infinity....an out of bounds look at space
by becky ramotowski

Early Ammonia Servicer...Finally!

2008-08-02T23:56:05Z

Finally, after trying to see this for almost a week, I managed to visually bag it Friday night and then Saturday evening I made this image. The bright short streak in the upper left is Spica. The longer dim streak running through the midsection is the piece of space junk. Nikon D70 on tripod 180mm lens F/4 24 seconds ISO 1600 I converted it to greyscale because the image is very grainy and looks quite a bit better this way.

Clouds in the wrong place at the right time....

2008-07-30T21:23:55Z

I've been looking for the Early Ammonia Servicer that was tossed off the international space station last year for three nights in a row now and have been unable to see it. Part of the reason is it is dim. And tonight clouds parked themselves in the path of where the refrigerator sized piece of space junk was predicted to fly through, so again I didn't see it. I saw the image above. Perhaps I'll see it Thursday night since it will be higher in the sky and brighter. It's space command number is 31928 if you are interested in trying it yourself. The two bright stars at the upper left of the clouds are the pointer stars of the Big Dipper. Nikon D70 3 minutes ISO 400 f/4.5 24mm

The Infinity Heart

2008-07-28T23:30:56Z

This was posted on my blog August 15, 2007 but I thought it was worth another mention since it is kind of cool and easy to observe. There’s a lot of “heart” just below the “teapot” shape of Sagittarius! Groups of stars that belong to three different constellations make up a large heart -shaped asterism with an infinity symbol at its top. Sagittarius, Telescopium and Corona Australis each lend stellar points to make this expansive asterism in the southern sky and if you can find and observe the “teapot” shape of Sagittarius, then finding the “Infinity Heart” will be a snap. The top left and more obvious curve of the heart-shaped group is part of Corona Australis. This long sweeping arc of stars fits nicely in binoculars. Sagittarius supplies a couple of stars for the upper right portion of the heart. Kaus Australis, the star that marks the bottom right of the “teapot” and connecting point for the spout, shares the upper right curve of the heart shaped outline. Alpha Telescopium marks the bottom point of the star-studded heart. And finally, Lambda Corona Australis marks the center of the infinity symbol that rests at the heart shaped asterism’s top. I have sketched an Infinity symbol within the heart on a star map and included it beside the image above as a rough finder chart. Most of the stars along the outline are between fourth and sixth magnitude so it is an easy target. The infinity symbol within the heart is naked eye...at least it is from my front yard. It also reminds me of a pretzel. Try it and let me know how you do.

Lightning Strikes

2008-07-27T15:21:47Z

One of my trees took a direct Lightning Strike the other day! If you know me, then you know I'm a big weenie when it comes to being outdoors when lightning might be around. True, I make images of lightning, but it makes me VERY ANXIOUS when I'm outside and thunder is booming. The remnants of Hurricane Dolly dumped about 1.5 inches of rain on us yesterday, so I hope the clear sky that follows a storm will allow me to get back on the astro imaging track.

Lunar II

2008-07-25T10:13:22Z

Another Moon shot. This one is a closeup of craters Deslandres near the upper left, (it looks like an Angelfish with an eye), and Clavius, Maginus, Tycho, Longomontanus, and Wilhelm just to name a few near the bottom or south end of the Moon. Mare Nubrium is the dark area of the Moon in the upper center. Nikon 5000 hand held to 3 inch refractor 19 mm eyepiece

Waning Moon, Clearing Sky

2008-07-24T08:00:13Z

We're in monsoon season and the sky has been a crap shoot. Just moments ago I made this image with my old Nikon 5000, just to see if the little guy was still working. It is! The Nikon 5000 is a 5 megapixel camera that performs pretty well, and doesn't break your wrist when it's being hand held up to the eyepiece. It has Noise reduction, and a twist around screen that is really convenient for shooting afocal. I should probably use it more, but that darn D70 is always sitting on the table ready to go out and play while the little 5000 sits in it's case on the shelf. Hopefully, the sky will remain clear and I can get back in the groove of posting more often. Nikon 5000 hand held to 3 inch telescope with 26mm eyepiece

Happy Anniversary

2008-07-20T19:39:05Z

July 20, 1969 It was a big day!

Milky Way on a clear night

2008-07-18T22:41:05Z

I saw Venus during the day yesterday...naked eye! I had been stalking it for a couple of weeks, and finally managed to snag it without much trouble at all. It was just a matter of being patient, and waiting for just the right color of blue sky in between cloud banks to find it. I tried to make a photo of it, but by the time I got the camera on the tripod and all the settings adjusted, clouds had covered the sky again. Soon I hope to have a daytime shot of Venus posted here...in the meantime here's a Milky Way image. Nikon D70

Fortune Cookie Moon

2008-07-09T10:15:02Z

This was in my fortune cookie the other evening................ (I added the image of the Moon) I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

Moon, Saturn, Mars, Regulus, Earth Nebula

2008-07-06T21:56:38Z

The clouds, aka 'Earth Nebula' parted just long enough for a nice view of the Moon, Saturn, Mars and Regulus to peek through Sunday evening. Nikon D70

infinity....an out of bounds look at space by becky ramotowski