Dec 152012
 

I ventured out to Guelph Lake Thursday evening to observe and try to photograph this year’s Geminid meteor shower. For about an hour, from 12:30-1:30 AM, I sat on top of the dam and watched as more than 50 pieces of ancient asteroid burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. It was one of the most spectacular meteor showers I’ve witnessed, and was well worth bundling up and staying out late!

While just witnessing this year’s Geminid Meteor shower was exciting, I was finally able to capture a few pieces of the doomed asteroid on camera.

Geminid meteor - Facing North - Guelph Lake 2012

Geminid meteor – Northern Sky – Guelph Lake 2012

Geminid Meteor over Guelph Lake - Facing East - 2012

Faint Geminid Meteor (just to the left of centre, parallel to the Big Dipper) over Guelph Lake – East – 2012

Guelph Lake is a mere 5 minutes outside of the city of Guelph, and as you can see in the second photo, there is plenty of light pollution affecting our view of the sky (that big yellow glow is the Greater Toronto Area off in the distance). Luckily there are some places that still enjoy dark night skies, but for the most part they require some dedication and travel to get to.

Phil Plait (aka @BadAstronomer) has some beautiful photos of the Geminids shared by his readers over at his blog Bad Astronomy.

Stars over Guelph Lake - Geminids 2012

Stars over Guelph Lake, with only clouds to fill the earthly sky.

Photos captured with a Nikon D700 & Nikkor 18-70mm lens  (F3.5, 20 secs, ISO 500, Tripod).

Dec 212010
 
Lunar Eclipse, Feb. 2, 2008

EXIF - 1.6 sec, f/5.0, ISO 400, 70-300mm lens set at 122mm, tripod+remote shutter release

Happy Winter Solstice! It might not be as exciting as Christmas, but the winter solstice signals the lengthening of days, shortening of nights, and the return of summer and insects. Ya, it might be awhile still, but a guy can dream can’t he?

This year also saw a rare occurrence of a full lunar eclipse occurring on the winter solstice. Does it mean anything? Nope, just a special day for a special occasion. Since the next time these two astrological events coincide is in exactly 84 years on Dec. 21, 2094, it would have been a nice time to do some moon-gazing! Of course if it occured at 3am EST on a cloudy night and you have a committee meeting the next day like I did, you had to settle for photos you took in years past!

This shot was from the lunar eclipse of February 2, 2008 and shot from the middle of a rural road north of Guelph. Getting away from the light pollution of cities is the first step in astrophotography. A tripod, a remote shutter release (or warm mitts to guard against the cold while you press that button) and a hot drink all help to get the shot. Unless you live in Western Africa or the South Pacific, you’ll have to wait until June 2012 to try your hand at photographing the next partial lunar eclipse!

Sep 022010
 

Milky Way Galaxy over the jungles of Costa Rica

The star viewing over El Copal was absolutely fantastic and gave me a great opportunity to practice some astrophotography in the evenings. I’m still refining my techniques, and my equipment isn’t great at handling long exposure noise, but this is by far my best attempt at capturing the Milky Way and all the potential of the universe! Of course, when I see photos like this one I realize I have a long ways to go, but that just means I have an excuse to keep trying!