Bart B

Very cool! Nice catch!

Thank you! Between the smoke and unsteady air, my camera saw the event much better than I did. Your Q7 would have made it spectacular!

Beautiful! The Lagoon has always been a favorite of mine. . . but I wish it were overhead instead of near the horizon. 😉

Wow! Razor sharp. . . nice job!

Wow! Razor sharp capture of sunspots! Congrats!

Tiny black dot on Saturn. Early this morning, I photographed a rather rare astronomical event, a shadow transit of Saturn’s largest moon Titan across its parent planet. This is a composite of two frames. Questar telescope /Olympus camera. Observed from metro Chicago. #astrophotography

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. Opening to “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Photo taken on today’s ride.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Opening to “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
Photo taken on today’s ride. 🚴🏻‍♂️

Tonight, Mars could be found amidst the stars of the Beehive star cluster (M44) in Cancer.

Tonight, Mars could be found amidst the stars of the Beehive star cluster (M44) in Cancer.
#astrophotography #astronomy

Spring colors are beginning to “pop” on the bicycle trails in west suburban Chicago.

Spring colors are beginning to “pop” on the bicycle trails in west suburban Chicago. 🚴🏻‍♂️

On my short bicycle ride today, the landscapes near Mallard Lake displayed both the greens of spring and the leftover browns of winter.

🚴🏻‍♂️ On my short bicycle ride today, the landscapes near Mallard Lake displayed both the greens of spring and the leftover browns of winter.

My ASTRO 50 EXHIBIT now concludes. It’s back to the present day. Thank you for your kind attention.

The planet Jupiter was in Taurus back then, just as it is now. In the span of those 47 years, Jupiter has orbited the Sun nearly 4 times.

#11. A 3-frame animation of the winter sky. My first frame was exposed about 10 minutes to show trailing. My second one was short to render pointy stars. A third frame (constellation lines) was added recently. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film with my Pentax SLR.
#astronomy #astrophotography #startrails

Tonight's 2½ day old Moon with significant Earthshine. Taken with Olympus m4/3 camera and 300mm telephoto lens.

Tonight's 2½ day old Moon with significant Earthshine. Taken with Olympus m4/3 camera and 300mm telephoto lens.
#astronomy #astrophotography #moon

August 7, 1978: Here I caught a very close conjunction between Venus and the Moon. It brought back fond memories of a pre-dawn occultation of Venus that fueled my early interest of astronomy 4 years earlier. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film with my Pentax SLR.

#10. August 7, 1978: Here I caught a very close conjunction between Venus and the Moon. It brought back fond memories of a pre-dawn occultation of Venus that fueled my early interest of astronomy 4 years earlier. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film with my Pentax SLR.
#astronomy #astrophotography #moon

I used this black & white image, which I processed in my own basement darkroom, for my article about lunar occultations that appeared in the 1977 Proceedings of the Peoria Academy of Science. Kodak Tri-X film, Pentax SLR camera at prime focus of Northmoor Observatory’s 9-inch refractor.

November 24, 1976: In a melding of old and new, I combined my photograph of Rho Sagittarii (mag. 3.9) about to be occulted by the crescent Moon [outlined by my box] with a simulation of the Moon that same night, rendered by SkySafari software.

#9. November 24, 1976: In a melding of old and new, I combined my photograph of Rho Sagittarii (mag. 3.9) about to be occulted by the crescent Moon [outlined by my box] with a simulation of the Moon that same night, rendered by SkySafari software.
#astronomy #astrophotography #moon #occultation

August 2, 1976: The face of the Moon is timeless, as seen here when I first mated my Pentax SLR camera to the historic 9-inch f/16 refracting telescope at Northmoor Observatory in Peoria, Illinois to capture its First Quarter phase. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film.

