conjunction


Astronomical Events – Then and Now

A few days ago (Dec. 14th) there was a total solar eclipse visible across South America.  Reports from Chile were disappointing, as unexpected clouds blocked the view.  Fortunately, things were a little better in Argentina, where my friend, Leo Cavagnaro, was in just the right spot to see and photograph it.  He reports that it was very windy, and this was due to the same weather system that brought the clouds over Chile, but it was mostly clear where he was.  In the above photo, taken during totality, the Moon neatly blocks the view of the Sun, but we can […]


The Last of California

No, California isn’t going away, this is just the last photo from my recent trip down there.  This is M78, captured with the SVX80T at f/6, and the ASI1600 camera.  I shot the same target last year with the WO Star71, which has a significantly wider field of view, and also got it from the remote observatory in Australia with a somewhat narrower field of view.  I’ve repeated the effort because none of these captures has been entirely satisfactory.  This one is better than I expected given that it was captured in just 6 hours or so, over the last […]


Can You See it?

As noted in my 2016 Calendar (https://wa-chur-ed.com/astro-photo-printsimagescalendars/), there will be a very close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter tomorrow, August 27th.  Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), the closest encounter of the two planets will be difficult to see here in North America.  It’s not surprising because Venus is never very far from the Sun, and at this time it’s actually quite close. However, if you wait until just after sunset you should be able to see them just above the western horizon for a short time, and they will still be quite close.  On the east coast the separation will be […]