# 269 | The Shuttle, ISS and an Iridium Flare
If the weather cooperated, Canadian observers had the opportunity to view the Shuttle and the International Space Station fly overhead in late December.
On December 19, Doug Wayland of Prince George, B.C. knew that the Shuttle had undocked from the ISS and the pair would be visible that evening. By coincidence, a magnitude -7 Iridium flare was also predicted to occur during the transit.
Even with heavy light pollution all three were visible and Doug was able to capture the trio using a tripod-mounted Canon F1 camera loaded with Fuji ISO 400 print film. A 28mm lens at f/4 was used and Doug took a 1-minute exposure.
# 268 | The Geminid Meteor Shower
Amateur astronomers have sometimes been known to travel a few hours in order to observe under dark skies. But what about driving 1800 kilometres?
In order to observe the Geminid meteor shower, Pierre Martin of Ottawa, Ontario packed his gear into his car and drove all the way to Tennessee to take advantage of clear skies.
As well as visually observing the shower, Pierre also spent the night taking a number of one-minute images. The above photo is a composite of numerous one-minute images stacked together (Canon 300D at ISO 800 with a Canon 35mm lens set to f/2).
Pierre reports that at one time there was over 100 meteors per hour seen.
# 267 | An Aurora and a Geminid
A regular submitter to SkyNews' Photo of the Week, Steve Irvine of Big Bay, Ontario appears to be one of the few astrophotographers across Canada with clear skies this fall.
Not only did the sky clear for the conjunction of Jupiter, Mercury and Mars last week, but Steve was also lucky to witness a beautiful aurora a few nights later on December 14.
One of Steve's images also captured a late Geminid streaking across the sky.
His image was taken using a Canon 350D set to ISO 800 with an 18mm lens at f/3.5. A 25-second exposure was taken.
# 266 | Jupiter, Mercury and Mars
On December 10, Jupiter, Mercury and Mars formed a tight triangle in eastern sky just before dawn. Jupiter and Mars will continue to be seen in the morning twilight while Mercury will quickly dip below the horizon and continue its orbit around the Sun.
From a spot overlooking Ontario's Georgian Bay, at 6:53 a.m. Steve Irvine took this 1.3-second exposure with his Canon 350D at ISO 200 using a 100mm, f/2.8 lens.
Jupiter is the brighter of the three "stars". Mars, the faintest of the three, can be found to the right of Jupiter while Mercury can be seen slightly above.
# 265 | The Orion Nebula—A Second Look
Last week (POW 264) a wide-field image of M42 was selected as the SkyNews Photo of the Week. This week another shot of the Orion nebula has been chosen.
Stuart Heggie of Flesherton, Ontario took advantage of some rare clear nights this past November to take this highly detailed image of M42.
Using a Takahashi FSQ 106 refractor mounted atop an Astro-Physics 900 equatorial mount and an SBIG ST10XME CCD camera, Stuart took 12 red, four green and four blue frames, each two minutes in length. Afterwards he processed them CCDSoft5, Maxim and Photoshop CS2.
# 264 | The Orion Nebula
Winter constellations are now showing themselves at a more convenient time. One of the most prominent winter deep sky objects, the Orion nebula, can be found rising above the horizon by 9:30 p.m..
Binoculars will show the nebula as a distinct hazy patch while a telescope reveals a wealth of nebulosity. A target to look for within the nebula is the trapezium, four stars in the shape of a trapezoid. As with all deep sky objects, the best views will come from an area little light pollution.
On November 22, 2006 Rick Saunders took this image of M42 from Fingal, Ontario, the London RASC dark sky observing site.
Rick used a Stellarvue Nighthawk II refractor and a Canon Rebel XT camera. A single 90-second exposure at ISO 800 was taken.
# 263 | Barnard's Star
Discovered in 1916 by E. E. Barnard, this star in the constellation Ophiuchus has a motion of slightly more than 10 arc-seconds per year. At a distance of just under 6 light-years from Earth, one can easily discern the motion of the star after even just one year.
Expert CCD imager Paul Mortfield took images of Barnard's Star in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and then combined them into this image which shows the star's movement.
From his backyard observatory in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Paul used his 16-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope and a SBIG ST10XME CCD camera to create his composite.
# 262 | Mercury Transits the Sun
While a good portion of Canada was covered in clouds when Mercury transited the Sun on November 8, some SkyNews readers were lucky enough to witness the event.
After scouring the weather forecasts, Les Marczi travelled to Point Pelee, Ontario to take advantage of clear skies and captured this image of Mercury crossing in front of the Sun. Sunspot 923 can be seen to the left.
Les used a Celestron 9.25" f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope equipped with a Baader solar filter and a Canon 300D digital camera.
More information on the transit can be found here.
# 261 | Comet SWAN
Discovered in June 2006 by the Solar Wind Anisotropies instrument aboard the SOHO (Solar Heliospheric Observatory) satellite, Comet SWAN suddenly brightened for a few days at the end of October and subsequently became just barely visible to the naked eye from a dark observing location. A few days later the comet faded although it is still a binocular object.
From north of Ottawa, Ontario. Pierre Martin captured Comet SWAN on October 30 using his Canon 30D digital camera and a 300mm f/2.8 lens. Three one-minute exposures at ISO 400 were taken and then combined afterwards.
# 260 | M57 During the Day
People often ask what can be seen through a telescope during the day. With a proper solar filter, sunspots on the face of the Sun can be observed. If the Moon is visible, craters can be explored. A handful of bright stars can be located with computerized telescopes.
But what can a camera attached to a telescope see during the day?
In late June 2006, Rock Mallin captured M57, the Ring Nebula, more than two hours before sunset from his observatory in Ottawa, Ontario. Using his MallinCam Hyper Color Video CCD camera and a 16-inch Meade SCT, Rock took 100 images and processed them afterwards with RegiStax.