YALE (no, not the University)

Yet Another Lunar Eclipse.

Usually I'm a bit more disinterested in Lunar Eclipses.  They come, they go.  The popular press and media makes a bit deal about it.  The Blood Moon Super Size Me Things Come in Threes Apocalypse.  Sigh.  And why am I so grumpy with the seemingly ever more popular characterization of "Blood Moon".   It doesn't look like blood.  It's orange.  Copper maybe.  Orange Moon or Copper Moon are much better descriptions with less drama/pseudo religious connotation.  Lunar Eclipse would be even better.  I cringe when I hear kids saying, "did you see the blood moon?"  I hope they actually understand what is happening - after all we have come a long ways in the last few thousand years.

The excitement at a "Super" lunar eclipse is also overbaked.  Last one until 2033!  Well sorry, the "Super" part is accounted by the moon being at perigee-syzygy (read closest approach in the moon's elliptical orbit).  This results in a colossal 14% or so increase in the size of the disk.  If only "Super" meant 14% bigger to McDonalds.  I'm pretty sure there is not a human on the planet than can say with any certainty that they can tell the moon is 14% bigger in apparent diameter.  So it goes.

The next full lunar eclipse around these parts (New Mexico) is in January 2018 so we've only a little more than 2 years to wait as long as you don't care about the "Super" part - which you can't see anyway.

OK rant off.  With all of the above out of the way ...

This one was real pretty.  Don't remember the last time I saw a lunar eclipse so close to the horizon. Makes for a bit more drama when you can see the eclipsed moon next to terrestrial features like mountains or cityscapes.

Eclipsed Moon over the Sandias and northern outskirts of Albuquerque NM, Sept 28, 2015
Note the traffic on I-25 streaking across the base of the Sandias.

This lunar eclipse was also a opportunity to connect with friends near and far.  Most notably with my astro-posse hanging out in the coastal hills of the San Francisco peninsula waiting pensively for a break in the clouds.  As we are an hour ahead I was able to send them updates and they in turn kept me updated on navigating crowds and clouds.  Fortunately they were rewarded with a break in the clouds with just a few minutes of totality remaining.

Clouds to the East also kept my Austin Texas pal waiting nervously.  With friends and family by his side they waited with little hope ... but towards the end of totality they did get a glimpse.  Nice thing about the eclipse is you can make what you want of it - nice excuse to get together - outside at night!

A friend in Los Gatos texted ... can't see a thing!  But I don't think they cared much as they dined on delicious food and the Raki flowed ....  People together, connecting, outside, at night.

New friends and neighbors were texting excitedly as they watched from their homes nearby.  My wife and oldest daughter joined me on the room of our patio.  We watched together as I took advantage of our clear skies and clicked off picture after picture with the camera on a tripod.

Pretty orange moon suspended in the inky dark punctuated with stars.
Mid eclipse through 200mm lens on a static tripod.

With anything much more than a 100mm lens you really need a tracking mount to get any kind of detail on the moon.  Exposure times much more than a quarter second will blur details - even with mild magnification.

I still think the best way to enjoy a lunar eclipse is in a comfy chair with no visual aids or cameras.  Just relaxing with friends and family, near or far, under the night sky.  So wonderful to begin to see stars appear and later, mid eclipse, the Milky Way.  It would be wonderful if the lunar orbit wasn't so inclined so we could enjoy a lunar eclipse every Full Moon.  If that were the case I wonder how it would have changed how the ancients viewed eclipses and if we would have stamped out the memes of evil portent long ago.

As it is we only have to wait until 2018 to do this again (at least here).  It will be another opportunity to get together with family and friends under the wonders of the night sky.  As long as that happens I guess I can live with another "Blood Moon".

