Lunar Eclipse, 2019 January 20 (MST) & ISS flyby.

Here's a few images from the Total Lunar Eclipse from the night of January 20 (MST).  We visited our land in the Dragoon Mountain foothills, setting up my Celestron 8 inch telescope to view the eclipse with my sweetie and some friends.  The first image is one taken partway through the total phase and is a combination of 5 images with exposures ranging from 1/2 second at ISO 1600 up to 8 seconds, using my Canon 6D attached to my C8.  This HDR combine shows the best of all 5 exposures.

This second image is a view of the flyby of the International Space Station before the start of the Total Lunar Eclipse.  The moonlight night was full of lots of cirrus clouds overhead but the ISS made a very nice pass overhead.  The image was taken with my Canon 70D and 10mm fisheye lens and an exposure of 30 seconds at f/5.8, ISO 800.

Clouds, Mars, and storms from Kitt Peak

This view of a storm cloud south of Kitt Peak was made in mid-twilight.  Just around sunset, the clouds were the site of bright lightning but it had stopped generating lightning by the time the rain stopped on Kitt Peak.  This image was taken with my Canon 70D with a Sigma 17-70mm lens at 19mm focal length with an exposure of 15 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800.

This is the view of Tucson from Kitt Peak with a busy thunder storm south of town.   This image was taken with my Canon 70D and a Sigma 17-70mm lens at 19mm focal length.  The exposure was 20 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800.

The sky never really cleared on this night, so the Spacewatch 1.8-m telescope stayed closed.  Here, the telescope is lit by the Moon with Mars visible on the right side of the frame.  This image was taken with my Canon 70D and Sigma 17-70mm lens at 17mm focal length and an exposure of  20 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 800.

Mars rising over the Dragoons

Mars rises over the Dragoon Mountains from our ranch  in the foothills west of the Dragoons.  Mars is just right of center and there's a nice rainstorm in the twilight skies off to the right.  This is a 5 image HDR combine using a 2 stop exposure sequence using my 17-70mm Sigma lens on my Canon 70D.

Mars is easier to see in this image taken a bit later than the one above, again an HDR combine using a 2 stop exposure sequence with my 17-70mm Sigma lens on my Canon 70D.

Super Blue Blood Moon - Lunar Eclipse, 2018 January 31.

The Total Lunar Eclipse on 2018 January 31 is well under way with the Penumbra covering the whole Moon but here, the Umbra has just made contact with the Moon.  This image was taken with my Canon 6D attached to my Celestron EdgeHD 8 inch telescope (F/10), using 1/2000 seconds at ISO 800.

This image was taken shortly before the Umbra entirely covered the Moon and is the result of an HDR combine of 5 images taken in rapid succession, again with my Canon 6D on my C8.

This HDR combine of 5 images was taken partway through the total phase with the Moon entirely covered by the Umbra.

Jupiter and Mars in conjunction

Jupiter and Mars are in conjunction tonight at less than half a degree apart.  This first image was taken with my Canon 6D on my 8 inch Celestron EdgeHD telescope with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at ISO 400.  You can make out some cloud details on Jupiter and perhaps just a hint of surface features on Mars (ok, well, mostly it is just red - it's pretty far away from Earth at the moment).

This second image was exposed longer in order to see the 4 Galilean satellites of Jupiter which are roughly in a line above and right of Jupiter.  This image was taken with my Canon 6D on my 8 inch Celestron EdgeHD telescope with an exposure of 1/4 seconds at ISO 400.

Tonight's Moon

Tonight's Moon as it approaches last quarter.  This image was taken with my Canon 6D attached to my Celestron EdgeHD 8 inch telescope with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/10, ISO 400.

ISS over Kitt Peak

An early morning pass of the International Space Station over Kitt Peak on 2017 December 28.  Below the ISS is the Spacewatch 36 inch tome and to the right is the Kitt Peak 4-Meter Mayall telescope dome.  Twilight is just beginning in this 30 second exposure at f/1.8, ISO 400 with my 10mm fish eye lens on my Canon 70D.

Kitt Peak Sunset.

Sunset o Kitt Peak on December 27, 2017.  This is an HDR combine showing a view similar to what I saw in real time.  This is a combine of 5 exposures with my 50mm f/1.8 lens attached to my Canon 6D.

Iridium 4 Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg AFB

 On Friday December 22, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Iridium 4 payload into orbit from Vandeberg AFB.  The cool thing was that the launch occured not long after sunset which gives an optimal view of the rocket and plume as it climbs into orbit.  It climbed into sunlight just over 2 minutes after liftoff.  I drove out along Kinney Road west of Tucson in the Tucson Mountains to get a good view towards the west.  I set up my Canon 6D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens on tripod and aimed west.  The rocket appeared about 2.5 minutes after launch as a small distant plume and this image was taken a few moments later.  The knot of in the middle of the plume is the result of the first stage separation.

 This image was taken a few moments later showing the upper stage firing at the left end of the plume and the first stage is visible behind the 2nd stage and above the separation plume.

 As the 2nd stage rockets into orbit, the first stage is visible below and behind it as it descends towards a water landing.  The plume of the rocket is blue near the top being lit by direct sunshine while the lower part of the plume is let by the setting sun.

 The upper stage and satellites are heading south as it ascends into orbit.  The colors are even more obvious and the lower edge of the plume are in shadow.

Several minutes after the upper stage and satellites disappeared below the horizon, the remaining rocket plume continued to evolve and expand as it dissipated about 15 minutes or so after its first appearance.

Desert Sunset - Tucson Mountain Park

Kitt Peak in the distance

I drove over Gates Pass road into the desert just west of Gates Pass in Tucson Mountain Park for the sunset yesterday.  This first image is the view looking west with Kitt Peak in the center of the image.  This is an HDR combine of 5 images showing not only the brighter sky and distant mountains, but also the darker foreground plants.  I used Aurora HDR program for the combine.  The image was taken with my Canon 6D and the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens.  Exposures ranged at f/4 at ISO 800 from 1/1600 seconds to 1/100 seconds.

Gates Pass to Golden Gate Mountain

 This image is looking back along Gates Pass Road with the pretty mountains ranging from Golden Gate Mountain on the right to the dip of Gates Pass on the left edge of the image.  The image is an HDR combine with 5 images taken with my Canon 6D and 50mm f/1.8 lens at f/4, ISO 800 with exposures ranging from 1/200 seconds to 1/13 seconds.

Saguaro Cactus and pretty sunset clouds

 This image looks west into the setting Sun with silhouetted cacti and bushes in the desert.  This HDR combine of 5 images taken with my Canon 6D and 50mm f/1.8 lens and exposures of  1/1250 to 1/80 seconds.

Saguaro Cactus, sunset clouds and the Moon

This last image is similar to the previous one but in portrait mode to catch the crescent Moon in the sky overhead.  It is also an HDR combine of 5 images with my Canon 6D and 50mm f/1.8 lens and exposures of 1/800 to 1/50 seconds.