Sun and Moon
Double star occultation by the eclipsed moon, May 15, 2022
During the total eclipse of the moon on Sunday night May 15, 2022 the moon gradually
crept up and occultated the interesting double star WDS J15317-2010 in Libra on its left limb.
This six frame animation shows moon and stars at one minute intervals starting at
11:53:07 pm EDT.
The primary star of the double is magnitude 6.3 and the secondary star is mag. 8.9.
The two stars are separated by 11 arc-seconds.
The stars are aliged almost east-west of each other.
The moon initially covers the faint part then covers the brighter component of the double.
Click on the image for a larger view in a new window. The double star will be easier to see.
Details:
Location: Front yard Cary, NC
Camera: Canon T3i DSLR
Exposure: 6 x 3 seconds each at ISO 400
Filter: none
Scope: Televue Genesis 4" f/5 refractor
Mount: iOptron GEM-45
Guider: none
Capture software: APT
Guiding software: none
Calibration frames: none
Processing software: MaximDl for star alignment, Photoshop CC for animation layout,
and GIF animator for the animation.
Weather conditions: Mainly clear with passing clouds. Mild temperatures.
Notes: The image was cropped.
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97% partial lunar eclipse - Nov. 19, 2021
The 2021 "almost full" partial lunar eclipse.
A strong cold front moved through just in time for us to see this eclipse.
The weather was cool and windy though.
My goal was to make a small time-lapse sequence 15 minutes before and after the 4:03 am
maximum eclipse.
The time-lapse wasn't very interesting, so I chose this 4:03 single 1 second shot instead.
For a larger view in a new window, click on the image.
Details:
Location: Front yard Cary, NC
Camera: Canon T3i
Exposure: single one second jpg at ISO 400
Filter: none
Scope: TeleVue Genesis 4" f/5
Mount: iOptron GEM-45
Guider: none
Capture software: APT
Guiding software: none
Calibration frames: none
Processing software: Photoshop
Notes:
Photoshop was used for a very slight curve to dim the brightest parts of the photo
and resize for web.
I bracketed my exposures at 0.5, 1, and 2 seconds with the 1 second being best.
I used an APT looping sequence plan to run the bracket once a minute.
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Lunar Eclipse - Jan. 20-21, 2019
Here is a 3 panel mosaic of the lunar total eclipse taken at 11:12 pm, 12:12 am, and 1:12 am.
The images were captured with my Canon T3i connected to my Televue Genesis 4 inch f/5 refractor.
I used the Celestron AVx mount to track the eclipse.
A meridian flip was necessary after the total shot.
The partial phases were captured at 1/750 second at ISO 200.
The total phase shot was captured for 3 seconds at ISO 200.
The images were captured using Backyard EOS.
The mosaic was created with Photoshop CS2.
The images were captured from my front driveway in Cary NC.
Temperatures were around 25 degrees F with gusty winds.
Making this mosaic made me realize how much the Earth's shadow moves westward relative to the stars
in two hours while the moon is moving eastward.
Click on the image for a larger view in a new window.
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Full Moon May 3, 2015
This full moon photo taken on May 3, 2015 is a combination of 11 jpg photos taken with my
Stellarvue 80 mm f/9.4 refractor and my older Canon Rebel XT non-modified camera.
The individual exposures were 1/500 second at ISO 100.
The images were combined and slightly sharpened in RegiStax 6 then taken to Photoshop CS2
for some contrast enhancement and cropping before resizing for web display.
With the exception of lunar eclipses, I think this is the first time I have photographed the full moon in many years.
To see a larger view in a new window, click on the image.
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Total Lunar Eclipse - Oct. 8, 2014
I took a sequence of photos of the total lunar eclipse from my front yard in Cary on
Wednesday Oct. 8 and made them into this animation.
The animation starts at 5:29 and ends at 6:33 when the moon's altitude
became very low and started degrading the image. I polar aligned my G-11 mount and kept it
fixed on a spot in the shadow of the earth. Then I allowed the moon to move through.
The animation consists of 35 images captured through my Stellarvue 80mm f/9.4 refractor with
my Canon Rebel XTi attached. Exposures varied from 1/500 second to 4 seconds at ISO 400.
The animation shown has been cropped to make the file size smaller for download. The animation
was created in Photoshop CS2. The animation is approximately 4mb in size, so it may take some
time to completely load depending on your Internet speed.
Click on the image for a full size view in a new window.
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Moon occulting Aldebaran - Oct. 19, 2016
Click on the photo to see a 21 frame animation of the Moon occulting Aldebaran (Alpha Taurus) on Oct. 19, 2016.
I stayed up late for this one... 1:29am.
The photos were taken in my front yard among all the street lights.
1/200th of a second exposures at ISO 400 were repeated every 35 seconds to make the animation.
I used my Canon T3i and the new Celestron Edge HD 800 on the Losmandy G-11 mount.
The images were taken to Canon's DPP where they were reduced in size and converted to jpg from raw.
Maxim DL was used to align all the frames on Aldebaran,
then the images were then taken to Photoshop CS2 and made into an animation.
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Venus Transits the Sun
Venus in transit across the solar disk June 5, 2012. Taken with a Canon DSLR through the Meade 4 inch SCT equiped with a solar filter. The location was the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Prarie Ridge Center near Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC.
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Ring Eclipse of the Sun
Annular solar eclipse at Lake Norman NC May 30, 1984. This shot was taken on Kodak ASA 400 slide film with a Olympus OM-1 camera mounted on my Meade 4" SCT. A group of RAC members made a road trip in search of clear skies along the eclipse track and wound up at Lake Norman by accident.
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Lunar Eclipse 2/20/2008
Lunar eclipse 2/20/08. Taken from my front yard in Cary, NC. This was taken through my Stellarvue 80mm f/9.4 refractor on my G-11 mount tracking at the lunar rate. The camera was my Rebel XT at ISO 400 and the exposure was 4 seconds long. This image was cropped from the original frame and reduced in size for web display. Note the star just to the left of the lunar disk about to be occulted.
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