Venus, Moon, Gate

Another DSLR shot to make me feel like I am still imaging the skies!  Last Friday was (another) cloudy day so I didn't expect to see the conjunction at all but went outside at dusk and was surprised to see we caught a break.  The Western sky was clear so I quickly ran in to grab the camera.  Ran off a few quick shots with the 24mm lens.  Impossible to capture Mars along with Venus and Moon without resorting to combining images with different exposures but I noticed a nice composition with the Gate to our little courtyard.  So my conjunction substitutes Mars for the Gate.

Venus, Moon, Gate ... click here to flickr

Not much deep sky work happening here in North Central New Mexico.  I blame the near persistent cloud cover.   To those that image the sky (at least deep sky) the presence of *any* clouds is reason enough to close up shop.  Many people will exclaim ... but it was so clear last night!  Well, being able to see some stars, even a lot of stars doesn't quite cut it.  Looks like I will need to adapt to trying to image "in between" on those nights of intermittent clouds.  Yes I was spoiled by the days or weeks long periods of clear cloudless skies in the North California Bay Area.  Of course they are also suffering a severe drought ...  On balance I guess I'll learn to deal with the clouds!

Taken in Corrales New Mexico, February 20, 2015

Canon T2i (stock), Canon 24mm f/2.8L  @ f/1.6,  1/8sec exposure, ISO 400 

Raw image cropped and mangled Lightroom

Moon over Sandias

The nearly full moon rising above the Sandia Mountains just east of Albuquerque.  The mountains are bathed in radiant reds and oranges during sunset which likely gives rise to their namesake - Sandia is spanish for watermelon.  Under the right conditions the mountain side seems to radiate light - a truly beautiful sight.  Look quick though ... the effect lasts only a few minutes.

click here to Flickr for full size version

Taken in Corrales New Mexico, November 5, 2014
Canon T2i (stock), Canon 200mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM @ f/5.6  
Raw image cropped and mangled Lightroom

First Image, New Digs

I guess this will have to count as my first "astrophoto" from my new home in Corrales, New Mexico.  It's a landscape, it's the (Full! Super-Duper) Moon, but it'll have to count.

Super Moon, New Mexico style

The imaging gear remains packed away in the garage ... I collected my last data sometime in January and then began preparing for the move from California to New Mexico.  Now we are ramping up "Monsoon" season here so I expect any deep sky imaging will have to wait a couple more months.

Until then I'll have to practice some astro-landscape and conventional (read daylight!) images. New Mexico has a never-ending supply of clouds, lightning, mountains, deserts, wonderful people and other interesting things so I'll have plenty to do.

The above is a composite of 3 images.  Dynamic range is just too dang large.  Waited too long to cheat take advantage of a twilight Full Moon shot.  Done in a hurry (reminder to self ... keep camera on tripod ready to shoot 24/7 while in New Mexico).  All three exposures were "off" so much more practice is needed.  Also needed to fire up the (gasp) dreaded PS for some dark art higgledy piggledy.  I admire anyone who has burned devoted a portion of their brain cells to mastering, shudder, PS.

I'm sad for the posterization but that'll teach me to get proper exposures next time.  I wanted to avoid the "pasted-in" moon look and feel OK with how it came out.  It was a remarkable full moon in person and it kind of captures the feel.

By the way ... the brightly light golden building is the Sandia casino.  It's going to be a feature from any pictures taken from my patio ... guess we'll have to get used to it.

 New Mexico Super Moon

Taken in Corrales New Mexico, July 14, 2014
Canon T2i (stock), Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM @ f/4.5Composite: 1/100,  1/25, 2sec exposures @ISO400
Raw images mangled in PS5 and Lightroom
Image Capture with Sequence Generator Pro

Star Fire

A dark sky outing with friends to Lassen National Park in Northern California was hampered by two large forest fires in the area.  For multiple nights we dodged smoke and clouds for a glimpse through to some of the darkest skies California has to offer.  Finally on Saturday night, August 18, the smoke and clouds had abated and we drove up to the Bumpass Hell parking lot full of anticipation for a night of imaging and observing.

