Water Dragon

This Water Dragon is one of the critters in my wife's middle school science classroom. The detail in this lizards eye is rather interesting and not all that different from that of the leopard geckos that are also in the classroom. This image was taken at 190mm in macro mode with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/5, ISO 1600 using flash with an FEC of about -1 stop.

W-I-L-D-Cats

At the end of the halftime show, normally just the Tubas do the "W-I-L-D-Cats" dance in the middle of the field, but last Saturday's game was the last home game for all the seniors in the band, so they joined the Tubas onfield after being spotlighted. My daughter was one of those so honored and is amongst the band members in the middle of the field, finishing her fifth and final year in the Pride of Arizona Marching Band. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 800.

Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat

A couple weeks ago I posted a picture of the Cal Golden Bear mascot. Here, Wilma and Wilbur Wildcat walk the football field before Saturdays ASU-UofA football game. Wilbur has evolved over the years, reflecting the "state of the art" in college mascots. This image was taken at 168mm focal length with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Dueling Trumpet solo

Saturday was the annual UofA-ASU football game and one of the traditions of the day is for both the bands to get together for a halftime show. On Saturday morning, the two bands play their respective shows and then have a rehearsal for the game performance. This was a combined Trumpet solo with one member of each band participating. It was fun to watch the two bands march onto the field and then mix together for a 500 member superband - quite impressive to hear! This image was taken at 149mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

Cirrusy sunset

My last night on Kitt Peak this run was the night before Turkey Day and there was plenty of cirrus about as twilight faded. Luckily my 9 night run was not hampered at all by clouds - I didn't loose a single minute to weather, so quite a good run! This is the Spacewtach telescope in twilight with the cirrus fading away. The exposure was at 34mm focal length with an exposure of 1/80 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.

Mexican Jay

The Mexican Jays on Kitt Peak are an aggressive bunch. They love visitors up here and I've heard stories of them swiping a visitors sandwich. This one was foraging for seeds and other small items near the dining hall. I had seen a woodpecker a couple nights earlier on my way to dinner, but of course when I have my camera and big lens, they were nowhere ot be seen. The Mexican Jays, however, did not disappoint and I was easily able to hang out within only a few feet of them as they browsed around in this clearning and the nearby trees. This image was taken at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5, ISO 400. 

Noisy Crow

I was awakened this morning by the sound of pounding on the glass window of the dorm room adjacent to the one I was trying to sleep in. Yesterday, I had been awakened by the same sound and saw a crow outside the window tapping on his reflected image in the window (do crows recognize themselves in their reflections or do they think it's a 2nd crow - I've never seen a crow tapping the beak of another crow before...), but didn't bring my camera. This morning, I was prepared and captured a couple shots, this being the better of them. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/4, ISO 800. 

Zodiacal Light

 
I captured this image of the Zodiacal Light rising below the constellation Leo just before the crack of morning twilight. The zodiacal light is caused by dust in the plane of the solar system lit up by sunlight and is best viewed when the ecliptic stands as near vertically from the horizon as it can from your viewing location. The zodiacal light is the faint tall triangular shaped glow angling to the upper right. Also visible is a faint satellite silently orbiting Earth above. This view from Kitt Peak is to the south of the light cap above Tucson in the east-northeast which can be seen at bottom and brighter to the left. The Santa Rita Mountains are visible along the horizon at the lower right. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an expsoure of 30 seconds at f/1.8, ISO 800. 

McMath Solar Telescope silhouette

 
The McMath Solar Telescope prepares for a day of observing the sun as the morning twilight silhouette's the buildings structure just before dawn. This image was taken at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 800. 

Milky Way and satellite

 
Say goodbye to the Summer Milky Way as it sets early each night. A satellite passes in front of the Milky Way over a neighboring telescope (which appears to be in its stow position). This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/1.8, ISO 800. 

Leonid Meteor

 
I caught this Leonid meteor during a timelapse sequence looking low in the northeast over Tucson and Avra Valley from Kitt Peak. The colors are from street lights, not twilight and the prominant stars above the meteor are those of the handle of the Big Dipper. This image was taken at 24mm with an exposure of 15 seconds at f/1.8, ISO 800. 

