Astronomy Galleries

Astro Photography back in FILM Days : The photos in this gallery were done with film in the “last century”! Those of you who are using digital cameras, image stacking, auto guiders, and “go to” telescopes don’t have a good feel for the challenges in astro photography in the old days. There is no question that today’s equipment can produce much higher quality images with less effort than before, and that’s a good thing. To put this in perspective, when the 200 inch telescope went into operation in the early ‘50s the limiting magnitude star it could photograph with available film was about 21st magnitude. That magnitude star can now be photographed with a 10 inch scope using today’s digital cameras. That is just amazing to me when you realize that the 200 inch scope gathers 400 times more light than a 10 inch scope! Please enjoy these images from the old days.

Astro Photography back in FILM Days

The photos in this gallery were done with film in the “last century ...

Updated: Feb 28, 2010 6:39pm PST

Solar Eclipses : Solar Eclipses are events that can only be observed in narrow paths where the Moon’s shadow passes along the Earth. Observers usually travel long distances in order to position themselves along the shadow’s path.

Solar Eclipses

Solar Eclipses are events that can only be observed in narrow paths wh ...

Updated: Feb 02, 2010 5:44pm PST

Green and BLUE Flash of the SUN : The Green Flash of the Sun is the result of atmospheric distortion of the Sun when it’s low on the horizon. The photos in this gallery were taken with a focal length of 2200mm at Blind Pass between Sanibel and Captiva Islands, FL. The atmosphere was unusually clear and allowed blue light to reach the camera. More often particles in the atmosphere will filter out blue light and green is the last color seen in the flash. A Blue Sun Flash is VERY rare.

Green and BLUE Flash of the SUN

The Green Flash of the Sun is the result of atmospheric distortion of ...

Updated: Dec 16, 2009 10:56am PST

Observatory Construction : In my 20s and 30s I built two observatories and two observatory telescope mounts (among a number of smaller portable telescopes and mounts). The logistics of handling parts too large and heavy for one person to pick up are interesting. The photos in this gallery will give you a feel for what those projects were like.

Observatory Construction

In my 20s and 30s I built two observatories and two observatory telesc ...

Updated: Dec 13, 2009 1:45pm PST

Fire Rainbow : Circumhorizontal Arc (Fire Rainbow): These three images captured the appearance of a Circumhorizontal Arc, sometimes called a “Fire Rainbow”. The nickname Fire Rainbow comes more from the appearance of the phenomenon than the science producing the colors. This is not produced like a rainbow (light reflecting and refracting in a rain drop) but rather by light refracting through the edges of flat hexagonal (like a plate) ice crystals. The conditions that produce this phenomenon are rather rare. I only saw it for about 10 minutes before the clouds changed and the colors faded. These photos were taken in Redmond WA. January 21, 2009.

Fire Rainbow

Circumhorizontal Arc (Fire Rainbow): These three images captured the ...

Updated: Feb 03, 2009 6:25am PST

Internation Space Station Fly Over : On the evening of November 20, 2008 at about 6:14PM the International Space Station with the Shuttle Endeavor docked passed over the Atlanta area. The sky shot with the streak was taken with a 16mm wide angle lens. That image is the combination of four 30 second exposures stacked together. The three breaks in the streak came from the time needed for the camera to download the image and starting the next exposure. The close up was taken with an 1100mm f/7 Astro Physics lens and a Canon digital camera. You can see the solar panels on either side of the space station. It was a challenge to track it while flying 17,200 mph and get an image with very little motion. At the time of the photo the pair was about 250 miles away. At 250 miles away the Space Station is only about 40 arc seconds in size. That’s about the size of some of the larger planets around us. The difference in getting detailed photos on a planet is that they aren’t moving so fast.

Internation Space Station Fly Over

On the evening of November 20, 2008 at about 6:14PM the International ...

Updated: Nov 22, 2008 10:50am PST

Lunar Eclipse &Comet : This gallery contains a collection of astronomical and atmospheric phenomenon.

Lunar Eclipse &Comet

This gallery contains a collection of astronomical and atmospheric phe ...

Updated: Nov 21, 2008 5:13pm PST