As we entered the Park an ominous white cloud billowed high in the West.  A new fire had started from a lightning strike only a few hours earlier.  As darkness fell the eerie glow would presage the dangerous fire that it would become over the next 48hrs.

The conjunction of Mars, Saturn and Spica (lower left) in the fiery glow of the Ponderosa Fire.  

Click on either image for a larger version where you can toggle the annotation.

The Ponderosa fire is still burning - nearing 25,000 acres with up to 50 homes and structures burned.  Evacuation warnings have gone out to the little town of Mineral where we stayed.

The fire glow over the ridge died down with the coming of night and we enjoyed a nearly perfect night of observing.  It was a very narrow window as I am sure the smoke from this fire has darkened the skies over Lassen again.

Star Fire

Taken at Bumpass Hell parking lot, Lassen Natl. Park,   August 18, 2012
Canon T2i (stock), Canon EF24 mm f1.8
Manfroto Tripod (stationary)
Mosaic of 4 frames, each 8 sec exposures @ ISO1600

no dark or flat subtraction
vignetting and lens correction in Lightroom 4
frame stitching in PTGui Pro

final adjustments and noise reduction in Pixinsight

Pleiades Rising

Trying to make the best of a trip to New Mexico during the full moon and monsoon season.  Don't get me wrong - the skies are spectacular.  I'm just haven't learned how to best capture what I'm seeing and feeling.  I have plenty more day shots that I like but haven't decided if I want to "cross the streams" on what would otherwise be a astronomy centric blog.  If I did it would increase the rate of images I post given the glacial pace of astro-imaging this year.

Here come the Pleiades again.  click to enlarge

The moon is two days shy of full and is swinging low on the horizon about 30 degrees outside of the right side frame.  The full width is about 170 degrees but the above image is a little less than that since I cropped out my shadow which was on the left side of the frame.  Only the brightest stars are visible because of the short exposure and moonlight.  You can see the Pleiades rising just above Kitchen Mesa, the large rock face in the left hand frame.

I experimented with a number of ways to capture/process this.  It is a two frame mosaic with each frame processed with 4 different exposures using Photoshop's HDR function.  I certainly do wish for more tools in the PS HDR module but at this point I don't do enough HDR to justify a specialty package.  I stitched the two frames using PTGui Pro since PS couldn't figure out how to stitch this correctly.  After that I did some final tone/exposure/noise reduction in Lightroom.

Pleiades Rising

Taken at Ghost Ranch, NM   July 31, 2012
Canon T2i (stock), Canon EF-S 10-22mm @ 10mm  f3.5
Manfroto Tripod (stationary)
two frames, each frame with 1, 2, 4, 15 sec exposures @ ISO1600

no dark or flat subtraction
vignetting and lens correction in Lightroom 4
HDR combine in Photoshop
frame stitching in PTGui Pro

final adjustments and noise reduction in Lightroom 4

Weather Gods Conspire

Back in New Mexico for vacation.  Started this chronicle from here just about a year ago now.  On that trip I was thwarted by cloudy skies most of the nights so this year I thought I'd ratchet down the gear requirements while also doing something that worked with the weather.  Something that would be interesting come rain or shine.

That something would be time lapse - and as I quickly discovered - full of it's own set of crazy hair shirt intricacies and rituals.  Maybe more on that later.  For now I just want to complain about the weather.

I have two simple requests of the weather gods.  I need:  1.) completely clear (night) skies for some decent astrophotography, astrolanscape photography or time lapse astrophotography -or- 2.) full on raging thunderstorms, lightning, and rain for some cool daytime timelapse.

Request denied.  It's been clear as a bell in the mornings giving way to clouds and dull overcast skies in the afternoon and evening.  No thunderstorms to mention.  A few drops of rain.  pffffffft.  So far I've been pretty much skunked for photography (but just being here is wondrous enough).

