Venus 3-28-15

[rjbokleman]

Mike,

You'll have to forgive me for missing your talk & meeting this month. I decided, instead, to try and shoot Venus given I'd just purchased my first DSLR - a Canon T5i a few weeks ago. I use to shoot film in the 80's, so I'm not a stranger to SLR's.

I set myself up in a nearby soccer field with a decent view to the West, but with some trees framed on the right.

I had my MacBook Pro running virtualization software (Parallels) for running Windows 8.1. I then loaded up Backyard EOS and connected the camera to the Mac/Windows VM. The camera was mounted on a simple old Silk tripod from my prior days. I ran the Mac & Camera off a battery I got from Frank earlier (last months meeting) and a Pure Sine Wave Inverter from Northern Tool & Equipment. The wind was blowing pretty hard out of the West across the field, but I made myself as comfortable as possible and grabbed some coffee from my thermos. Here's the scene...

..next I'll post two pictures.

[rjbokleman]

Canon T5i, EF-S 55mm-250mm IS STM, f4.0, 8 seconds, ISO 400.

[rjbokleman]

Canon T5i, EF-S 55mm-250mm IS STM, f4.0, 8 seconds, ISO 400. Same image as before, but this time I used Deep Sky Stacker (first try using the tool) and processed it a bit in Pixelmator for OS X. It's a stack of 4 out of 5 images taken in sequence using Backyard EOS.

[Bruce D]

Nice work Ron!

[WCGucfa]

Hey Guys,

The light pollution to my west was horrible. Pulled off this shot, and cursed the IWAY (uplighted) bridge 10 miles away!
20 seconds with 75-300mm lens. Canon T1i. Tungsten white balance. Orion EQ-G tracking.


The truth be known! Same sky with daylight white balance!


Bill G.

[WCGucfa]

Cool first images, Ron!
You're going to have a lot of fun with that new Canon!!

Bill G.

[WCGucfa]

Great idea getting the Bull by the horns, Mike.
Great job!

Bill G.

[Bruce D]

Nice shots Bill, this is going to be a tough competition- I hosie NOT being named a judge!

[WCGucfa]

Thanks, Bruce,

I'm not in the competition; just throwing in Venus memorabilia for fillers.
It would be a hoot to be a judge though!

filler: I once was convinced I saw the famous "Ashen Light" of Venus. Reading of it always fascinated me since I was a kid.
What was that mysterious point of light rising from the clouds covering the Godess of Love in my 3'' reflector?

Oops! After proclaiming my discovery, my mentors of the time, back in 62' gave me a lesson on the tricks and trials of, lens flare!!

By the way, that conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on the 30th of June that Don mentioned WILL be spectacular. At 9:00 DST, they will be only 19' 42" apart!!
Before this, on June 20th, there will be a beautiful close conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus! How lucky can we get?! I've cancelled clouds for those nights!
Bill G.

[AndyG]

very nice Mike