The Author – Bart Busschots
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Jan
12
Photo of the Week 152 – Moon & Venus Over SPCM
Filed Under Photography on January 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment
I was looking back through some older shots this week when I noticed this one which I had forgotten to upload to Flickr. I have no idea why I didn’t upload it when I shot it, because it’s one of my best astrophotography shots, nicely and clearly incorporating both the Moon and the Planet Venus into the shot. What at we see here is a view across St. Joseph’s Square in St. Patrick’s College Maynooth (SPCM)looking towards St. Patrick’s House with the spire of the College Chapel also visible. In the top left of the shot you can see Venus, and just above the building you can see a very thin crescent Moon with a lot of Earth Shine. This shot was taken with a tripod because it was dark and a four and half second exposure was needed.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 4.5 sec (shot on tripod)
- Focal Length: 19mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -3.0ev
Jan
11
Photo of the Week 47 – Into the Night
Filed Under Photography on January 11, 2009 | 3 Comments
As a friend of mine put it on Flickr, this photo combines my three nerdy hobbies, Astronomy, Photography, and trains. This is a 5 second exposure of a commuter train approaching Maynooth reflected in the waters of the Royal Canal in the late evening while Venus & the Moon shine over-head. This is a shot I’d tried before, and each time I learned a few more valuable lessons. So, although this is the result of a learning experience, I’m still shocked at how lucky I was to get everything to line up as well as it did. The train, the reflection, the silhouette of the tree, those things I could control, but the positions of the Moon and Venus, those were a pure bonus! Anyhow, if I had to pick my three best photos yet, this is one I’d definitely choose.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 5 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: F5
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Manual
- Exposure Bias: -2.0
Dec
7
Photo of the Week 42 – Jupiter, Venus & the Moon
Filed Under Photography on December 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Last Monday (1 December 2008), the Moon, Jupiter & Venus were in a very close conjunction in the sky. For the non-astronomers amongst you that just means they were very closely placed in the sky. In fact, they were so close that Venus actually passed behind the Moon! This week’s photo of the week if my favourite shot of the event, you can see the rest of my shots in this Flickr Set.
This week’s photo of the week was taken not long after Venus re-appeared from behind the Moon. You can see it just off to the right of the think crescent Moon. Jupiter is the bright point of light above and to the right of the Moon.
For those of you interested in such things, here are the technical details of this shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1.5 sec
- Focal Length: 70mm
- Focal Ratio: F4.5
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Compensation: -1.0
Mar
15
Photo of the Week 4 – Venus with a Crescent Moon
Filed Under Photography on March 15, 2008 | 1 Comment
This photo was taken on the evening of the 18th of June 2007 on the playing fields on the South Campus of NUI Maynooth. The playing fields are large open grass areas for sport surrounded by wonderful old trees. This photo was taken just as twilight was ending when the Moon and Venus were very close together in the sky.
Click to View Full-Size (1.6MB)
For those of you interested in such things here are some of the technical details of the shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/30 Sec
- Focal Length: 34mm
- Focal Ratio: F5.6
- ISO: 1600
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Compensation: -1
[tags]Ireland, Maynooth, NUI Maynooth, Venus, Moon[/tags]
May
20
A Good Night for Observing Planets
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on May 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Having set myself the challenge of observing all the planets with a pair of 10x50mm binoculars I bought in Lidle for €19 this year I got to tick another one off my list today, Jupiter. I now just need Mars and the two difficult ones, Uranus & Neptune. Although Jupiter is the only one I get to cross off my list today I did get to observe many more planets, in fact, I observed all the planets bar the three I’m missing!
Feb
4
Bart’s Planet Challenge 2007 – The Beginning
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on February 4, 2007 | 3 Comments
One of the things that occoured to me when Pluto got re-classified was that it is now possible to see all the planets in our solar system with nothing more expensive than a 19 Euro pair of binoculars from Lidel. So, this year my challenge to myself is to do just that, observe all the planets with nothing more than my 10×50 binoculars. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be very easy, the others will be more tricy. Mercury, because it spends so much time so close to the Sun that you are dependent on a clear western horision some time you can actually get out to see it within a few short windows each year, and Uranus and Neptune because they’ll require the binoculars to see. If you’re a beginner this is a very good challenge to help you get to know the sky and to become adept with your binoculars and/or telescope. I’d strongly advice you give this a go.