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Solar X-rays: Geomagnetic Field: |
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Current Moon Phase |
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Venus, Mars, and Saturn (right to left) join in saying hello on the evening of July 26. A 15 second guided image was taken at 9:47 p.m. EDT with a Canon 40D camera and 24-70mm zoom lens at an EFL of 56mm, F/4.0. A second image with the drive stopped was then snapped to capture the moonlit foreground. The two frames were combined into a single image using Paint Shop Pro. Gary A. Becker photography near Coopersburg, PA, Schantzenbach field... |
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Venus (right and brightest), Saturn (above) and Mars (below Saturn) played a game of hide and seek on July 30 as clouds moved into the scene from the NE. Even Spica got into the act (upper left). Here they cooperated for the last time in this 15 second exposure, F/4.0, ASA 400, 56mm EFL image. Don’t think those rosy clouds are part of a summer’s sunset. That’s Allentown, PA spilling its sodium light into my Coopersburg sky. Still the effect was not objectionable. Gary A. Becker photography, Schantzenbach field... |
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Venus (below and brightest), Saturn (above) and Mars (left and faintest) form a tight triangle on August 7 at 9:20 p.m. in the western sky. Haze near the horizon made it difficult to see Saturn and Mars with the unaided eye. A light pollution filter was used to dampen the sky glow from Allentown, PA in this 25 second, EFL 112mm, F/4.0, ASA 640, equatorially driven image taken with a Canon 40D camera. A photo of the horizon with the drive disengaged was superimposed over the driven picture to keep the horizon sharp. Gary A. Becker photography near Coopersburg, PA, Schantzenbach field... |
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Venus and Mars leave Saturn in their dust. Venus (below and brightest), Mars (above Venus), and Saturn (right) form a skinny triangle low to the horizon in the western sky on August 19 at 9:01 p.m. Both Saturn and Mars were not visible to the unaided eye. The sky was imaged with a Canon 40D camera at 25 seconds, EFL 112mm, F/4.0, ASA 400, on an equatorially driven mount. To capture the foreground in focus, a 45 second photo of the horizon with the drive disengaged was superimposed over the driven picture. A bright (81 percent lit) waxing gibbous moon was near the meridian in the south. The bright, bluish star to the far left is Spica, the alpha star of Virgo the Virgin. Gary A. Becker photography near Coopersburg, PA, Schantzenbach field... |
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One of the ugliest days imaginable turned into the clearest summer sunset of the season. Hoping that I’d get one last chance to photograph the Venus, Mars, Saturn grouping, I headed up to Schantzenbach’s field, west of Coopersburg, PA where I have been given permission to photograph. I was not disappointed. Venus is the brightest object in the frame, while Mars is above and to Venus’ right. Saturn hangs low, just above the tree line to the right of center. The picture was a composite of a 25 second equatorially driven image taken at F/4, ASA 400 and a 45 second picture with the drive off to capture the moonlit field. The EFL was 56mm. Gary A. Becker photography… |
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Perseid meteors will be flying all through the week of August 8. Maximum nights for the US will fall over the mornings of August 12/13. This map is set for about midnight. Software Bisque graphics by Gary A. Becker... |
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While walking in center city Philadelphia with my wife and friends on August 6, I was amazed at how deeply shadowed JFK Boulevard was illuminated by sunlight reflected from the Liberty One structure in the background. This image was snapped near the corner of JFK Boulevard and Market Street. Across JFK Boulevard, the IBM Building is reflected in the glass walls of the Blue Cross Headquarters Building. It was a whole new way of looking at passive solar. Gary A. Becker photography with a Canon 40D and 10-22mm Canon zoom lens at an EFL of 16mm... |
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"Hideaway," was used by an internet thief who gave the work a new title, “Sunset at the North Pole,” and misled millions of viewers into believing that this image was photographed at the top of the world. Digital art by Inga Nielsen, Hamburg, Germany... |
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NASA’s and ESA’s James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to replace Hubble in 2014. Here it is seen in a European Space Agency drawing complete with sunshades to keep its optics and sensing equipment in the deep freeze. |
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Low Riders: Venus (brightest), Spica, the brightest star of Virgo the Virgin (above and to the left of Venus), and Mars (above and to the right of Venus), are several days away from becoming the closest grouping of the year. This 45 second, equatorially driven image was taken on August 28 at 8:49 p.m. A Canon 40D camera at an EFL of 88mm was set at F/4.0, ASA 400. A second 50 second picture was snapped with the drive turned off, and the two images were combined using Paint Shop Pro. Gary A. Becker photo at the Schantzenbach field northwest of Coopersburg, PA... |
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Low Riders: Venus (brightest), Spica, the brightest star of Virgo the Virgin (above and to the left of Venus), and Mars (above and to the right of Venus), are several days away from becoming the closest grouping of the year. This 30 second, equatorially driven image was taken on August 29 at 8:47 p.m. A Canon 40D camera at an EFL of 88mm was set at F/4.0, ASA 400. A second 30 second picture was snapped with the drive turned off, and the two images were combined using Paint Shop Pro. Gary A. Becker photo at the Schantzenbach field northwest of Coopersburg, PA... |
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