# 359 | The International Space Station and Jules Verne Spacecraft
Though the International Space Station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, the celestial geometry between a potential observer and the spacecraft has to be such that sunlight reflects off of the craft's shiny metallic body in the direction of the observer.
During this past week the ISS has travelled over Canada shortly after sunset, creating opportunities to view it over the course of several nights.
An added bonus was the ability to view the Jules Verne spacecraft. Launched in March by the European Space Agency, the Jules Verne was used to transport equipment and supplies to the ISS.
On September 29, ESA controllers will command the Jules Verne to de-orbit and later in the day it will burn up in the atmosphere somewhere over an uninhabited portion of the Pacific Ocean.
Marcus Stevens captured this photo of both the ISS (the brighter streak) and the Jules Verne cruising over London, Ontario on September 21. Using a Canon XSi digital camera, he took a 60-second exposure at ISO 1600 using an 18mm f/3.5 lens.
# 358 | The Harvest Moon
This year's Harvest Moon occurred on September 15. Throughout the year the Moon rises, on average, 50 minutes later per night. Near the autumn equinox, due to the angle of the ecliptic, the moonrise varies only by about 30 minutes per night.
This extra moonlight has historically lended a hand to farmers harvesting their fall crops --- hence the name "Harvest Moon".
From near Big Bay, Ontario, Steve Irvine captured the Harvest Moon rising over Georgian Bay. He used a tripod-mounted Canon 350D equipped with a 100mm lens operating at f/3.5. A 1/80 second exposure was taken at ISO 200.
# 357 | The Double Cluster
The Double Cluster, formally known as NGC864 and NGC869, can at first appear to be a single star cluster. Upon closer scrutiny, it can be discerned that there are indeed two separate groupings of stars.
Peter Raine took advantage of the dark skies found at Gordon's Park on Ontario's Manitoulin Island in late August to take this image of the Double Cluster.
Shooting through an Astro-Physics 102 refractor, Peter took a single 10-minute exposure at ISO 400 with a modified Canon 350D using an 80mm refractor equipped with an ST-4 for guiding.
# 356 | NGC891
Though M31 may be the most commonly known and observed galaxy within the constellation Andromeda, NGC891 is an object not to be overlooked.
Shining at magnitude 10.8, NGC891 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located south of Perseus' Double Cluster. Nearly 29 million light-years from Earth, NGC891 is a spectacular object when viewed from a dark observing site through an 8-inch or larger telescope.
Imaging from near Orangeville, ON, Mark Viol took this photo on August 31, 2008.
Using a Canon 350D and shooting through a Celestron 11-inch SCT equipped with a f/6.3 focal reducer, Mark took 26 four-minute exposures at ISO 1600 and then combined them afterwards. Guiding was accomplished using a Meade DSI Pro and an Orion ED80 refractor.
# 355 |Cool Night, Nice Views
As the end of summer approaches, cooler nights begin to arrive and constellations not seen for months begin to show themselves once again.
Though the days may be warm, temperatures often begin to drop at night in August. This can often result in heavy dew and fog.
Jeffery Young recently took advantage of a clear, cool night to stargaze overtop of a lake within Ontario's Halfway Lake Provincial Park.
Jeffery notes that being at a lake under a moonlit night is the best way to enjoy the stars and the water. His photo is testament to that.
A 10-second exposure was taken shooting through a Canon XTi operating at ISO 400 with a Tamron 28-80mm lens at f/4.5.
# 354 | M31
One of the night sky's most well-known and observed objects is once again rising at a convenient time for amateur astronomers.
The Andromeda Galaxy, commonly referred to as M31, is an easily observed galaxy located only 2.3 million light-years from Earth.
Visible under a dark sky to the naked eye, binoculars reveal the galaxy to be distinctly elongated. A telescope can reveal spiral arms and its two companion galaxies.
From near Magnetawan, Ontario, Ian Wheelband recently imaged M31 using an SBIG STL11000M CCD camera and a Tele Vue NP127 apochromatic refractor mounted atop a Mountain Instruments MI250 mount.
# 353 | Perseid Meteors
If you weren't clouded out, chances are you saw many Perseid meteors earlier this week.
Pierre Martin of Ottawa, Ontario, observing and photographing from near Bon Echo Provincial Park, reports that once the Moon had set that the meteor shower was excellent.
Pierre took continuous 2-minute exposures from 1:00 a.m. until 4:30 a.m. and then combined them into one single photo to show all the meteors that were captured by his Canon 30D digital camera.
# 352 | Fishing For Stars
Summer fishing trips to remote areas are highly anticipated by anglers everywhere. Those who also happen to be amateur astronomers really look forward to the trip.
In June Rick Stankiewicz of Peterborough, Ontario travelled to northern Ontario to partake in some pike and walleye fishing.
