# 279 | Venus at Dusk
A bright "star" can be seen hanging above the western horizon shortly after dusk. This "star" is actually Venus, the second planet from the Sun. Enshrouded in clouds, Venus reflects 65% of the light that shines upon it.
On March 20 and 21, Venus and the Moon will form a pretty pair shortly after dusk.
Last week Gary Boyle of Ottawa, Ontario, took this image of Venus overtop of the homes of his neighbourhood. Gary took a 15-second exposure with a Canon XT digital camera at ISO 400 with a 50mm lens.
# 278 | The March 3, 2007 Lunar Eclipse
Although the totality portion of the lunar eclipse of March 3 was visible along the east coast of North America, winter storms prevented many from being able to view the event.
Using a Canon 300D digital camera and shooting through a 160mm Astro-Physics Starfire telescope, Anthony Ayiomamitis, a Canadian living in Greece, was fortunate to have a clear sky and captured this image of the eclipsed Moon. The star to the lower right is 56 Leonis.
More reader images and information about the eclipse can be found here.
# 277 | Simple Astrophotography—Part III
The past two images selected as the SkyNews Photo of the Week have showcased images taken using only a camera and a tripod. Although it is the easiest way to begin taking astro-images, many may still believe that a telescope is needed to obtain excellent photos of the night sky.
After viewing the previous on-tripod images, Steve Irvine of Big Bay Point, Ontario, went through his files and sent in this image of the summer triangle that was taken last summer.
Steve, however, did not use a tripod to take this shot. While visiting a friend's cottage, Steve simply set his camera on a deck railing and took a 30-second exposure at ISO 1600 with his Canon 350D digital camera and an 18mm lens.
Astrophotographers of all levels are encouraged to send in their photos to SkyNews. All submissions, whether they are selected as a Photo of the Week, are entered in our astrophotography contest.
# 276 | Simple Astrophotography
Inspired by Darren Foltinek's Photo of the Week # 275, Dan Hicks of Alexis Creek, British Columbia dug out an on-tripod image he had taken last summer and submitted it to SkyNews.
Dan had visited the same area of British Columbia that Darren had and took this image of Sagittarius overtop of the mountains.
Using a Canon 30D digital camera at ISO 500, Dan took a 20-second image using a 17mm lens at f/2.8 from within Bugaboo Park, near Golden, British Columbia.
While Dan used a high-end prosumer digital camera, many digital cameras can be used to capture a photograph of the night sky. Simply mount the camera on a tripod, use a wide-angle lens and take a 20-second photo at ISO 400 or 800. You may be surprised at the results you achieve!
# 275 | Panoramic Astrophotography
Mounting a camera atop of a tripod is the most simple way for someone to being astrophotography. By simply using a wide-angle lens, setting the camera to a fast film speed (ISO 400 or 800) and taking a 15-20 second exposure, constellations and images of the northern lights can be captured.
An on-tripod photograph can also tell a story. Darren Foltinek recently vacationed north of Golden, British Columbia and took many night time images during his stay. This image, a composite of three on-tripod shots stitched together, shows the constellations Orion, Taurus, Gemini and a portion of Leo. The Quarter Moon illuminated the foreground and certainly helped to create a memorable photo.
To create his panorama, Darren took three 10-second images and used a Canon 20D digital camera operating at ISO 800 and a 15mm fish-eye lens at f2.8
# 274 | M31
The Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31, is one of the premier deep sky winter objects. Easily seen as pale smudge in smaller telescopes, dust lanes and spiral arms can be observed through a larger telescope. Like with all deep sky objects, better views will come from locations with minimal light pollution.
While M31 is a favourite target for visual observers, it is also one of the most frequently imaged objects.
# 273 | The Crescent Moon and Venus
Anyone who stood outside on Saturday, January 20 just after sunset and looked to the west would have immediately noticed the beautiful conjunction of the Moon and Venus. While Venus has been visible after sunset in the western sky since the beginning of the year, it is often overlooked by people until joined by the brilliant crescent Moon.
Rick Stankiewicz braved the cold to take this image at 5:47 p.m. from his backyard in Peterborough, Ontario using a tripod-mounted Nikon 4500 digital camera. A 1/3-second exposure at f/5.1 and ISO 100 was taken.
# 272 | The Horsehead Nebula
An image of the Horsehead nebula is often instantly recognized by amateur astronomers. Although the nebula can be captured easily by a camera, it is notoriously difficult to detect visually, requiring a large telescope, dark skies and a specialized hydrogen-beta filter in order to be seen.
While almost any camera can record the Horsehead nebula, it is quite difficult to obtain a sharp, detailed image it. Stef Cancelli of Toronto, Ontario created this image using data taken in two locations—his home in Toronto and a remote observatory in New Mexico (due to cloudy weather in Ontario).
Image data:
Toronto:
L = 200 minutes of Ha
Camera: SBIG ST2000XM
Telescope: Vixen VC200LDG @ f6.4, 1280mm focal length
Mount: Takahashi EM200 Temma
RGB = 15 minutes each, unbinned
Camera: SBIG ST8XE
Telescope: Takahashi Epsilon 250 @ f3.3, 850mm focal length
Mount:
# 271 | Comet McNaught
Those who were fortunate to have clear skies this week were able to view Comet McNaught—the brightest comet since 1965. Visible just above the western horizon shortly after sunset , the comet's nucleus and dust tail could easily be seen without optical aid.
Due to its orbit, Comet McNaught was making a fast dash towards the horizon and was only visible until January 12. However, sharp-eyed observers who knew exactly where to look were able to find the comet with the naked eye during broad daylight on January 13, making McNaught the first comet visible during the day since 1910.
On January 10, Pierre Martin imaged Comet McNaught from near Ottawa, Ontario using a Canon 30D digital camera set to ISO 200 and a Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 lens (at 300mm and f4.5).
More information and photos of Comet McNaught can be found HERE.
# 270 | The Full Moon
While the full Moon isn't conducive to observing deep sky objects and therefore is usually the bane of amateur astronomers, many non-astronomy folks often notice it's beauty, especially when the Moon is just cresting the horizon.
On January 2, a clear night in Ontario occurred (a rare occasion the past few months!) which allowed Adam Evans to take this image from Toronto.
Using a Celestron C8 XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Adam took two images at 1/800th of a second with a Canon Digital Rebel XT at ISO 200 and combined then with Photoshop.