Big Bang!

Comet 17P/Holmes is in outburst! Two days ago this periodic comet some 2.4 AU away from the Sun and 1.6 AU from Earth, brightened unexpectedly by a MILLION fold from 16th magnitude to nearly 2.5! You can read more about it here.

The above image was obtained through the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory 2.3 meter telescope atop Kitt Peak. The large round outer coma is about 2 arcminutes in diameter as viewed from Earth - or nearly 87,000 miles across - the size of the planet Jupiter! Given that this shell of dust was generated two days ago (~50 hours) that works out to be a expansion rate of almost 870 miles per hour! Quite a bang!

Credit: University of Arizona - Paul Smith, Dennis Means, Dave Harvey.

Runnin' with the Big Dogs

Well - just got back from the VATT where I was privilaged to work with the crack team of VATT engineers - learning how to properly pump down the CCD dewar and prep the observatory for the next run. Here are a few snapshots from the trip.

While enroute to the telescope our chief pilot managed to achieve a mid-air with a swarm of bees! A most awesome event as you can see.





Below is the vacuum pumping station and CCD dewar that we trained on. Pretty cool eh?



After running with the "Big Dogs" for two days, our instructor (flashing the gang sign and with a pole coming out of his head - geez and I call myself a professional!) shows us how its done.

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

LBT Rising

While working at the VATT on Mount Graham I was lucky enough to witness a spectacular sight - a photo-op with the largest Telescope in the continental US - the LBT. A couple of the engineers from the LBT showed up at the VATT wanting to use our roof as a vantage point to photograph the LBT opening for a night of observing. I asked if I might participate if I loaned them a tripod - they agreed. :-) Below are a few images from a tour of the observatory earlier in the afternoon followed by a couple of shots taken of the opening from the roof of the VATT. Thanks to Ray, Aaron, Tim and Tom!

Vista de la Santa Cruz

Shot a wedding on Saturday (well a 50th Anniversary renewal of vows) at Santa Cruz Church in South Tucson. First time I've ever been at this beautiful venue. The church was built in 1919 and is older than St. Augustine's Cathedral! Here are a couple of shots I took prior to the ceremony. the image above is a HDR (High Dynamic Range) reproduction - a composite of the same scene as captured -1.75, 0, +1.75 stops from nominal exposure through the Canon 5D with a 16-35mm F/2.8L lens using a polarizer and 2 stop Grad-ND filter. Below is a single image from the same camera and lens/filter combination.