Forums › Forums › Farktography General Chat › Farktography Pub and Grill › 2012 is fixing up to be a good year for astronomy
- This topic has 43 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 2 months ago by chupathingie.
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February 13, 2012 at 5:23 pm #45264kashariParticipant
The horses and burros at the hot springs are about 20 miles away, close to Goldfield Nv. There is an alkali lake bed nearby and a bit down the same road is a lithium mine and Silver Peak Nv. the last time I was there was this last summer but the critters live there all year round from what I gather. the exploring sounds like lots of fun to me. I have a 22 pistol and a Ruger 10/22 rifle and just for kicks I could even bring the cap n ball 44 with loading supplies for a dozen or two shots.
Hmmm, the horses and a bit of exploring does sound interesting. I’ve never shot a gun and am not sure if I ever want to. It’s a dilemma for me – the cowgirl buried within wants to shoot ’em up while the hippie at the surface wants to put a flower in the barrel. 😆
Even target practice disturbs the peace; it scares animals and puts shock waves in the flow of our surrounding energy. (I’d actually never thought about it that way before, thanks wake & bake!) 😆
It’s not easy being me…. 😳
February 13, 2012 at 7:15 pm #45265orionidParticipantThe horses and burros at the hot springs are about 20 miles away, close to Goldfield Nv. There is an alkali lake bed nearby and a bit down the same road is a lithium mine and Silver Peak Nv. the last time I was there was this last summer but the critters live there all year round from what I gather. the exploring sounds like lots of fun to me. I have a 22 pistol and a Ruger 10/22 rifle and just for kicks I could even bring the cap n ball 44 with loading supplies for a dozen or two shots.
Hmmm, the horses and a bit of exploring does sound interesting. I’ve never shot a gun and am not sure if I ever want to. It’s a dilemma for me – the cowgirl buried within wants to shoot ’em up while the hippie at the surface wants to put a flower in the barrel. 😆
Even target practice disturbs the peace; it scares animals and puts shock waves in the flow of our surrounding energy. (I’d actually never thought about it that way before, thanks wake & bake!) 😆
It’s not easy being me…. 😳
Or…. you let the shockwaves flow through you, instilling new energies that fill you with a stolid confidence, when you recognize the simultaneous harnessing and respect of incredible power in much the same manner as our early ancestors harnessed fire and water.
February 13, 2012 at 7:37 pm #45266lokisbongParticipantWell yesterday I said we had almost no precipitation this last year and this morning it’s snowing pretty hard! Almost an inch of snow in the last hour. Which is very good. for the area needing water and for my photography once it mellows out a bit.
I agree with Orionid ya just need to harness the energy of the shockwaves and respect the useful power of them also.
also Damn I wish I could wake and bake right now. Gotta stay sober in case some job wants a pee test before hiring me. 😥February 14, 2012 at 4:20 am #45267chupathingieParticipantWell, this thread got me to tallying up what gear is gonna cost me to assemble a tracking rig. Looks like I’ll be blowing part of my income tax refund on a geared head, a ball head, an astrotrac and the optional polar alignment scope (is this thing really optional?). Considering the camera, lens, tracker and ball head weigh in at about 10 lbs total, that kinda drove the price of the geared head up a bit… total take wound up being about $1300…
February 14, 2012 at 4:51 am #45268ravnosticParticipantWait…was this thread about Astrophotography this year?
http://fossilspringsaz.com/pics/2012/feb/12/ww2012_19.jpg
It’s mine. It’s real. And it’s fabulous. It’s also 2.75Mb, so just sayin’.
My damned sleep schedule is keeping me from calling about the wedge–but I’ll try again to wake up early tomorrow…
February 14, 2012 at 4:58 am #45269chupathingieParticipantoooooooooohhhhhh…. pretty colors! Seriously, most people think of the moon as greyscale. That’s gorgeous.
February 14, 2012 at 7:31 am #45270lokisbongParticipantSweet moon picture Rav! and yes it was about Astrophotography but we got to talkin about darkest skies and kinda sidetracked into maybe camping in the darkest skies I have ever seen.
February 14, 2012 at 9:44 am #45271orionidParticipantWait…was this thread about Astrophotography this year?
http://fossilspringsaz.com/pics/2012/feb/12/ww2012_19.jpg
It’s mine. It’s real. And it’s fabulous. It’s also 2.75Mb, so just sayin’.
My damned sleep schedule is keeping me from calling about the wedge–but I’ll try again to wake up early tomorrow…
+1
February 14, 2012 at 10:16 am #45272Plamadude30kParticipantWell, this thread got me to tallying up what gear is gonna cost me to assemble a tracking rig. Looks like I’ll be blowing part of my income tax refund on a geared head, a ball head, an astrotrac and the optional polar alignment scope (is this thing really optional?). Considering the camera, lens, tracker and ball head weigh in at about 10 lbs total, that kinda drove the price of the geared head up a bit… total take wound up being about $1300…
Yuss! The astrotrac and a geared head has long been on my list of things to get. Maybe by the summer…
February 14, 2012 at 3:33 pm #45273ravnosticParticipantOh, gee! It’s 8:30 am! I may make it till business hours yet! I have a drive down to Tucson in my future (there’s no point paying shipping when I can head down there for the same price, see my aunt, visit the pubs, and ogle over the fancy lenses, filters, and other telescope accessories; not necessarily in that order. Once I have that toy, I fully expect to spend every Sunday night at Bartlett lake, practicing for the ‘main event(s)’.
chupa; post-processing in Canon’s native DPP, I set the ‘camera’ settings to ‘4’ on saturation (I’ve been doing ‘2’ usually), and then on the histog-screen, knocking it again, to 200. So effectively I’ve enhanced color 400 percent. More would be fake-looking–I think this is in the realm of reality in displaying the color that’s there, but hard to capture.
February 14, 2012 at 3:58 pm #45274YoyoParticipantI got a Manfrotto geared head (along w/ tripod) for X-mas, and all I can say is fabulous. No regrets at all. There’s no way I could justify a motor drive however. I used to have an astrophysicist for a neighbor, but I think he’s finished his PhD and moved on. He had a very nice 8″ ‘scope, and I’m sure a drive for it as well. Too bad.
February 14, 2012 at 4:40 pm #45275chupathingieParticipantThe Manfrottos are what I’m looking at… current contender is this guy. Would love something a little beefier, but that one seems to be as stout as B&H carries that fits my intended use.
I have a fairly rugged Manfrotto tripod that I’m hoping is rigid enough for tracking in a light breeze. It’s about 10 years old and built like a tank. Manfrotto seems to like building their gear like a Volvo (and I’m good with that).
February 15, 2012 at 4:03 am #45276YoyoParticipantI went with the 410 Junior for half the price (and the 055XB tripod). If you’re going to mount a motor drive on top, the larger 405 Pro is definitely a good idea. You’ll be able to see the 410’s results tomorrow, since I took it out today to snap some pics of churches. The gear action makes it easy to get verticals straight. I have no desire to get a ball head.
February 15, 2012 at 6:31 am #45277chupathingieParticipantSadly, the ball head is a must…the clock drive mounts between the 2 heads, so the gear head allows for precise polar alignment while the ball head is used to point the camera. I could use the 3025 head I’ve got, but that thing is inconvenient, to say the least (sturdy, tho).
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