Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jun 20, 2004 1:56:02 GMT -6
I ventured out to the lakefront Saturday night and set up for a session. It was rather cool while I was assembling the scope, but as the night wore on, it seemed to have gotten warmer.
I got there about 8:00, and still too early to catch the crescent moon, so I used the bino's to scan for a bit. People came up, talked, but as it was still too early, I had nothing to show them.
I caught the first glimpse of the crescent, and used my camera to start a photo session.
This first shot was thru the eyepiece hand camera handheld. You can see the low contrast of the still light blue sky. I think it looks rather nice. Focusing to a sharp image is rather difficult, as the image screen on the camera is not that detailed in resolution. I used best guess thru out the session. Earthshine was clearly evident, but not as strong as I have observed other times.
As it got darker, I was looking forward to the darker skies and higher contrast detail. But the moon was also heading toward the mucky horizon quickly. It was shimmering with the heat of the City now, and clear shots were almost impossible.
A nice photo opportunity presented itself to me. As the crescent moon started to dive between the Sears Tower and the Crown building. Now, the moon was really moving quickly, as I tried to position for better composition. I snapped a few thru the telescopic eyepiece and thru the bino's as well.
Here the Crescent almost is occulted by the Crown Building...or UFO...take your Pick.
And within a few moments, the moon vanished from sight, behind the Magnificent Chicago Skyline. A group of onlookers stayed along side of me, and watched it go.
It was quite a good lunar session.
Although I am not satisfied with the camera, the shots were ...ok. No shutter settings or really much control. I like my 35mm Nikon, in where I can control everything. But I don't have the instant gratification of a digital. If I ever get a laptop, it's webcam all the way for me!
I left around 10:00 pm after a short viewing of Jupiter, and observed three moons clustered together. Showed the view to some people, got a email address or two...and off I went before the firework crowd made their noisy appearance.
I returned home, content on my lunar observation, and decided to continue my observations of the night sky....That in part two.
I got there about 8:00, and still too early to catch the crescent moon, so I used the bino's to scan for a bit. People came up, talked, but as it was still too early, I had nothing to show them.
I caught the first glimpse of the crescent, and used my camera to start a photo session.
This first shot was thru the eyepiece hand camera handheld. You can see the low contrast of the still light blue sky. I think it looks rather nice. Focusing to a sharp image is rather difficult, as the image screen on the camera is not that detailed in resolution. I used best guess thru out the session. Earthshine was clearly evident, but not as strong as I have observed other times.
As it got darker, I was looking forward to the darker skies and higher contrast detail. But the moon was also heading toward the mucky horizon quickly. It was shimmering with the heat of the City now, and clear shots were almost impossible.
A nice photo opportunity presented itself to me. As the crescent moon started to dive between the Sears Tower and the Crown building. Now, the moon was really moving quickly, as I tried to position for better composition. I snapped a few thru the telescopic eyepiece and thru the bino's as well.
Here the Crescent almost is occulted by the Crown Building...or UFO...take your Pick.
And within a few moments, the moon vanished from sight, behind the Magnificent Chicago Skyline. A group of onlookers stayed along side of me, and watched it go.
It was quite a good lunar session.
Although I am not satisfied with the camera, the shots were ...ok. No shutter settings or really much control. I like my 35mm Nikon, in where I can control everything. But I don't have the instant gratification of a digital. If I ever get a laptop, it's webcam all the way for me!
I left around 10:00 pm after a short viewing of Jupiter, and observed three moons clustered together. Showed the view to some people, got a email address or two...and off I went before the firework crowd made their noisy appearance.
I returned home, content on my lunar observation, and decided to continue my observations of the night sky....That in part two.