Fortunately for him, clear skies at night allowed for some stargazing.
Though moonlight interfered with deep sky observations, it created the opportunity to capture the Moon's reflection on the still water of the lake with his Canon digital camera. Jupiter can be seen reflecting off of the water.
# 351 | The Milky Way
With the new Moon occurring this past Friday, deep sky fanatics have been able to observe the night sky without interfering moonlight for the past week. Though the thin crescent Moon will illuminate the night sky this week, those who wish to view the Milky Way will have the opportunity until Wednesday night (unless one chooses to stay up until the wee hours before dawn).
Driving west of Ottawa towards Renfrew, Pierre Martin recently took advantage of the moonless sky to capture the splendour of the Milky Way. Jupiter can be seen to the lower left.
Combining two 7-minute exposures with Adobe Photoshop, Pierre's image stunning image showcases the beauty of the Milky Way stretching from the zenith (the constellation Cygnus) to the southern horizon (the constellation Sagittarius).
Pierre used a Canon 30D equipped with a 16-35mm lens (used at 20mm and f/4) and ISO 400.
# 350 | M63
Nicknamed the Sunflower galaxy, M63 is located in the constellation Canes Venatici. At magnitude 8.5, M63 is an easy target for a 6-inch or larger telescope under moderately dark skies.
Those with an unobstructed horizon to the northwest may still catch a glimpse of M63 before it disappears into the horizon.
Earlier this year Stuart Heggie of Flesherton, Ontario imaged M63 using an f/7 Astro-Physics 155mm refractor and an ST-10XME CCD camera and Astrondon filters.
L= 30 x 5 minutes.
RGB = 4 x 10 minutes.
# 349 | Seeing the Scene
With powerful computer programs available to photographers, images can be combined so that not only is the night sky able to be seen, but also the foreground.
Using a Canon 40D digital camera and a 17-40 Sigma lens (at 17mm and f/2.8), Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn took fifteen 20-second exposures at ISO 800 of the southern Milky Way on July 5 from Binbrook, Ontario.
After taking the shots of the night sky, Kerry-Ann took a single 20-second exposure of the foreground and combined it with the astrophotos using Deep Sky Stacker and Adobe Photoshop.
# 347 | The Camera Has Eyes
Sometimes the camera sees things that the photographer doesn't even notice.
While waiting at a rendezvous point in Duncan, B.C. for the start of a motorcycle trip on the morning of Tuesday, June 8, 2008, Norm Willey decided to take a photo of his motorcycle in the early morning light.
It was not until the trip was over and images were uploaded to his computer that he noticed that a spectacular fireball had inadvertently been captured while taking one of the photos.
Both he and his Olympus 3020 point-and-shoot camera were in the right place at the right time.
# 347 | Twilight Trio
Those who were outside at sunset and happened to look westward would have easily noticed the thin crescent Moon and three nearby "stars" on a 45-degee angle to the horizon.
In fact, two of the three "stars" were the planets Saturn and Mars (top left and middle of the three, respectively). Regulus, the only star, was closest to the Moon.
The Moon will continue to form a conjunction with Saturn and Mars on July 6. Later this week the two planets will appear closer to each other, culminating on July 9.
From his home outside of Peterborough, Ontario, Rick Stankiewicz took this image of (from bottom right) the Moon, Regulus, Mars and Saturn. Rick used a tripod mounted Canon 400D digital camera and a 17-70mm lens.
# 346 | A Summer Aurora
With darkness lasting only a few hours in Canada during the summer months, it is a rare that an aurora becomes visible.
On the night of June 24/25, Tenho Tuomi witnessed this aurora rising above the Saskatchewan night sky. Using a Canon Rebel XT digital camera equipped with an 18mm lens operating at f/3.5, Tenho took a 20-second exposure at ISO 1600 to capture a rarely seen summer aurora from Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan.
# 345 | The Scutum Star Cloud
The next two weeks provide an excellent opportunity to view the core of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Seen as a thick band of stars rising in the east an hour after darkness, the Milky Way becomes more thick with stars as it approaches the south.
The thickest concentration of stars can be found in the constellation Sagittarious, seen rising in the southeast after midnight. By 4:00 a.m. the Milky Way can easily be seen arching overhead. A sky free of light pollution is necessary to view the splendour of the Milky Way.
From his home in Big Bay, Ontario, Steve Irvine captured the Scutum star cloud, located just above Sagittarius in the constellation Scutum, between 2-3:00 a.m. on June 2. Steve took ten 3-minute exposures at ISO 800 through his Canon 350D digital camera equipped with a 20mm lens set to f/4. The files were then combined together to create this final image.
# 344 | The Dumbbell Nebula
M27 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula. Under a dark sky the nebula can be glimpsed in binoculars and is easily seen through a 6-inch or larger telescope from locations with moderate light pollution.
