# 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.
# 348 | 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.