Kepler Passing Saturn Posted by: Stephen - 2009-03-18 22:06:56 Permalink

Finally captured Kepler tonight! The image is Kepler passing by Saturn through my 6" reflector with a 20 second exposure at ISO 3200. Click the "Large" links for best views.


Please correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe this is the first and only capture of a Kepler satellite pass, at least by amateur astronomers/astrophotographers.



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And the same image only inverted. You can really see Saturn's moons in this one:



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See this post on how you can find sighting opportunities in your area.


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Full Moon Corona - 03/11/2009 Posted by: Stephen - 2009-03-11 04:04:50 Permalink

One last capture of the full moon next to Saturn with a thin layer of cloud which produces the corona/halo effect.



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Luna, Saturn and Awesome Sunset - 03/10/2009 Posted by: Stephen - 2009-03-10 23:09:29 Permalink

Took 4 gigs of the sun setting with Venus and the full moon rising with Saturn tonight. Uploading while processing...


Full Moon with  lunar corona and Saturn:
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Processing sunset with Venus...uploading shortly.


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The Moon and Saturn - 03/10/2009 Posted by: Stephen - 2009-03-10 15:10:17 Permalink

Took this image of the moon and Saturn at 3:27 a.m. this morning. The moon was 99% (waxing gibbous) full and Saturn was at opposition on the 8th I believe. So, this was Saturn at opposition plus two and a Full Moon minus one. Wink



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Camera: Nikon D60
Exposure: 1/2 s
Aperture: F4
ISO Speed: 3200
Focal Length: 55.0 mm
35mm focal length: 82.0 mm
Lens: Nikkor 55-200mm F4-5.6 ED VR


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Comet Lulin, Saturn and Orion Nebula Posted by: Stephen - 2009-02-24 01:38:51 Permalink

Spent a good deal of time out in the cold tonight viewing Orion nebula, and then the Saturn/Lulin show which was an awesome sight! I did manage to get a few nice captures of each. Took me quite a while to get the scope aligned as I have yet to purchase a polar alignment scope. I think that will be something I am going to order this weekend.


Orion Nebula through my 6" reflector and Nikon D60 at prime focus (ISO 1600 @ 30 seconds):

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Comet Lulin next to Saturn using stock D60 lens at 55mm (ISO 1600 @ 299 seconds):

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Comet Lulin through my 6" reflector and D60 at prime focus (ISO 3200 @ 328 seconds):

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