Waiting for Venus

"If you don't leave a comment - I don't know you were even here."

In just two days the planet Venus will make a transit of the Sun which can not be seen again until 2117. My plans are to video the Ingress of the planet onto the disk using two video cameras - one white-light and one H-Alpha Light. H-Alpha or Hydrogen Alpha refers to the light emitted by Hydrogen atoms which have been ionized. This is the light which structures in the chromosphere of the Sun emit - including prominences and Solar flares. I'm currently testing all the hardware involved - below are images of the setup I'm using.

Since the Sun sets with Venus still in transit, I plan on driving to a undisclosed location to film the Sun setting behind the McMath Solar Telescope located on Kitt Peak, while Venus is still on the Sun's disk. The Video should look very similar to the one below taken a year ago, with the exception that the silhouette of Venus will be visible. Clear Skies.

Making Every Pixel Count

Up here on Mt. Lemmon at the Sky Center continuing my edumacation 'bout astropicturing. Thanks to Adam Block (our instructor) I think I'm gonna have a stroke. Too much data . . . Error 601 . . . must dump core. System failure imminent . . . In the mean time - here are some shots of the environs . . .

Mt. Frackin' Graham

Geez! the things I do for science.

As most of you know - my "day job" is as a software engineer in support of the astronomical observatories around southern Arizona. As such I have the distinct pleasure of driving long hours to the tops of various mountains to telescopes in remote locations in the area. Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) is one of the places I visit more often than I like. At 10,500 feet - this place gets a lot of snow in winter - this winter being no exception. With 20+ feet accumulated so far this mountain has been a real hasle to deal with lately.

Yesterday we returned to change out science instruments on the VATT Telescope. A "small" winter storm was due to blow through on our way up - with only 2 to three inches of new accumulation expected - not a problem right?

In near "white-out conditions" we procceeded up the hill to the observatory - prepared - with 4 wheel drive and snow chains - barely making it intact. Needless to say - several members of the other co-resident observatories were not so lucky (or maybe smart is the better word) - getting stuck and blocking the road to the mountain for lack of chains and 4 wheel drive . . .

Below are scenes from the morning after - taken with my shitty iphone camera.

Kitt Peak by Night

A five hour long exposure of the 2.3 and 4 meter telescopes atop Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson. Actually this is a composite of 545 seperate 30 seconds exposures taken last night from that venue. Moonlight from the first quater moon illuminated the domes for half of the sequence hence the "daylight" appearence of the the buildlings. Brake lights from cars headed down the moutain after the nightly public evening illuminated the 2.3 building during a few of the exposures giving that telescope a red highlight. Details: Canon EOS 1D | Canon 24-70mm F/2.8 L lens at 24mm | 545 x 30 seconds @ F/3.2 | ISO 1000