Wednesday, February 6, 2013

A Couple of Planets and the ISS


I got out tonight to photograph Mercury and Mars. They are rapidly converging for a very close encounter on Friday evening when they will be separated by about half the diameter of the full Moon (forecast is for cloudy in Tucson Friday so I figured I better get them when I can). I was lucky enough to get them just above Kitt Peak as they set. Mercury is the bright one on the bottom and Mars is fainter and higher in the sky.
IMG_0611I then headed out to Saguaro National Park East to get ready for an ISS pass. While waiting, I was experimenting and snapped a quick self portrait in front of a Saguaro. I pulled a little trick and got that dreamy effect where I appear to be transparent and you can see the clouds through me. I am sure photographers know how I did that (it was NOT a double exposure!)
IMG_0620
I snapped a series of pics of the ISS pass. This pass was near maximum brightness. Here is the ISS pass.




Enjoying the new camera. Hoping for clear skies for the next couple of nights for more Mercury/Mars pics!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

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10 comments:

  1. OrbsCorbsFebruary 6, 2013 at 11:14 PM

    Beautiful pictures, hale-bopp. Thank you.

    I have no idea of how you did the trick shot.

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  2. MinnesotaChickFebruary 6, 2013 at 11:21 PM

    Nice pics! Too cold to try that, so I look forward to your pics! Thanks!

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  3. SERFebruary 7, 2013 at 7:08 AM

    Boppster, VERY COOL self portrait.

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  4. BL BasketcaseFebruary 7, 2013 at 9:24 AM

    WOW... Big sky!!
    Nice cactus, too.
    Thanks !

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  5. Tender Heart BearFebruary 7, 2013 at 1:19 PM

    Really nice pics Hale thank you!

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  6. hale-boppFebruary 7, 2013 at 3:02 PM

    Thanks for the kind words. It was a good night.

    For the self-portrait, I set off a flash at the beginning of the exposure then walked away. You see me illuminated from the flash but can see other stuff behind me that was exposed after I moved, hence that semi-transparent effect.

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  7. kkditherFebruary 7, 2013 at 3:59 PM

    Here I thought it had something to do with green screen technology.

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  8. OKIEFebruary 7, 2013 at 4:23 PM

    Thanks Hale.

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  9. drewzepmeisterFebruary 7, 2013 at 7:56 PM

    Very, very cool pics!

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  10. legal strangerFebruary 7, 2013 at 8:10 PM

    thanks for the pics Mr. Bopper

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