My Shadow

 
I was up a little too late yesterday morning - late enough to see the sunrise and the shadow of Kitt Peak to the WNW. This image was made with my 24mm lens at 1/640 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 200. 

Kitt Peak in the distance

 
You might just be able to make out the dome of the 4-meter telescope in the pass on the right flank of Cat Mountain in this telephoto shot (compare with yesterday's image). This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/6400 seconds at f/4, ISO 800. 

Cat Mountain

 
This is the view from a Geocache I placed in Tucson Mountain Park west of town called "Starr Pass II" - a replacement for my original geocache called "Starr Pass". The view is of Cat Mountain roughly WSW of the cache looking across Tucson Mountain Park. This little oasis of desert is being threatened from 3 sides by development but despite that contains an amazing variety of plant and animal life - an amazing area to spend a few hours hiking through. I've seeen Gila Monsters and Deer in the area and have heard reports of javelina and a fox as well! BTW, you can just make out part of Kitt Peak through the pass to the right of Cat Mountain - perhaps I'll post a telephoto shot that covers that area and shows the 4-meter telescope dome. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/11, ISO 200. 

Herc

 
A C-130 Hercules airplane flies over the UofA campus. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

The crowd rushes the field

 
As the clock ticks down to zero and the Wildcat victory is official, the crowd rushes onto the field. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/6.3, ISO 400. 

Is this the worst mascot?

 
If I hadn't seen the Wisconsin Badger mascot, I'd say that this is the worst mascot in college sports.... The costume looks like it hasn't been improved since the 50s and the only time this guy acted lively at all was when a TV camera was focused on him. Otherwise he walked around often with his hands clasped behind his back as if he were looking for a chalkboard to pace in front of. Happily, he and his fellow Golden Bear fans left Arizona Stadium in defeat after the Wildcats beat the 8th ranked team in the nation 24-20. This image was taken at 92mm focal length with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/8, ISO 200. 

Wildcat Touchdown!

 
The UofA Wildcats took on the Cal Golden Bears, the 8th ranked team in the nation today and managed to pull out a come from behind 24-20 upset win. In this image, Chris Henry (#19) scores the first of two touchdowns to bring the Cats to within 17-10 midway through the 3rd quarter. This image was taken at 168mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Mercury Transit crowds

 
The Flandrau Planetarium and a number of amateur astronomer volunteers set telescopes up in front of the planetarium for visitors to view the transit of Mercury on Wednesday. There was a constant crowd all afternoon as Mercury slowly progressed across the Suns disk. Here you can see a few of the telescopes and observers of all kinds. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100. 

Observing the Mercury Transit

 
As the Sun nears the horizon and the transit of Mercury approaches its end, one of the many visitors to the telescopes set up in front of the Flandrau Planetarium takes a last look. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/8000 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Mercury Transit

 
We were treated to a transit of planet Mercury across the Sun today. A number of telescopes were set up in front of the Flandrau Planetarium on the UofA campus and I took some pictures using eyepiece projection of the event. This image was taken with a white light filter on a refractor with my lens at 53mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. Mercury is visible on the right side of the sun near the limb as it approaches its egress late in the transit. The other dark spots are sunspots or dust in the optical path. Check out this photo album to see more of my images from the Mercury Transit: http://picasaweb.google.com/jimscotti/Mercurytransit  

Woody Woodpecker?

 
Well, not quite. This Gila Woodpecker was rummaging around the canopy of a palm tree on campus. The image was at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 secdonds at f/8, ISO 800. 

Dark clouds from Gates Pass

 
Here's another view towards the west from Gates Pass. Old Tucson is visible near center and on the horizon at left is Kitt Peak. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an expsoure of 1/1000 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Rugged Hills of Tucson

 
The Tucson Mountains are the rugged and jumbled remains of a volcanic caldera that slid off of what are now the Santa Catalina Mountains thanks to range-basin spreading over the last 50 million years or so. The Tucson Mountains have a high point just over 4,000 feet and are covered by desert vegitation including the Saguaro Cactii visible in this image. This hillside is near Gates Pass and this image was taken one morning on the way into work. The image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1600 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Old Tucson

 
Old Tucson as viewed from Gates Pass, early morning. This image was taken at 55mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.