Hey at least we came a couple weeks after the states largest forest fire ever which choked the skies with smoke and haze.  A real disaster and hardship which makes my complaining seem pathetic by comparison.

So as I wait for the skies to cooperate I did manage to get one nice picture.  Hopefully many more to come.

Scorpio escaping the clutches of Cerro Pedernal.

Stars over Pedernal

Taken at Ghost Ranch, NM  July 28, 2011
Canon T2i (stock),  Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM @ f/1.4
Manfrotto Tripod
5sec exposure @ ISO800
color adjusted Adobe RAW

Red Moon over Orion

After I clicked the shutter on the last image (see previous post) I had a few moments to enjoy the eclipse by eye before clouds rolled overhead.  I just don't seem to be able to watch anything for long before I want to grab the camera.  In this case I had only a couple minutes.  Like two.

I quickly removed the refractor from the travel mount and replaced it with the camera body and 10-22 EF-S lens.  Frame. Click.  Oh ... great picture of my chain link fence in the bottom half of the frame.  I've got to get to an area behind our yard with a clear view.  I grab the whole mount (it is light) and before I walk away I remember I am attached to a dew heaters and a battery.  Nice.

OK.  Calmly make sure I am not tethered and walk away again.  Up and out of the backyard trying not to stumble in the eerie not-moon light.

I plop the mount down (tick tock the clouds are coming),  point in, well, that direction, guess an exposure time and take the picture.  Oh yeah! Focusing would be helpful ... (tick tock) ...there is Sirius at least.  Focused.  Take the picture.  Whew.  I spend the next 5 minutes taking pictures with random exposure times but it was that first (focused non-chain link fenced) picture that was the best.

click image for super-size-me or here for flickr

I spent a couple hours minding the camera on the telescope taking picture after picture and occasionally looking up.  But watching Orion reach in vain for the red moon before drowning in the clouds is what I will remember from the lunar eclipse of 2010. 

Happy Winter Solstice!

Red Moon over Orion

San Jose, CA  December 21, 2010
Canon T2i (stock), Canon EF-S 10-22mm @ 13mm  f4
Astrotrac Travel System Mount
15sec exposure @ ISO800
in-camera dark subtraction

North and Up

I like widefields.  This probably stems from my enjoyment of gigapanning which I dabbled in before falling into this astro imaging black hole.  I like the perspective and the framing possibilities of a nice wide vista.

I already have a 100mm EF-L lens but found myself wanting even more reach.  I got it in my head that it would be cool to frame M31 and M33 in the same field.  I thought the 100mm would be able to do it but after a valiant attempt (laying in the dirt making adjustments while looking at the camera back) to squeeze them both into the opposite corners of the frame ....  Oh, so close but no-go.  And about a week later after Rogelio Andreo put up this image of just the conceptual frame I imagined.  He did it with a 3x4 mosaic'd panel (and considerably more skill and artistry than I would have!).  Incredible and inspiring but my skills are not up to trying a mosaic panel just yet.

So a few days before CalStar last October I ordered a 10-22mm EF-S lens.  Yeah, a bit overboard but I wanted the lens for terrestrial imaging as well.  I wanted wide ... lets go wide!

But Robert Burns knew how this would turn out.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy !

I like the lens for terrestrial photos.  It is ... fun.  It's a good lens, not a great lens, but actually fun to use.  But as we know, a good lens, even a fun lens does not a good lens for astro imaging make.  I knew there would be aberrations at the edges of the field but there was more than I expected.  Oh, focusing.  Don't even get me started.  What a pain.  No camera back focusing here.  I had to connect to a computer and do a live view focus on jupiter just to see anything.

And then the vignetting.  Lots of it.  Flat fields that look like driving through a tunnel.  OK, a bit of an exaggeration but still.  And no sky flats possible with a field as wide as that.  I took much more time trying to get a decent flat frame than I did getting the actual images.  Much more.  In the end I took my flats off my laptop screen.

