# 309| Mars!
Mars watchers eagerly anticipating the opposition of Mars in December 2007. With Mars higher in the ecliptic this apparition, therefore higher in the sky, both visual observers and planetary imagers are preparing to observe the red planet.
Even now, Mars is revealing some details. Currently found high in the southern sky shortly before dawn, the northern polar cap can easily been seen through a telescope even with Mars still appearing visually rather small.
As Mars and the Earth become closer to each other during the next two months, Mars will appear to grow in size and reveal even more detail. However, observers should not wait until then. Now is the time to begin observing Mars in order to train your eyes to discern faint details.
Darryl Archer took this image of Mars on the morning of Friday, October 5 from Baden, Ontario using a 14-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (operating at f/35) and a modified ToUcam Pro webcam.
100 frames were processed (from 800 taken) with K3CCDtools, Registax and Adobe Photoshop.
# 308| The Harvest Moon
This year's Harvest Moon (the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox) occurred on September 26. Due to the shallow angle of the ecliptic, the Moon rises only about 30 minutes later each night near the equinox.
The Hunter's Moon, which rises the night of October 25, will also present the opportunity for dramatic photos, such as this one taken on September 26 by Luca Vanzella of Edmonton, Alberta.
Sunlight reflecting off of the glass buildings in Edmonton's downtown core adds to the beauty of Vanzella's image.
1/125 seconds, 73mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, Canon XTi.
# 307| Every Picture Tells a Story
While images of deep sky objects such as galaxies or nebulas can illicit "oohs" and "ahhs" from a viewer, an on-tripod photo of a celestial event — one that captures a moment — always has a story to tell and can sometimes make a viewer feel as if they were there at the time.
From St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick, David and Debbie Cunningham enjoyed watching and photographing the full Moon rise over Deer Island while sitting along the tranquil sea shore.
A 1/63-second exposure was taken by Debbie Cunningham using a Nikon CoolPix 5700 with the camera lens set to 71mm and f/4.2.
# 306| The Elephant Trunk Nebula
Appropriately named due to its distinctive appearance, vdB142, commonly referred to as the Elephant Trunk nebula, is a star forming region in the constellation Cepheus. Difficult to see unless under very dark skies with a large aperture telescope, vdB142 is embedded within IC1396.
From within the glow of Toronto, Stef Cancelli imaged the Elephant Trunk nebula with a Takahashi F102 operating at f/6 and an SBIG ST10XME CCD camera (HaRGB=240, 60, 60, 60 minutes).
Processing was completed using MaxIm and Adobe Photoshop CSII.
# 305| Naked Eye Delights
With fall quickly approaching and the days becoming shorter, observers will soon be able to begin a night's viewing session earlier in the evening. Cooler, bug-free nights are welcomed by many who have spent nights battling mosquitoes and humidity in July and August.
No matter what you observe with, take the time to simply stare at the night sky with the naked eye. From a dark viewing location the stars can overwhelm an observer. A reclining chair, a blanket and a perfectly clear night can make for an enjoyable evening.
From near St. John's, Newfoundland, Don Burton captured this photo of the Big Dipper on August 20th using a Canon A95 digital camera. A 15-second exposure at f/2.8 using ISO 400 was taken.
# 304| The August 28, 2007 Lunar Eclipse
Most of North America was treated to a total lunar eclipse on August 28, 2007. Although viewers in Manitoba and further west had the opportunity to watch the complete eclipse, many observers in southern Ontario were fortunate to have a clear sky and were able to watch the Moon disappear into the western horizon while immersed in totality.
From near Baden, Ontario, Clark MacDonald captured this image of the Moon during totality using an 80mm Sky-Watcher refractor and a Canon XTi. Three 10-second exposures at ISO 100 were taken and combined afterwards with Registax.
# 303| The International Space Station and the Shuttle
Last week presented excellent opportunities for most of North American to view both the International Space Station and the Shuttle transit overhead.
Those who were fortunate to have clear skies on August 19 and 20 were treated to a display of the ISS and Shuttle travelling across the sky after the pair had separated — appearing as two fast moving "stars" close together.
From near Almonte, Ontario on August 19, Gary Boyle captured the pair (the ISS is the brighter of the two) as they were about to disappear into the Earth's shadow along the southeastern horizon.
A 20-second exposure was taken using a Canon XT digital camera operating at ISO 1600.
# 302 | Digital Star Trails
With the increasing popularity of digital cameras since the turn of the century, a particular style of astrophoto appeared to be disappearing — the star trail image.
While film cameras could capture hours of light on film, digital cameras suffer from noise — undesired colour pixels — when exposures longer than a few minutes were taken.
Newer generation digital cameras are getting better at reducing the amount of noise and astrophotographers are once again taking images of star trails. While the images are not of the same duration as those taken during the days of film use, the results are encouraging and only bound to get better with future cameras.
From near Parry Sound, Ontario, Lynn Hilborn took this 20 minute exposure at ISO 200 using a Canon 20D equipped with a 17mm lens operating at f/2.8.
The foreground was lit by nearby street lights.
# 301 | The Cygnus Wall
Although the North American Nebula easily reveals itself as a glowing ball of red-coloured gas in an image, it can be difficult to discern visually unless an observer is viewing from a dark viewing location.
Even then, the beautiful red colours that can be seen in astrophotos are absent. To the eye, the nebula appears as a dark cloud, identified only by the conspicuous absence of stars.
From within the severe light pollution of Toronto, Stef Cancelli created this image highlighting the Gulf of Mexico portion of the nebula and a feature known as "the wall", an area being lit and eroded by nearby young stars.
HaRGB - 200:60:60:60 (minutes respectively)
Takahashi FS102 operating at f/6.
SBIG ST10XME camera.
Takahashi EM200 Temma mount.
Processed with MaxIm DL and Adobe Photoshop CSII.
# 300 | A Scenic Celestial Sighting
In mid-July, the Moon joined Venus, Saturn and the bright star Regulus to form a pretty scene along the western horizon shortly after dusk.
Although the planets Saturn and Venus are now too low on the horizon and lost in the glare of the Sun, the thin crescent Moon can be observed hovering above the western horizon shortly after sunset on August 14-16.
From Big Bay, Ontario, Steve Irvine, a regular Photo of the Week submitter, captured this photo on July 17 using a Canon 350D digital camera equipped with a 100mm lens set to f/2. A two-second exposure at ISO 200 was taken.