The Climbers

Another view of the climbers on top of the Hoo Doo at Windy Point. She must have sensed her picture was being taken.
Canon 20D - 1/500th, 214mm @ f/ 8, ISO 100

Hoo Doo Climbers

On a recent trip up into the Catalinas with a friend, we stopped at Windy Point Vista to enjoy the view of Tucson from this location. These climbers were just reaching the top of the Hoo Doo as we got out of the car, so I nissed catching the climax of their climb.
Canon 20D - 1/2000th, 168mm @ f/ 5.6, ISO 100

Willow Canyon 16200

Another shot at Willow Canyon, as with the others in the group, taken from the Seven Cataracts Vista parking area on the General Hitchcock (Catalina) Highway. However this one is looking in the opposite direction, back up into the canyon.
Canon 20D - 1/45th, 27mm @ f/ 22, ISO 100

Willow Canyon 16193

Another view of Willow Canyon looking towards the front range and Tucson. Same vantage point as the first image in this series.
Canon 20D - 1/30th, 39mm @ f/ 22, ISO 100

The view that greeted me

These images from yesterday morning have been a bit out of order. When I left the dome, this is the view that greeted me. Typically the valley below and the Galiuros mountains beyond are visible, but these mountains of white provided an interesting substitute.
Canon 20D - 1/60th, 20mm @ f/ 22, ISO 100

View from the Peak

Here is the morning view out to the west from the peak, directly behind the 60" dome. Hidden by the cloud layer lies the town of Catalina, over a mile below.
This is the condition I wish I had the night before. The layer of moist air was above the valley, but below the peak of Mt. Lemmon. If nature had cooperated, this layer of clouds would have blocked all of the light coming up from Tucson and the other towns around the Santa Catalinas and the skies over Mt. Lemmon would have been exceedingly dark. Instead I was in clouds and rain all night.
Canon 20D - 1/125th, 20mm @ f/ 22, ISO 100

Cloudy Catalinas

While the peak of Mt. Lemmon was in the clouds the night before, making observatoins impossible, the broken layer of clouds was below the peaks about 9am when I was heading back down to Tucson.
This view is from above Willow Canyon near M.P. 10 looking south towards the front range and Tucson beyond.

Canon 20D - 1/30th, 55mm @ f /22, ISO 100

Not an Orionid

The only meteor that I caught duirng the entire night's worth of images is the one visible at the upper right. Looking closely at the trajectory against the background stars, it is clear this one isn't an Orionid. Strange considering this was to be when the Orioninds should have been most active. The meteors that make up the Orionids are small grains the size of sand that come from Halley's Comet which vaporize in a flash of light about 50 miles above Earth's surface. Spordaic meteors, like this one, can't be traced back to any one part of the sky and a few can been seen every hour during any clear night.
Canon 20D - 30 seconds, 20mm @ f /1.8, ISO 800

Orion over the 60" dome

I tried a different angle than I usually shoot for animations during this past run at the 60" I was hoping to catch a few Orionid meteors as well as the dome rotating in the series but I didn't have much success. The meteors are called "Orionids" because the radiant, or constellation they seem to be coming from is Orion, the Hunter. Orion is one constellation that almost everyone knows and can been seen everywhere on Earth since it stradles the celestial equator. This time of year Orion can be seen climbing over the eastern horizon a few hours before midnight.
Canon 20D - 30 seconds, 20mm @ f /1.8, ISO 800

"T" for Telescopes?

NO I didn't fall off of Earth's edge! Just been busy with a number of things.

I had a productive run at the Schmidt finding six new NEOs even though I had poor weather the first night, high winds the last night and crummy seeing all three nights. This image was taken on the night of high winds and I'm glad the camera didn't get blown over! This shot is of both the Schmidt dome and the Kuiper dome on Mt. Bigeow. Two unidentified satellites cross paths hundreds of kilometers over head. The one forming the top of the "T" is in a lower orbit and crossing the sky at a more rapid pace.

Canon 20D - 30 second, f/ 1.8, ISO 200

This cat cracks me up!

Sydney keeps me laughing. A few days after I first got her, I couldn't find her anywhere. On my second or third walk around the house searching for her, I noticed a lump under the bed covers that shouldn't have been there. Sure enough, it was her. She figured out how to lift up the edge of the blanket and crawl underneath. Now I know to look under the covers for her and am careful when I lay down on the bed.
This snapshot is of one of her latest tricks, just covering her head with a handy tee shirt. I guess it is more comfortable then covering her eyes with her front legs.

Canon 20D - 1/60th, 51mm @ f/8, ISO 200, On camera flash

60" Bathed in Moonlight

The Mt. Lemmon Survey 60" telescope works the southern ecliptic as the first quarter moon of September illuminates the scene. Polaris, or the North Star is the brightest star seen directly over the telescope. Polaris is at the end of the handle of the "Little Dipper" (Ursa Minor) which is upside down and curving towards the left in this image.
Canon 20D - 30 seconds, 20mm @ f/1.8, ISO 400