Flash 8 player:
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Totality: wide-angle video (HD) [ 8/1/08 China eclipse ]
Monday, July 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
lunar eclipse 2/20/08 [ Pasadena/CA ]
Weather in morning was cloudy, rained the night before. Online satellite imagery (www.noaa.gov) showed lots of clouds, but there was a break in the tail end of the fast moving front. Weather forecast anticipated some clearing for tonights lunar eclipse.
I wasn't optimistic for long-distance travel for an optimal shot, i.e. Mt. Wilson (45 min drive). A horizon shot of the eclipsed moon against the snow-capped San Gabriel Mtns would have been great.
I wokeup at 6:52pm, totality phase scheduled from 7:00pm - 7:50pm! Scrambled to setup equipment in front of house. Fast moving clouds, I could see the eclipsed moon visually. Photography would not be optimal, possible clear shots in breaks thru clouds.
3 cameras were setup:
1) 5" f8 APO (Astrophysics) on G11 mount
Canon 20D @prime-focus
2) tripod w/Sony Digital8 video-camera
3) tripod w/Canon 350D
5" f8 shots:
7:38pm, totality [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
7:39pm, totality [ 5" f8 APO, 2" ASA 1600 ]
7:44pm, totality [ 5" f8 APO, 2" ASA 1600 ]
7:44pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
8:02pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
8:03pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
8:15pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1/6s ASA 1600 ]
8:25pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1/6s ASA 1600 ]
8:28pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1/6s ASA 1600 ]
Canon 350D shots (wide-angle):
Equipment:
Video:
I wasn't optimistic for long-distance travel for an optimal shot, i.e. Mt. Wilson (45 min drive). A horizon shot of the eclipsed moon against the snow-capped San Gabriel Mtns would have been great.
I wokeup at 6:52pm, totality phase scheduled from 7:00pm - 7:50pm! Scrambled to setup equipment in front of house. Fast moving clouds, I could see the eclipsed moon visually. Photography would not be optimal, possible clear shots in breaks thru clouds.
3 cameras were setup:
1) 5" f8 APO (Astrophysics) on G11 mount
Canon 20D @prime-focus
2) tripod w/Sony Digital8 video-camera
3) tripod w/Canon 350D
5" f8 shots:
7:38pm, totality [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
7:39pm, totality [ 5" f8 APO, 2" ASA 1600 ]
7:44pm, totality [ 5" f8 APO, 2" ASA 1600 ]
7:44pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
8:02pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
8:03pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1" ASA 1600 ]
8:15pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1/6s ASA 1600 ]
8:25pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1/6s ASA 1600 ]
8:28pm [ 5" f8 APO, 1/6s ASA 1600 ]
Canon 350D shots (wide-angle):
Equipment:
Video:
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
totality, 24mm lens [ lunar eclipse 8/28/07 ]
24mm lens, SW horizon @3:03am PDT (start of totality)
Note the light-glow from Los Angeles
totality, 15mm fisheye lens [ lunar eclipse 8/28/07 ]
eclipsed moon @3:59am PDT & the Northern Cross (constellation Cygnus)
Note the Summer Traingle of Altair/Vega/Deneb. The Northern Cross is setting in the NW horizon. NGC7000 is the famous North American nebula (near Deneb). The dark lane of the Milky Way is clearly visible.
