Star Man
So I found out there was going to be an ISS pass within sight of Cork tonight about two hours ago and decided to try and get some shots. In my head I had envisioned a nice long exposure shot with the ISS streaking across the frame.
It didn’t really work out that way. I need more practice. And less cloud.
So here’s the shot (I think of the ISS). The cloud cover was pretty awful, but I saw it just after it came over the horizon for a few seconds before it disappeared behind cloud. I saw it peak through again and hit the shutter. I’m pretty sure it’s that very faint little blur in the middle of the frame about two thirds up from the bottom. Lame, I know, but it’s all practice, and I still get a buzz every time I see it.
I saw a really bright star just over Ballincollig which can be seen again in the middle of the frame, this time about a quarter up from the bottom. Focusing in the dark on the side of the road is tough. I’ll be bringing a torch the next time and give myself plenty of time to set up the shots. Anyway, the cool thing about this shot is that I’m pretty sure it’s Neptune, going by the online sky map here.
December 19th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
That bright star is probably Jupiter, worth taking a few shots of it with your longest lens. you’ll actually be able to make out the planet and 4 of it’s moons. Blows my mind every time I see it. I really want to get a shot of the Andromeda galaxy at some stage, hard to believe that it’s 100 billion stars 2.5 million light years away. Careful though, astrophotography could get very expensive, very quickly!
December 19th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
It is something I’ve wanted to get into. I really need to get a remote that allows me to program the length of time for bulb shots.
Isn’t Jupiter in the East at the moment? It might possibly be Venus. I’ll d/l google sky map and check tonight if it’s clear.
December 20th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Andromeda is probably larger than the Milky Way – so more like a trillion stars (or so say the Spitzer team)!!
Jupiter is in the East at sunset- and will be moving further south at sunset as the days lengthen in the next month. Venus is the crazy bright one in the southwest at sunset, look for it to be higher and higher at sunset until it meets Jupiter on March 14, 2012.