#8. August 2, 1976: The face of the Moon is timeless, as seen here when I first mated my Pentax SLR camera to the historic 9-inch f/16 refracting telescope at Northmoor Observatory in Peoria, Illinois to capture its First Quarter phase. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film.
#astronomy #astrophotography #moon

Early March, 1976: One month after I purchased my Pentax SLR, a surprisingly bright Comet West appeared in the pre-dawn sky. Good timing, eh?! Amazingly, my first comet remains one of the best comets I’ve ever seen!! Taken on Kodak Tri-X film.

#7. Early March, 1976: One month after I purchased my Pentax SLR, a surprisingly bright Comet West appeared in the pre-dawn sky. Good timing, eh?! Amazingly, my first comet remains one of the best comets I’ve ever seen!! Taken on Kodak Tri-X film.
#astronomy #astrophotography #comet

March 6, 1976: I took this image of an overexposed waxing crescent Moon amidst the faint stars of Aries and Taurus, with the Pleiades cluster sparkling nearby. Taken on Ektachrome slide film with my Pentax SLR.

#6. March 6, 1976: I took this image of an overexposed waxing crescent Moon amidst the faint stars of Aries and Taurus, with the Pleiades cluster sparkling nearby. Taken on Ektachrome slide film with my Pentax SLR.
#astronomy #astrophotography

Some of my first astro images were circumpolar star trails. This one included the Big Dipper and Polaris. In February of 1976, I finally purchased my own (real) camera — a Pentax SP1000 SLR, with a tripod. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film.

#5. NORTH POLAR STARE. Some of my first astro images were circumpolar star trails. This one included the Big Dipper and Polaris. In February of 1976, I finally purchased my own (real) camera — a Pentax SP1000 SLR, and a tripod. Taken on Kodak Tri-X film.
#astronomy #astrophotography #startrails

Gorgeous! Congrats!

Outstanding! 🏅 Congrats!

July, 1975: I took my first solar photos through my original 4¼ inch reflecting telescope fitted with a Solar Skreen filter. Taken with Kodak Instamatic camera on Kodachrome 64 slide film.

#4. July, 1975: I took my first solar photos through my original 4¼ inch reflecting telescope fitted with a Solar Skreen filter. Taken with Kodak Instamatic camera on Kodachrome 64 slide film.
#astronomy #astrophotography #sun

Using my father’s Kodak Instamatic camera, I tried pointing the camera into the eyepiece of my telescope and got some surprisingly good results. The images are arranged right to left to match the Moon’s west to east motion through the Earth’s shadow.

May 24-25, 1975: My first big astrophoto opportunity came when the U.S. enjoyed a late-spring total lunar eclipses that year. This montage gathers my best frames, taken on Kodachrome 64 slide film.

#3. May 24-25, 1975: My first big astrophoto opportunity came when the U.S. enjoyed a late-spring total lunar eclipses that year. This montage gathers my best frames, taken on Kodachrome 64 slide film.
#astronomy #astrophotography #moon #lunareclipse

Mounted on an improvised tripod, my dad’s Kodak Instamatic camera was a bit unsteady, yielding wobbly star trails. But this minor success spurred me to try more, including a total lunar eclipse that would occur 9 days later.

Early May, 1975: An early star trail photo. From the backyard of my family’s home in Peoria, Illinois, I captured the conjunction of a crescent Moon and the planets Venus and Saturn, with stars Castor and Pollux nearby. Kodachrome 64 slide film.

#2. Early May, 1975: An early star trail photo. From the backyard of my family’s home in Peoria, Illinois, I captured the conjunction of a crescent Moon and the planets Venus and Saturn, with stars Castor and Pollux nearby. Kodachrome 64 slide film.
#astronomy #astrophotography #moon #startrails

I was in high school at the time, and I didn’t own a camera. This was taken with my father’s Kodak 814 Instamatic 126 film camera on Kodachrome 64 slide film. I digitally added the magnified inset photo in recent years.

#1. Dec. 13, 1974: One of my very first astronomical photos was taken in the early stages of a partial solar eclipse. A veil of low clouds rendered it safely visible to both eye and camera. Taken outside of Northmoor Observatory, Peoria, Illinois.
#astronomy #astrophotography #solareclipse