From his backyard observatory in Ingersoll, Ontario, Bill Gardner imaged M27 over the course of two night in May and June. Using a combination of a hydrogen-alpha filter for the luminance and RGB filters for colour, Bill imaged through an Astro-Physics AP155 refractor riding atop an Astro-Physics AP900GTO mount.
# 343 | Globular Cluster M13
Globular cluster M13, found within the constellation Hercules, is one of the showpiece objects of the night sky. Containing more than a million stars, the cluster appears to be a giant golf ball of suns when viewed through an 8-inch or larger telescope.
Imaging from his driveway within Toronto, Ontario on the nights of May 17 and 25, 2008, Stef Cancelli created this fantastic photo of the cluster.
Image specifications:
Vixen VC200L operating at f/9.
ST10XME CCD camera with a clear filter.
LRGB = 55:60:60:60
Unbinned Clear Filter, Binned RGB
Processed with MaxIm DL, PixInsight LE and Photoshop CS3.
# 342 | A Scene That Can Be Seen
A great on-tripod photo evokes emotion and can bring back memories to the viewer. Bob Betenia of Calgary, Alberta captured this beautiful photo of the rising Moon, a scene which many amateur astronomers have experienced, on May 18, 2008 while in the East Kootenay area of British Columbia.
A Canon 40D with a 70-200mm lens (set to 200mm) was used and a 1/40 second exposure at f/8 was taken.
# 341 | M51
Spring is the perfect season for observing galaxies. With a large number of galaxies interspersed between the constellations Leo, Virgo and Ursa Major, this portion of the sky is a deep sky observers delight.
M51, also known as the Whirlpool galaxy, can be found near Alkaid, the last star in the handle of the Big Dipper. Located 37 million light years from Earth, M51 shines with at a magnitude of 8.0. Dark skies and an 8-inch or larger telescope is recommended for discerning spiral arms within the galaxy.
Pierre Tremblay imaged M51 over four nights in early May 2008 using a Takahashi CN-212 telescope (in Newtonian mode) mounted atop a Losmandy G-11.
An SXV-H9 CCD camera equipped with SBIG CFW10 and Astrondon LRGB filters was used.
L = 63 x 300 seconds.
R = 5 x 390 seconds.
G, B = 5 x 300 seconds.
Sharp-eyed viewers may note some faint galaxies in the background of Pierre's image.
# 340 | The Pleiades
Those who had clear skies on May 6 were able to view a beautiful conjunction of the Moon and Mercury.
Though the Moon has trekked further eastward in the night sky, Mercury can still be viewed hugging the western sky at dusk for another week.
Marcus Stevens captured this image of Mercury and the Moon from Fingal, Ontario. Using a Canon XSi digital camera, he took a 1-second exposure at ISO 400 using a lens set to 110mm (equipped with a Lumicon Minus Violet filter) at f/4.5 at 9:24 p.m.
# 339 | The Pleiades
The Pleiades, often mistaken by beginner amateur astronomers as the Little Dipper, is the brightest open star cluster that can be observed.
The view through binculars or a telescope that allows a wide-field view is magnificient. Those wishing to see the Pleiades should act quickly — the cluster is sinking into the sunset shortly after dusk and will soon disappear from evening observations.
From St. Luc, Quebec, expert astrophotographers Marc Paradis imaged the Pleiades over two nights in September 2007 to create this splendid photo.
Image specifications:
- William-Optics Fluorostar 100mm f/8 with 4-inch field flattener
- CCD: STL-11k operating at -20°C with LRGB Astrodon filters (self-guided)
- Mount: Losmandy G-11 Gemini
- LRGB composition: (180:80:80:80) for a total of 7 hours of exposure.
# 338 | When The Stars Aren't The Star
A fantastic astrophoto can capture the eye rather quickly. While a galaxy or nebula are themselves the focal point of a deep sky image, on-tripod astrophotos have a key ingredient in order to be a splendid image: an interesting foreground.
Almost a decade ago Steve Irvine and Bill Loney created Keppel Henge, a large megalithic circle in Big Bay, Ontario.
Using his Canon 350D digital camera, on April 23, Steve took 183 twenty-second images overlooking Keppel Henge and then combined the files to create a 61-minute star trail composite photo.
The foreground was illuminated by some nearby lighting and contrasts greatly with the dark sky.
# 337 | A Young Moon Hovers On The Horizon
In the spring the angle of the ecliptic is almost perpendicular to the western horizon at dusk. This results in the ability, provided that the clouds cooperate, to view a very young Moon. Besides a clear sky, the other key ingredient to viewing a young Moon is a flat, unobstructed horizon.
