20 minutes exposure, Fuji Super G 400 wide format film.
300mm f/2.8 Pentax lens.
This page contains some of my images that do not fall into any of the other catagories. The images range from sunsets to rainbows to the zodiacal light.
In June 1999, a moderately bright nova appeared in the southern constellation of Vela. Shortly after it appeared I was scheduled to visit the Chiro observatory to observe comet Lee 1999h1. Just before I left, I received a call from a friend who told me that Japanese astrophotographer Akira Fuji was interested in some photographs of the nova and would I be willing to obtain a few photoraphs for him. Needless to say, seeing as I was about to use his equipment, I was more than willing to oblige. A couple of the photographs I obtained are below. The nova is the bright orange star.
From where I lived in Western Australia, the Zodiacal Light was a common occurance, both after sundown and before sunrise. Often from my dark sites, it would be visible across the entire sky, forming what is known as the zodiacal band, and opposite the sun, the Gegenshine was also frequently visible. People visiting from overseas were often surprised at how bright and obvious the zodiacal light actually was. As a local, I often found it to be a real nuisance. A natural form of light pollution!! Especially during early May when observing the eta aquarid meteor shower.
The very bright object is Jupiter, in the constellation Capricornus, while at the bottom left is the "Y" of Aquarius. The bright star at the centre right edge is Fomalhaut.
In this photograph the "Y" of Aquarius it towards the upper left, while Fomalhaut is towards the upper right. The bright star towards the lower right is beta ceti, sometimes known as Diphda. In the bottom left-hand cornor is gamma pegasi.
In the image below, The bright object near the bottom is the 3-day old Moon. Venus and Jupiter at the bright objects towards the top, among the stars forming the tail of Leo. Regulus is just right of centre. The bright line is the reflection of the Moon from the roof of the observing area.
While I was taking a second image, the ISS drifted through the field of view. One thing I found interesting was the rapid change in the colour of the sky above the horizon. As is visible in the image, very close to the horizon, the sky has a distinct yellowish tinge due to looking through a greater amount of atmosphere. However, this colour rapidly fades to a deep blue only a few degrees above the horizon.
In August 1994, the asteroid 1620 Geographos, made a relatively close approach to the Earth. At closest, it passed a little under 5 million km away and reached 10th magnitude during late August, making it easily visible in an 8" telescope. It was also moving very quickly, and the motion could be detected after only a couple of minutes.
The close approach was best viewed from the southern hemisphere as when at its brightest, the asteroid was deep in the southern sky. When the above images were taken the asteroid was at declination -35, in the constellation Microscopium. At this time, it was heading northwards at a rate of about 22 arc minutes per hour. On September 6, the asteroid passed less than 1 degree west of the globular cluster M2. Unfortunately for once the Western Australian weather let me down and it was not until the following night when I was able to try and photograph the conjunction. By that time the asteroid was about 2 degrees away from the cluster and just out of the field of view.
Moonset over the west dome of Chiro observatory signals the start of another night of observing. From this location, the skies are generally around 7.0 - 7.2, sometimes reaching 7.5. NGC 5128 is visible to the naked eye when it is high in the sky.
The lights of the city of Perth from the Chiro observatory. From here they form a dome about 10 degrees high and about 15 degrees wide to the naked eye. At this stage they do not pose any problems. However at the rate the city is spreading out, the light pollution may become a problem for the southern sky in the future.
Venus and Jupiter rise over the east dome at Chiro observatory in the dawn twilight following a long night of observing.
Sunset over the Indian ocean. Watching the Sun slowly sink into the water is one of the sights I miss most while living in the USA. Sometimes the sunsets could be very spectacular, however most times I did not have a camera handy.
One of the most spectacular sunsets I saw was while driving home from the 1997 Meeline astrocamp. On that occassion the entire western sky was covered in brilliant shades of red and orange. I had two cameras with me. Two cameras, both loaded with film. Two cameras, both loaded with black and white film!!!!!! Mumble... mumble... mumble!
Ever wondered what to do at night with the camera when the Moon is close to full? One thing is to have some fun photographing the landscape.
Near the end of a 3 week lecture tour of outback Western Australia, I stopped to take this photograph of the Ashburton River crossing, illuminated by the 12 day old Moon. You can tell it is a night-time photograph by the stars visible in the sky. The bright star just above the ridge is the 3rd magnitude beta octans. The globular cluster 47 tucanae is just setting behind the ridge. The south celestial pole is just out of view to the upper left.
Speaking of observing trips, sometimes even the best of plans can go awry when the weather does not co-operate. Here are a couple of photographs from a trip I made with two friends in 1987 to observe the eta aquarid meteor shower and comet Wilson as it passed close to the naked eye supernove 1987a. In the photograph above, taken by astrophotographer Akira Fujii, who had joined us the previous night, we are busy discussing the best way to go to find clear skies. In the end, we recomended to Mr Fujii, that he head south, where he should get several clear nights. We decided to head north to get better views of the eta aquarids.
After packing everything into the car, we headed off and 2 days later were in the tropical paradise of Broome, observing under wonderfully dark skies in shorts and T-shirts, and then spending the day swimming at a beautiful beach in warm water! One of the hardest things we ever did was to head back home to work a week later!!!!!! We later heard that Mr Fujii had a very successful time photographing the comet and supernova as well.
In 1983 I suggested to fellow members of the Albany and Districts Astronomy Club that we hold an astrocamp and invite people to join us from the other astronomical clubs around Western Australia. My plan was to hold something similar to astrocamps held in the USA. To this end we found people to speak about various topics related to observing during the afternoon, with the intention of having them demonstrate what they had discussed outside at the telescope that evening. An ideal location was found at a place called Dryandra, that offered good accomodation at an affordable price, with plenty of clear ground for telescopes and no lights.
That first camp was a great success with around 35 people attending from 5 different clubs, as well as several not affiliated with any club. Following this success, another was arranged the following year which was equally successful. At this camp, it was decided to make the camps an annual event with a different club making tha arrangements each year. Unfortunately, the following year, the Astronomical Society of WA, who had agreed to organise the event, only invited their own members! So that was the end of the state-wide gatherings!!!
Sometimes even the rain can give rise to a beautiful sight. I spotted this spectacular double rainbow on my way home from work one day. Fortunately for once I had the camera readily accessible!
Perth does not often get thunderstorms. Nothing like those I have seen in the American mid-west. However we do occassionally get a good storm with spectacular lightening. One of the most memorable storms was during the winter of 1993. That night the storm played havoc with the power supply. I was scheduled to take a class that night and shortly before the class was due to start the power went out. It came back on again after about 10 minutes, so we were able to start the class on time. However after about 15 minutes, the power went out again. After waiting for a while to see if it would come back on, I gave the class the option of quitting or continuing in the hope that the power would come back on. Everyone in the class elected to carry on, so for the next hour and 45 minutes, I gave a lecture on the planets, with no lights, no slides, no overheads, while outside the storm raged with lightening, thunder, strong winds and heavy rain! I could no believe that everyone stayed, and stayed awake!!!! Even asking questions and taking an active part in the lecture!!! It was one of the most bizarre lectures I have ever given!