Sunset
Capturing a perfect sunset on the horizon is a challenge. However, as you can see by the photos, it is possible. The weather has the biggest bearing on your success. Even though the day may have perfectly clear skies there is inevitably cloud right on the horizon that could not be seen when the sun was at a higher altitude. Only when the sun was very low do these annoying clouds seem to appear. The photos were all taken with a Vixen VC 200L Cassegrain 1800mm focal length telescope with Olympus OM1 camera attached at prime focus. ISO400 slide film at 1/1000th of a second exposure. The distortion of the sun in these images is produced by the Earth's atmosphere.
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Sirius Seeing the star Sirius is easy during the night because it is the brightest star in the sky at magnitude -1.46 and it is near to the distinctive constellation of Orion. However, this photo of Sirius was taken at around 2pm in the afternoon. To achieve this, I first aimed the telescope on the Sun with solar filter fitted and set its celestial co ordinance on the telescope. I then repositioned the telescope to the co ordinance of Sirius using the telescopes setting circles -R.A.06 45.2 Dec -16 43 (2000.0). After a short search of the immediate area using a low power wide-angle eyepiece, I was able to find this "other sun" that could be viewed during the day. At a distance of 8.7 light years, it is a pinpoint of white light against the blue afternoon sky - quite amazing.
Vixen VC 200L Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of 1800mm (f/9) with an adaptor that allows an eyepiece and camera to be attached to the telescope. This technique is called positive projection; this has the effect of stretching the telescopes focal length. In this case, it is f/30 or a focal length of 6000mm using a 25mm eyepiece. ISO400 slide film at 1/60th exposure. |
Venus The planet Venus shows phases just like our Moon on its orbit around the Sun. The image here was obtained using positive projection technique (f/30) with 1/60th exposure and shows the crescent Venus. This image photographed at 11am. At certain times throughout the year, the planet Venus can be seen with the naked eye - if you know where to look.
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