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What eclipse?

We didn't get it Down Under.


By the way, I've been very quiet of late. I've got a new job working in an optical business as the astrophotography expert, writing blogs (- Telescopes, Binoculars, Microscopes & Telescopics Sights), doing videos (Optics Central - YouTube), among other things.


I've been so busy I haven't had time for any actual astrophotography, so be careful what you wish for!

Bill

Well, congrats, Bill! Always great to see one of the clan get some recognition for their expertise.

Here's my composite.

Noice!!!!

I didn't even think to post my astrophotos here! There are fantastic shots already, but here are a few of mine. All shot in my driveway in Cypress, Texas; not a great place for landscape framing (streetlights plus high altitude angle of the event), but it sure was convenient! We had some haze at the start of totality, but it cleared up nicely for the remainder.

All photos were Pentax K-70 through a Celestron Powerstar 8" using an f/6.3 reducer to give 1280mm focal length.

U2 (start of totality, 10:41 PM CST, 2 sec @ ISO 400)


GE (greatest eclipse, 11:13 PM CST, 4 sec @ ISO 800 )


U3 (end of totality, 11:43 PM CST, 3 sec @ ISO 200)


Composite (moon moved east, right to left. This a recreation of the U1, U2, GE, U3, U4 points. The U1 and U4 exposures were 1/250 @ ISO 100)


I took a few videos, but didn't catch the meteor impact. The video framing cropped out the moon at that focal length; I'd have to drop down to 1000mm or less.

Nice work.

It was -25C outside and in 40 minutes, I went through both batteries in the camera and two AAA batteries in the Astrotracker. Not pleased with my results. Not sure if it was the lens or being unwilling to bump up the ISO to get a faster shutter speed. My hands were numb, even with gloves on. My finger tips hurt for two days afterwards. Didn't get frostbite. Interested in what people do when photographing in such low temperatures (what gloves you recommend from experience; do you use these newish electronic hand warmers that double as flashlights and battery chargers for phones.) Also, at that cold temperature, the mirror lock-up using the K-3 with Astrotracker would not work - I kept getting a clicking sound and no image. I put it to single exposure and everything was fine.

Thanks!!

I shot at -24C the other evening. I use an AstroTrac tracker rather than the O-GPS1 with my DA*300/4. Exposures are generally limited to 1 minute or less and then the frames stacked. Targets are usually comets and brighter nebulas. I use AC-DC adapters for both the AstroTrac and the K-1. And most importantly, hand warmers underneath both the Astrotrac drive motor and the standalone intervalometer I use which needs AAA batteries to work. Any dry cells lose charge quickly at these temperatures so they must be heated. To prevent the hand warmers themselves from losing heat rapidly, I cover both the tracker arm and the intervalometer with felt winter boot insulators. The K-1 itself is a champ in the cold with all shutter activations operative. I can get an easy one hour or more before the hand warmers lose their heat.

However, it is not all about the camera gear. Turns out one of my tripod legs started slipping in the cold which I didn't notice until I had a look at the individual images. Nice streaks rather than round stars. Was going for a better performance tonight after tightening up the tripod locks. But then the power adapter for my camera came apart. The cold is hell on cabling and connectors. New power adapter has been ordered.

Too bad since cold, dry Arctic air is the best air we get at these latitudes for shooting through. New moon, too. Sigh...

As for gloves, thinner fingered gloves under mittens with fold back finger tips are what I use.

Jack

Thanks! The K3-II is getting a huge workout in the shop as a demo for customers on how to hook a DSLR up to a scope with a t-ring!