David Chapman of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia captured this image of the thin crescent Moon — only 19 hours and 28 minutes after new Moon — on the evening of April 6.
David used a Canon PowerShot G3 digital camera to take his image. The 28.8mm lens setting was selected and a 1.75x tele-extender was used. A 1/10 second exposure at f/3.0 using ISO 200 was taken.
# 336 | The Moon Occults M45
On the evening of April 8, viewers with clear skies were treated to another occultation of the Moon by the Pleiades, also known as M45.
The last in a series of occultatons of the Pleiades over the past two years, this event was the most beautiful for some since the Moon was only a few days old. The result was a striking slender crescent Moon gliding across the cluster.
From his home in Calgary, Alberta, SkyNews Associate editor Alan Dyer captured this image using a Canon 20Da digital camera and an 80mm A&M apochromatic refractor operating at f/4.8. A 2-second exposure at ISO 400 was taken.
# 335 | M101
M101, also known as the Pinwheel galaxy, appears exactly as its name suggests — as a pinwheel. A dark sky free from light pollution and a 10-inch or larger telescope is usually required to see the pinwheel shape.
Located within the constellation Ursa Major, M101 can be found slightly north of Alkyd, the last star in the handle of the Big Dipper. Due to its orientation (face-on), M101 can appear very diffuse and can easily be missed.
From his backyard in St. Liborer, Quebec, Martin Bernier imaged M101 on March 5/6.
Martin used a Celestron C9.25 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, operating at f/6.3 and an SBIG SBIG ST2000XM CCD camera.
Post processing was completed using CCDSoft, Photoshop and Astro Tools.
LRGB = 215, 40, 40, 40 minutes.
# 334 | First Quarter Moon
In the spring the angle of the ecliptic is inclined quite steeply towards the western horizon. For lunar observers and photographers, this results in a well-placed Moon in the evening sky, high above the horizon and away from our murky atmosphere which affects seeing and photos.
On March 14, Stuart Heggie of Flesherton, Ontario used his Astro-Physics 155EDF f/7 refractor and an SBIG ST10XME CCD camera equipped with an Astrodon 6nm H-Alpha filter to create this images of the Moon.
Ten images, each .12 seconds were taken and combined afterwards using Maxim DL and Photoshop.
# 333 | The Shuttle Soars Again
Florida is a popular destination for Canadians in March. Those who were visiting the state earlier this month had the opportunity to watch the Shuttle Endeavour launch from the Kennedy Space Centre during the night of March 11, 2008.
Though all launches are a spectacular event, the rare night launches become a sight to behold when the rocket boosters illuminate the dark.
James Fougere, a member of the New Brunswick chapter of the RASC, was vacationing in Florida and was able to capture this image of the Shuttle seconds after lift-off.
A Sony A700 digital camera, equipped with a G-series 300mm f/2.8 lens and a 1.4 teleconverter, was used. With the lens set to f/8, a 1/100 second exposure at ISO 200 was taken.
# 332 | Alberta Auroras
Edmonton has long been known as an excellent location for aurora watchers due to its proximity to the auroral oval — the ring of auroral activity that continually hovers overtop of the Arctic.
Now that we are exiting solar minimum, there should be more appearances of northern lights in our night sky.
Those who wish to photograph auroras are advised to use a fast (f/3.5 or lower) wide-angle lens and a tripod to hold the camera.
On the night of March 8, 2008, a bright aurora developed and Zoltan Kenwell took this image using a Canon EOS 1D Mark III digital camera equipped with a 12mm lens operating at f/4.5. A 44-second exposure was taken.
# 331 | Star Trails
When astrophotography became more popular to do with digital cameras , film wasn't the only thing to essentially go by the wayside. Star trails, images taken with exposures ranging from minutes to hours, were not seen as often since noise, digital artifacts that affect the quality of an image, were prevalent in long-exposure images taken with digital cameras.
Fortunately, in the past year the quality of digital cameras has improved enough that star trail photos are once again becoming popular.
From Sechelt, British Columbia, James MacWilliam took this star trail image last summer using a Canon 300D digital camera. An exposure of almost 16 minutes was taken at ISO 400 using a 22mm lens at f/4.
# 330 | Solar Halo
Surprisingly common, a solar halo is usually not noticed by many since the light of the Sun overwhelms the observer.
Created when thin high cirrus clouds refract sunlight (or moonlight in the case of a lunar halo), sometimes an entire ring will form around the Sun, as seen in this photo taken by William McMullen of Orleans, Ontario. Other times an observer will only see the ice crystals refracting to the left and right of the Sun — called Sun dogs.
William took this image at noon on Friday, February 29, 2008 using a Canon XT digital camera equipped with a 17-40 mm Sigma lens (set to 17mm) at f/11. A 1/1000 second exposure at ISO 200 was taken.