Partial Eclipse 2016

The first Total Solar Eclipse of 2016 visible here in SE Asia (main activity in Indonesia) happened this day 8-9th of March.  The next one will be in September 1st, but unfortunately this total eclipse will be seen in most parts of Africa.  But just to show you what I shot from my iPhone 5S.

Partial eclipse as seen in KK - March 9th 2016

Lens-flare photography of the eclipse happening that morning of March 9th 2016

A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of a new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadow fall upon the Earth's surface. A solar and lunar eclipse happen in pairs within a fortnight when Earth's  and moon's ecliptic nodes intersect. Those nodes would not be aligned again for another six months. 

The nodes exist because the both the Earth and moon travels on a different axis from each other. As a result, there are four to seven eclipses a year, solar and lunar.  Every eclipse is different - and not every eclipse can be seen on the Earth depending on your location.

   

Venus and Jupiter - 2015

What it looked like (middle), close-up (left) and from my 4" telescope (right).

The last time the 'Venus and Jupiter conjunction' occurred was in 2012.  This time it is worthwhile because I managed to capture a good and clear shot of Venus in the cloudless sky - which was also a very hot day. I have been prepping for a month seeing these 'two' terrestrial bodies getting closer and closer to each other as shown in the photos below. 

A month before.

My camera Nikon P610.

New upgrade wishlist - ZWO ASI034MC.  To replace my old Celestron Neximage 0.34 camera.
What do you think?

Venus Transit - 2012 AD.

A casual person might be enjoying a nice walk to lunch under an overcast sky or just business as usual, but none were aware of what has unfolded right above their heads at that moment.  According to the acceptable 'buzz' of most informed 'earthlings', the atmosphere was more historical than astronomical - between 06:13 to 12:47 (+0800 GMT) 6th June, our beloved evening star Venus passed between us and the Sun.  It's The Venus Transit, a rare event.  Owing to its smaller-inside orbit than Earth, it passed us and from now on, becomes the morning star.

In that event, Venus in its 'inferior conjunction' was only 26.9 million miles from us.  If you are a Venusian, Earth would light up your sky like a  very bright beacon with a 'very shiny moon' beside it - knowing we're a  little bigger than Venus does make one proud.  If you just knew what it's like to be on the surface of Venus, believe me, you will be proud that you are an earthling!  I'm not writing a science journal (you can read that elsewhere) but after surviving much anxiety from the cloud-filled skies and being drenched in sweat from producing these shots, that day something significant did happened above us.

You don't know how hot it is to set-up for this event! With sweat dripping off your eyebrows and forehead - you want to constantly wipe it off to look through the lens.  This is my 'DIY solar filter' aka survival blanket over the scope in which the results are in the photos below. 

Taken with my iPhone 3GS through the telescope lens

For your pleasure, NASA took this photo from a telescope in space.  Thanks, NASA!

See you in the morning Venus!

The Orion Nebula (M42).

The Great Orion Nebula - M42

The Orion Nebula as seen from my 102mm (4-inch) cassegrain-maksutov telescope, the Celestron Nexstar 4 SE.  It is the easiest, brightest  nebula that can be seen with the naked eye.  More normally be better seen with a simple binoculars, one can see it as a 'bright-whitish' cloud located in the constellation of Orion; which within itself has many messier objects and other nebulas like the Horsehead Nebula and the Witchhead Nebula.  The photo above is a 'flipped image', a trademark of all cassegrain reflector telescopes.  Just 'flip' the image like a page to the left, and you'll have the correct orientation.  See 'Telescopes' for other examples and explanation

The constellation of Orion with the Orion Nebula (lower middle).

Latest Images 2 - Saturn

Wide angle of Saturn, overexposed to show its moons.

Saturn. (00:40 +8 GMT) 2/4/12

Latest Images - Saturn

Looking East

Spica, (right) in the constellation of Virgo and Saturn (left). 23:30 (+8GMT) 2/4/12

Overexposed image showing Saturn's 4 moons, and possibly a fifth hidden by the glare.

Clear skies does carry a new meaning, in that it usually means sacrificing comforts - mosquitoes, the heat and humidity for now!  Clear skies it was - cloudless skies.  I got out my scope and all my gear and stuff alike to brave the heat and 'little blood-sucking friends' Mr.Mossie!  But it was worth it.  The Opposition of Saturn will be on the 15th of April.  Which means Mr. Gas planet no.2 will be closest to Earth in its orbit this month.  More images will be up soon so watch out.  See also 'Planet Hunt' for other planets.

How Big is BIG - Antares

 

Antares, in the Constellation of Scorpius rising in the SE. (March 2012).[/caption]

We've seen Betelgeuse in 'How Big Is BIG?'.  The super-giant star Antares sits to the lower-left of M4 (NGC6121), the globular cluster in the Constellation of Scorpius.  They are mainly observed in young galactic structures such as open clusters, the arms of spiral galaxies, and in irregular galaxies.

Classed in the 'red' category, its other popular counterpart, Betelgeuse are called old stars and are much cooler that 'blue' stars.

It is about 550 light years away from Earth and its luminosity is measured at 65,000 times brighter than that of our Sun.  Notice the comparison between Arcturus and Antares in the diagram below.

Also known to ancient astronomers as one of four Royal Stars including, Aldebaran (East), Regulus (North) and Fomalhaut (South).

Antares in comparison to the other giant stars.