February Lunar Eclipse
8:00 p.m. central
9:30 p.m. central
Here are photographs of tonight's lunar eclipse. I hauled out the Celestron 8" SCT and coupled Becky's Pentax K10D to it at prime focus. By 9:30 p.m. the temperature was down to -1 and the telescope was starting to frost over. I was bundled up in several layers, but my hands were getting so cold I could barely press the shutter release. As I froze, I was awed to consider that just yards away from me were dozens of juncos snoozing away in the spruce trees in this extreme frigid weather.
All images © 2008 Mike McDowell
posted by Mike McDowell @ 8:08 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I was not able to view it until 11:00 pm eastern. Though it was ending, it was still an amazing sight.
Great shots Mike!Do you have problems with with your Cameras internals with Shooting below the freezing mark?I am asking this cause the operators manuel on mine says do not use below 32 or above 104 extreme.
There was a warning about sudden temperature changes and internal condensation in the manual, but I was careful about equalizing the the camera by staging it in our garage. Unlike my various Nikon point-and-shoot digital cameras, which operate sluggishly in extreme cold, the Pentax K10D worked like a charm.
Mike
Love that last picture showing the different stages.
BTW, Saturn was also supposed to be in view last night. Were you able to view it and take any photos?
I took a quick look at Saturn, but I'll save photographing it with the K10D another time when it's warmer!
Mike
Wow, spectacular pics, Mike! We were in the middle of a snowstorm here in arizona so I missed it.
Great pictures, thanks for sharing them! Here it was rainy and dense clouds, so I didn't get to see it myself.
Very nice. We were clouded out here.
;) Revolutionary Photos! ;)
Great shots!
Wow, Mike--you've outdone yourself. Not just these--the robin shot took my breath away.
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