and i also love my new camera lol the other day i wrote about going out with my uncle to guildford to do star gazing, and well i blooming well went!! yes, i went all the way to guildford!! - difference is i had my uncle with me as he picked me up and drove me there and bought me back again, i have to say the journey there was long.. and went through the hills and valleys and it was gorgeous view - even watching what looked like a Kestrel or Hawk dropping down a mouse that they had captured from the sky! lol
It was an event that was created to help get people involved of many ages, and also people to bring out their scopes and give other people the chance to talk to them about their equipment etc.
My uncle had most people wondering around him and talking to him it was quite amazing really, i mean he knew so much and was able to talk about it as if he has been doing it for years and is like a professor at a school or something...
Here are some of the pictures that i took that night, this was on the 17th April at Newlands Centre in Guildford area.
We got to the place around 4pm, and started to set up - but i was mesmerized by the view i didnt actually help my uncle - oops!
The reason in which he wanted to set up so early was because he wanted to view the Sun.. yes, the Sun! you can only do this with the nessecary equipment and cannot do it with a normal lens as the lens is glass, and it could easily break the glass which would cause it to shatter etc.
But he did have everything you need to observe the sun, and i have to say looking through the telescope it looks like a white spot - there was nothing to be seen on the sun as nothing was happening, normally you can see Sun Spots and any other activity going on, but to be honest it was boring - even my uncle said the same! lol
During the course of the evening they had a projection show going on in the centre with refreshments and information about Astrology/Astronomy
I got to see and learn a fair amount of stuff, including viewing the stars and got to see one of the brightest Satelites in the sky.
Through the telescope i got to see:
The Sun & The Moon & Saturn & Mars & Venus
And i have to say it was amazing, but not the same experience as i had when i first experienced seeing Jupiter through the telescope.
This is a picture of the view from the hill that we had set up the gear.
I had binoculars with me also that night, so i could see right to the top of the hills - which as you can tell judging by the picture are far far away! And indeed they are, My uncle was telling me how they were setting up the night before taking pictures and star gazing with telescopes etc. Beautiful isnt it?I tell you, i would love a house with a view as gorgeous as this or even of the sea! i would be in heaven, i can assure you ;)
after a while we were not the only people with a Telescope set up...
Then a few more people came - unfortunatly i took the picture at the same place, i couldnt find anything clear enough with some more people around
This is a picture of my uncle andy talking to someone about Astronomy and the stars etc.
This is a picture that i took that night of the Moon, with Venus shining below it just above the trees, it was not as good as the other pictures i took a couple of nights before, but it is as good as.
You need to click the image to make it full screen as you cant see venus very well what with being so close to the tree, and where the moon is higher up from the day i first started to take pictures
But i took the picture because i wasnt sure of what the bright shiny star was to show my Uncle Andy as he would know what it was, when i could had really looked at the software.
The software that we use is
Stellarium - this is planterium software that shows you exactly where the planets are at the moment, how the stars are set out in the sky - and it is updated fairly often in the day to show you exactly how it is looking 'up there'
I use this alot - just checking out where things are, how things look at night especially where i cant see from one night to the next.
And this image here is a close up (well as close as i could get) that day.
This is the Waxing Cresent Moon
I believe i heard that day that the moon was actually '3 days old'
Gorgeous, isnt it?
I took this picture, and the ones before this one with my Hitachi 10mp camera, i only had a 3x optical zoom!
But still, for a compact camera i did pretty well, or at least i thought have! :)
Or better yet, this is the most recent picture i have taken of the 'sky'
This is the Moon (obviously)
I took this on the 22nd April, with my new Fuji s5700 Digital camera, similar to the DSLR camera, but not as quite as many features as a DSLR.
I bought this camera during the week of Ebay
(gotta love that site) It has a 7.01mp and 10x Opitcal Zoom... Not bad Eh?
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL THESE IMAGES NEED TO BE CLICKED TO VIEW THE FULL IMAGE
