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To See First Supermoon Eclipse In 33 Years On Monday Morning.The supermoon will be visible all night. The total eclipse will start at 10:11 p.m. EDT (7:11 p.m. PDT) Sunday evening and will last one hour and 12 minutes.
Scientists say it will be visible from across Europe, Africa, North and South America, and some parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific. But that's only if it's not cloudy.
The Met Office is unfortunately currently predicting cloudy skies for much of the UK from Sunday night to Monday morning. If it's not clear enough to see it from the ground in the UK, don't fear - NASA will be streaming it live from Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama.I'm just hoping that it will be clear skies in our area.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Edits: 09/23/15 09/23/15Follow Ups:
at 6000 feet in the clear air at Crater Lake...thanks for the tip.
An eclipsed Moon is very dim. So...
Bracket.
:)
on the tripod...equivalent of 225-750MM.
ISO likely 800 or 1200
cable release
I haven't used a cable release in decades.
Even my EOS 1n had a 2 sec / 10 sec self timer. That was my last film camera.
If your camera HAS that feature, use it.
Another fine feature is a mirror lock up. My EOS 1d had this and in combination with the 2 sec self timer, would when you pressed the shutter, first flip the mirror UP and wait the timer setting THAN expose. Great for lightning, fireworks and nighttime in general.
See link for inexpensive STAR TRACKING camera mount. Dimension from hinge to rod is critical as is motor rotation speed vs threaded rod pitch. No weird science and good for long exposures of the dark night sky.
Too much is never enough
there is no remote cable inert port, there was on my D-200. The self time is a 10 second delay...
Yep on lock up, will set that too, thanks.
but my cable was for the D200 and so I must use the self timer.
To complete your 'astrophotography' kit you need to build one of those barn door mounts like I linked.
Easy to source a 1 rpm clock motor, 1/4-20 rod and assorted hardware includin a good, low-slop hinge.
I'm going to build 3 of 'em once I source motors. The rest of the stuff? Local home store.
The 2 second setting gives plenty of settling time.
Too much is never enough
Well, thanks ...but I have no other interest in shooting the sky. After looking thru my friends ten inch scope that he ground the mirror for, and seeing the resolution....well...all else is boat anchors.
Just doing it on Sunday to see if I can and likely I cannot...does not matter, at least I will see a great scene in a great location...
Camera gives you 'wide field' view which a scope does NOT.
Also, you'll drive yourself nuts trying to see Meteors with a scope.
The Barn Door mount is GREAT for meteor nite, like the Perseids in August and the Leonids in December.
Too much is never enough
Thanks for the reminder about the mirror lock up! I would have totally spaced that out. And, fortunately, I do have an electronic shutter release cable thingy, so that'll help as well.The one thing which has pissed me off for several years now is my tripod. It's a great and stable tripod, but the head is WAY too coarse for long lens or telescope use. I can't adjust it without going too much one way or the other vertically (it's a Bogen/Manfrotto). Actually, I haven't put the 'scope (Celestron C5) on it in at least a couple years, just because it's such a pain in the butt to center, say, Jupiter or Saturn. Nice tripod, but I need a better/smoother head.
I had an acquaintance a while back who had a Meade 10" Schmidt-Cassigrain and a relatively decent mount (although not motorized), which I used to shoot the Moon occulting Saturn. Can't remember the year off-hand, but probably around 2000. Got some REALLY nice shots. I should digitize a couple and post 'em on my website (youramerica.net).
Ok, that's all I've got for now.
:)
Edits: 09/23/15
I use this on my Manfrotto tripod and love the action and ease of use..
Interesting. Here's what I have:
Not ideal, and not "forever", but what I have currently. Left/right swivel is good, tilt is good, up/down not so much.
:)
This is the kind of head I'd use for video. The damping in these heads makes panning more smooth.
Ball head I like for stills. And yes, some advances in design have made 'em easier to use.
I have the 'budget' 3055 ball head and 3021 legs. HEAVY to move, it is also crazy stable. This is what? 2 or 3 generations off the pace?
Too much is never enough
The telescope store near my house probably won't let you OUT of the store if you buy a nice tube like the Celestron WITHOUT the equatorial mount. IMO, such a scope is nearly useless without it.
After all, when looking at something like Jupiter, even with my modest 1000mm F10, using a 25mm eyepiece = 40x, tthe planet is from one side of the view to the other in 30 seconds or so.
Clearly too fast for photography without the clock drive.That's why for star photos, I REALLY recommend the Barn Door mount. You should be able to get one for 30 or 40$ depending on how elaborate you make it and the source of the clock motor.
I have a Bogen, as well, and use the Ball Head so NO gears or other stuff to get in the way. If I were interested in video, I'd have a nice Pan / Tilt head. I used to own a tripod dolly for moving a tripod mounted camera. If I had been doing video, it'd have been perfect for a few shotss at weddings.
Too much is never enough
Edits: 09/23/15
LWR, I saw your reference to MrEclipse.com. I'd have to look into the pedigree again to be certain, but I'm pretty sure that's Fred Espenak's own personal website. He also does the eclipse data work for NASA at:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/lunar.html
and
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html
I've been looking at his data there for, like, since forever. :)
Also, check out Philip Harrington's book "Eclipse!" I'll try to remember to post a pic or two from it about this lunar eclipse.
:)
Big aperture, short shutter speed.The Moon is a moving target. This is key. Long-ish shutter speeds ( > 1/30th second) will have blur.
400-800 will typically result in not much detail. Plan for 100-200, if your equipment allows. 400 can be fine, if your lens can do F4 to F5.6. My preference is 100 F8, and to bracket up/down two stops from there. But, do NOT go beyond 1/30 shutter speed, because you WILL have blur.
Focus is also an issue. It's difficult to focus on a dim object such as the eclipsed Moon. My advice is to set the focus on a VERY distant object before the eclipse, so you're at least in the ballpark.
:)
Edits: 09/23/15 09/23/15 09/23/15
I'll let the AF find the distance, I can use the far rim which is 7 miles away.
The F-stop is locked at F-8 which is the sharpest F on that particular lens. It only goes to F5.6 anyway.
I also have the second Nikon with a 18-200 F-3.5 on it That will be on a monopod...
I have never tried this before, the sun in a forest fire was easier I imagine....
Probably the biggest thing to remember is that you're photographing a very dim and distant moving object which is less than 1/2 degree wide.Plan accordingly.
:)
Edits: 09/23/15
.
I haven't been paying attention to celestial events lately, so I'm very glad you gave us this "heads up".
:)
And enjoy your last sight of the moon. End of the world, you know.
We can laugh about that the next day.
If we aren't already.
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