths of Verdant masses,
Drawn by a Blue sky

. poem by Troy

Virginia Creeper
scene found by Martha
Saturday Oct. 4, 2008


Ft. Worth Nature Center and Refuge
A 5000 acre oasis of Prairie, Mixed Hardwoods, and Bottomland
Where the West Begins

Be sure to click on the photo for a better view

Bonus update:
I was out tonight looking at some of the craters along the terminator of the Moon
and grabbed this hand-held shot (poor quality) through the eyepiece.
Photo about 10PM Central time zone.

The large crater along the central portion of the terminator is Copernicus.

66.6% Illuminated
Note: The terminator is where the shadow begins
Updated photo

At the suggestion of Michael Palmer,
I went back and applied single frame, .jpg, HDR compensation
using Bibble Pro and Photomatrix HDR
Thanks Michael!

For other SWF posts,
see Tom's new SkyWatch site here.

Troy and Martha
.

Sky Watch Friday V

Look at the Moon in the Daytime

Apollo 11 Landing site - Sea of Tranquility
(Click on the photo and look for the red dot)

I photographed this in the late afternoon using my Celestron 14" Telescope and a Nikon Point and Shoot camera held at the eyepiece.

I was watching a movie entitled "The Dish" the other day about Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong being the first to set foot on the Moon, and thought it might be appropriate for Sky Watch.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Australia and the Radio Telescope at Parks for the television images of the first Moon walk. Thank you Australia.

To play SWF visit Wiggers World.

Troy
.