totality, 50mm lens (horizon shot) [ lunar eclipse 8/28/07 ]
30 sec
[ click for original image ]
1 min
[ click for original image ]
2 min
[ click for original image ]
50mm lens (horizon shot), end of totallity (~4:10 am)
1 min
2 min
50mm lens (horizon shot), end of totallity (~4:10 am)
totality, 100mm lens [ lunar eclipse 8/28/07 ]
6 sec
[ click for original image ]
15 sec
[ click for original image ]
30 sec
[ click for original image ]
1 min
[ click for original image ]
2 min
[ click for original image ]
100mm lens
15 sec
30 sec
1 min
2 min
100mm lens
totality, 50mm lens [ lunar eclipse 8/28/07 ]
2 sec
[ click for original image ]
4 sec
[ click for original image ]
9 sec
[ click for original image ]
15 sec
[ click for original image ]
30 sec
[ click for original image ]
1 min
[ click for original image ]
2 min
[ click for original image ]
50mm lens, totallity (4:00 am)
4 sec
9 sec
15 sec
30 sec
1 min
2 min
50mm lens, totallity (4:00 am)
post-eclipse, setting moon [ lunar eclipse 8/28/07 ]
100mm lens:
[ click for original image ]
200mm lens:
[ click for original image ]
post-eclipse, full moon setting in western horizon
200mm lens:
post-eclipse, full moon setting in western horizon
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
observation site
Mount #1:
narrow-angle
Mount #2:
video & wide-angle
beautiful morning ends the eclipse
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Totality, HD fisheye video [ 2006 3/29 Salloum, Egypt ]
wide-angle HD video (fisheye lens) of pre-Totality, 2nd contact, Totality, 3rd contact
Flash 8 version:
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Incredibly, the 747-400 "Dusseldorf" has a WiFi hotspot available. So, I'm blogging as we are flying over Greenland. The above pictures are nearly live.
overnight @Frankfurt, blogging with Internet zorks
I caught some eats (inspired by C. Johnson/USC theoretical physicist), to "fuel up" in order to combat my flu. Then, I found a power-outlet & paid $18 Euro for a 24 hr WiFi T-Mobile connection. I then wandered over to the upper level to find a more comfortable blogging place, & ran into 2 Internet guys doing the same. We laughed about how the "watering hole" attracts PC users: power-outlets! I paid another $18 for 24 hr T-Mobile connection, & they checked out the QTVR eclipse pano (stitched by Robert Fisher), see above. At around 11:30pm I noticed my charge indicator went away..all of our laptops were NOT charging. Apparently, the power outlet was switched off. We quickly re-packed, & went searching for another power-outlet..we found one near the security checkpoint. We sprawled out, & spent there until 4am. Uh Oh, no T-Mobile signal for me! But, Laurie/Estonia found a Vodafone signal & it was 30 min free. Except, no uploads allowed. So, some fancy network setup by Laurie (using reverse Ethernet cable to mine) allowed uploading. We also discussed my RealTimeWebcasting project, & how Technology is difficult to get embraced by general community (see T-shirt logo). We messed around, until we couldn't STAND IT ANYMORE..4am like. We caught some food at the 24 hr store, & parted ways. I later ran into Laurie..on his way to Japan. This guy is a Linux wizard, he works for a security company in Japan. Wade is a Web specialist from Colorado, in process of relocating to England. We had some interesting discussions on history, culture, ethnicity, etc.
I never thought my overnight stay in Frankfurt would be such a rich experience.
flight to Frankfurt, geologist/environmental scientist
Lufthansa Flight #580 to Frankfurt was straightforward, I really enjoyed the BBC program on the 2006 World Cup in Leipzig/Germany. Lots of good material on competition & winning, i.e. Game Theory. The Swiss guy next to me was a geologist turned Environmental Scientist working for Siemens. He's looking at my eclipse pictures, & we discussed on science subjects. When I brought up Alfred Wegener (proposed Continental Drift, i.e. what we know now as Plate Tectonics) he said "of course, he is our patron saint". He even had a Scientific America, which ironically had a front cover about Particle Physics. We exchanged emails for future correspondence.
packup, archive images, leave for Cairo Int'l airport
Overnight bus-trip from Dahab to Cairo was OK, slept half-way decent. Had a raging temperature (because of 2nd camel-ride) just before I left, so I was really concerned about getting sick on bus. Got into Cairo @6:30am, & got whisked off to Magy Hotel by their driver. Blogged some pics from their DSL terminal, then took a couple of hour nap. Woke up, & scrambled to start packing the 3 70 lb cases. Archived the images on my Powerbook. Running behind, left @12 noon. Man, was it chaotic getting out of our parking area, it was crammed w/vehicles. Got to Airport @12:50 (flight leaves @2:40pm), & there was mess involving baggage weight allowances (won't repeat it here). Got to plane @2:40pm..man, is that cutting it CLOSE or what!!
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