Tonights Moon

I set up my Celestron 8 inch EdgeHD today on the off chance I might be able to see the Falcon 9 Jason 3 launch from Vandenberg this morning.  I didn't (except for the live feed on the web) but I did test out my 0.7x focal reducer on the Sun (with solar filter) and then after the Moon rose a bit later, I slewed over to take a look at it.  The first photo below is from about sunset while the 2nd one was taken earlier in the afternoon with the image in bright blue daylight.

This image was taken with an 8 inch f/10 EdgeHD telescope with my Canon 70D with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at ISO 400.  I applied an unsharp mask to sharpen the image a bit. 

This image was taken earlier in the day in bright blue skies with the same setup and an exposure of 1/1600 seconds at ISO 400 with similar use of an unsharp mask.  Seeing was less steady.

Bandon LIghthouse

In the Summer of 2014, we visited Oregon, doing volcanoes southbound and then up the coast visiting lighthouses.  This is the Bandon Lighthouse on the south side of the Coquille River.  I was born across the river in Bandon and spent the first 8 years of my life enjoying this lighthouse and the beach south of the South Jetty across the river here.  This image was taken with my Canon 20D using my Sigma 18-250mm zoom.

Here is the same image but converted to black and white.

Kitt Peak covered in Snow and clouds.

Not a good night for observing on Kitt Peak.  The Steward Observatory 90 inch Bok Telescope is just visible through the summit level clouds as the Sun sets on the western horizon.  This image was taken with my Galaxy Note 4 camera on Friday night, January 8th.

The view of the setting sun through a layer of clouds on Kitt Peak on Friday night, January 8th taken with my Galaxy Note 4 camera.  The moutnaintop was covered in snow.