Quote:
Originally Posted by masraum
Thanks, I haven't really done that much since I live in a pretty horribly light polluted area. Fortunately, the moon is a pretty easy subject, but anything else is tough, tough, tough.
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I fully understand the light pollution issue. Back in my school days of the 80's, my dad took my brother and I to a friend of his who was also an amateur astronomer. I say amateur, he was one of five amateur astronomers invited to Hawaii to view Haleys comet, he was that good. Anyway, we all loaded up in the car to visit his personal observatory he built in the foothills above Folsom Lake at one in the morning. It was unbelievably amazing the telescope he designed and built with hand polished mirrors and German gearing. I don't recall the exact size but I think it was 12 or 15' and was something like 18 or 20" in diameter, but I could be totally off base. It was monstrous though. His observatory dome could be rotated by hand it was that well balanced
His pictures were fabulous. It was the first time I ever saw our sister Galaxy with a pair of high power and quality binoculars. The best way I can describe it is that it looked like someone placed a cotton ball out in space and pulled the ends apart to stretch it out. It still has to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever gazed upon. He showed us this one shot it took him literally all night to shoot due to the aperture settings, then literally in the last 5 minutes of the exposure, an airliner flies through the shot. It left some very interesting light trails. Back in the day he was successful in getting the local mercury vapor street lights changed out to a different type conducive to night photography. So he said.
iPhone couldn't catch the essence of the moon. Kept focusing on the pine.
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