After all that ... calibrating with my flats made the images worse.  I'm still trying to puzzle that one out.  The flats severely over corrected the vignetting.  I dunno ... only thing I can think of is that my flats were not representative some how.  Something to figure out.

So after wrestling with flatfielding I decided to only calibrate with darks and bias frames and deal with the gradients in PixInsight which has some powerful tools to throw against it.  I tried a bunch of background models and finally stumbled into one that was "good enough".

Cassiopeia nearly centered.  That's Deneb and the North American nebula at left.  Andromeda upper center. And a zillion stars from the Milky Way. Click image for larger version or here for flickr.

Of course the tree was out of the field when I started but slowly crept in during the hour I was taking the images (in the end I only used 10 of the 30 2min exposures I took).  During star alignment that tree area becomes a blurry mess so I just pasted the tree from the last frame in place.

There is a lot in there.  Double cluster right of center.  M31 mid top and if you look on a larger version you will find M33 just near the top of the frame to the right of M31  (yes, by design ... I got my wish).  I should work on an annotated version some cloudy, rainy night.

So, more lessons learned.  Maybe I should have spent the time learning to put mosaics together after all.  But there is something kind of neat about this field of view.  When I was taking the images I noticed that the field was an approximation of what you see with the unaided eye.  Plus or minus.  Look North and Up and that is what you would see ... if your eye could integrate photons.

North and Up

Taken at Lake San Antonio, CA  October 9, 2010
Canon T2i (stock), Canon EF-S 10-22mm @ 14mm  f5
Astrotrac Travel System Mount
10 120sec exposures @ ISO1600
10 darks
no flatfielding, vignetting and gradients removed in PixInsight
32 bias frames
calibration, registration and post-processed in PixInsight

Expectation Management

hmmmm ... now that didn't quite go as anticipated.  I look at the date of the last post and it was a full 8 days ago.  Storms, aging hardware and people not quite so sure how to cycle a router (or if they should even trust a guy who looks like he just wandered in from the outback to do it) all conspired to keep me off the net.

So here it is a full week later and we have arrived back home.  Home where the signal is strong and bandwidth abundant.  Somehow the trade doesn't seem even.

No, my heart is still on that mesa.  Sitting on a cold folding chair, my tracking mount and camera ready for any break in the clouds.  Hours out there.  Everyone else asleep.  Hour after frustrating hour.

I loved every minute of it.

I was talking to a woman while waiting in line for lunch a few days ago.  She was relaying her disappointment of a hike canceled due to lightning but instead she got to spend a few hours connecting and talking with her grand daughter while watching the weather pass.  Understanding, I told her that Ghost Ranch is all about "expectation management".  She said "oh, I have the remember that ..." and pulled out a pen and began scribbling in a notepad.  Having someone write down something I say at a place where world famous writers, poets and artists hang out was amusing to say the least.  But the more I thought about it the more I could see it for myself.

I didn't get 13, 7, 4 or even 2 incredible nights to image the heavens.  I did get some quality time on a cold rusty folding chair with views like this to keep me company.

(dis) Connected

Stormy weather continues.  As often happens here the wifi went down for 3 days.  I've wanted to post but truth be told there isn't much to report in the way of clear skies.  I'm at the point where I was planning hoping to get some night sky time - the moon is finally rising late enough from behind Kitchen Mesa to give me exposures in the dark dark.  So one week to go.  We'll see ... but it is not looking promising.

Thursday and Friday the skies cleared between 2-3am.  Still too moon-ey at that hour.  Frustrating to get up to a perfect cloudless blue sky only to have it cloud up by 9-10am.  On Friday I got up at 6am to go on a hike to the top of Chimney Rock before breakfast.  I took what might be my only astronomy picture of the trip - even if it was of my nemesis.

See!  No clouds.  A condition that existed for about 3 hours.