Moon, Venus & Mercury Conjunction:

Moon Oct 28, 2011

Moon, Venus & Mercury forms a sad face

Right above Power Line Post

Moon "hitting" the power line post

Took this while waiting for the moon to show up

These images were featured on spaceweather.com OCT 29, 2011 entry. Scroll down and look for the name Dennis Llante, then click it. Proud to be Filipino!

Jupiter at Opposition 2011:

 Oct 26, 2011

Oct 27, 2011

Oct 28, 2011

Oct 29, 2011

Oct 30, 2011

It is New Moon. I can focus on Jupiter for the next 3 days till opposition. I am glad to have imaged it this time of the year. It has the apparent size of about 50". This will be the same size as when it is at opposition on OCT 29th 2:00 UTC. The next time Jupiter will be this close to us is at year 2022. So this one is special!

You can see Io faintly in both frames and this is the first time I have ever imaged the Great Red Spot with better detail.

Although the images are not professional, I am quite proud of it! 

(Oct 31 update) 

Just came back from vacation, I am blessed to have been able to test my scope in darker skies by the beach. I had only two targets from Oct 29 & Oct 30, Jupiter and Moon. 

The first evening, I was able to take images of the Moon in its Crescent Phase and took some seascape tripod shots. Later in the evening, seeing was good but transparency was bad. But I was still able to take Jupiter when the GRS was about to transit. I could've waited for it to be in the center meridian but I was too tired from swimming at the beach all day. As you can see in the Oct 29 frame, quality of image isn't that good.

The next evening, seeing and transparency was better. I was able to take images of both the Moon and Jupiter. Jupiter was high enough for me to shoot without much turbulence. I was also able to cool down the scope for a longer time. You can see that the Oct 30 frame was better. Goes to show that there's so many factors to consider to get a good image no matter how expensive your equipment is. You need to be able to balance them all. I only did a short imaging session because I was too tired from swimming and boating. Morong, Bataan Beaches are amazing!

(last frame) Tonight's Jupiter is just amazing. So even if I am tired from the trip, I still had to setup to image It. You can see Io on top and Callisto in the Bottom and the Great Red Spot almost in the center meridian. What a sight to see.

Great Red Spot, Io & Callisto Oct 31, 2011

reprocessed frame Oct 31, 2011

God has always something in store for us!

(Oct 31, 2011 23:50)

Tonight, I pray for the speedy recovery of my friends. Frances & Henry Cheock. The last image which is the best image I ever took of Jupiter so far is for them. Greater things are yet to come!

Lunar Imaging: 11 day Marathon

Moon Oct 25, 2011

This is the 11th day of my Lunar Imaging Marathon. I am overjoyed that God allowed me to document the Moon for many days straight. Sky has had been clear for me to image it. I am thinking how many people in the world have done this? Tomorrow will be New Moon, I think I will rest a bit.

I have completed almost all the Phases in High Resolution. I only need the first 5 days of the moon, which is hard to shoot, to complete all the phases. I hope and Pray that the sky will continue to clear up so I can finish my Phases of the Moon Project.

I just could not resist to image the sunrise. As you can see from here, life was given another chance. Light posts still lit and life is restarting.




<sup>Lamentations 3:23

23</sup> They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Great Indeed!

Lunar Imaging Session: Early Morning

Oct 23, 2011

Oct 24, 2011

I feel so blessed to have been able to document the Moon for 10 days straight. Every time I planned to wake up to shoot the Moon, It was always quite clear. Thank God for the favor. Two more days to go before new moon. That means rest for me.

Punctus Contra Punctum:

Ride the Lightning - Adrian Fullon

Mother Nature's Contrapuntal behavior

Punctus Contra Punctum means point against point, Counterpoint was the word in my head to describe what happened in my imaging session last night. It is the musician in me that suggested the word. When we speak of counterpoint in the music world, it basically means writing or playing lines that sound different and independent of each other. Bach was one of the most popular musicians who explored this in his Fugue in the Baroque period.

This is what happened last night. We had rain in the afternoon. I got home at around 19:30 and I saw a distant thunderstorm to the northwest. So i decided to setup and shoot it as you can see in the first three frames. The third one you'll see what I am talking about. The peaceful clear sky in my area and a raging thunderstorm to the northwest. It was musical.

Jupiter & Io

After an hour, I setup my scope for Jupiter. I was able to get a few avi files at 3mins and this is one of them. Seeing was good but transparency is average, you can see Jupiter shaking in the eyepiece about every 5secs.

Orion Field

It was Orionids night so I setup and took my chances. I saw only one in the whole hour of waiting but It was out of the frame. After that, I rested and set my alarm to 3am for the Moon.

This Phase of the Moon is always worth the wake up

Phases like this are hard to capture because you really have to wake up early. And of course the weather cooperation.

Sinus Iridium 

Sinus Iridium or the Bay of Rainbows. I always wanted to image this.

My First ever image of Mars

After the Moon, I slewed my scope for Mars. It only looked like a dot on my 4inch. But the rusty color unmistakable. Almost like it doesn't fit with the background stars. It has an apparent diameter of 6.0" and just north of the moon this morning. Easy to spot if you're awake!

Tomorrow I'll set the alarm to 4am. A little bit easier because 5am is my normal wake up time (pretty abnormal for a musician like me!) I ended my session at around 03:45 happy!

Lunar Imaging Session: Through the Window

Moon at Last Quarter OCT 20, 2011 01:00

My indoor setup

It has become cloudy since OCT 18, so that made me improvise and shoot from inside the house through the window. I was waiting for the moon at around 1am last night to show up even if it's cloudy. I had the opportunity at around 1am.

For the second frame, although I took this a few nights ago, it shows how I am taking shot from inside the house. When I take images I make sure I don't knock the table so the whole setup vibrates. I rest the computer on another chair.

Two Day Imaging Session:

Amazing Oct 18, 2011 sunrise

Sunspot Groups

Amazing Sunset

Jupiter via IRIS

Jupiter reprocess via avistack 2.0

Jupiter via registax

Moon at Waning Gibbous Phase Oct 18, 2011

These are images I took between OCT 17 and 18 2011. Sometimes, I get overwhelmed with so much data to process. So for now, enjoy! Check back for descriptions.

Lunar Imaging Session:

Waning Gibbous Moon Oct 17, 2011

 Another moon shot though our window. This time I used the 450d 18mm/55mm stock lens 58-52 adapter ring, digiT and 25mm eyepiece. I was able to take the full moon without the need of stitching. I set the lens at about 35mm at f5 and taped it down so it does not move. This means that I can take the full moon in its crescent phase in the coming days without stitching (like what i did a month ago) which is hard to do.

I hope the weather will continue to be good so I can complete my "Phases of the Moon" project faster. The challenge here is each day, the moon rises later so the older the moon the later or earlier I have to wake up.

So far I have taken images of the moon for 4 consecutive days since OCT 14 and of course, the collection will include images from the SEPTEMBER sessions that I have not posted here.

I will post close-up images later today.

The Moon is just stunning!

Solar Imaging Session: Through The Window

From a successful (TTW) through-the-window imaging last night with the moon, I decided to do the same with the sun. That's Astrophotography, right inside the comforts of my house. It's a little cloudy, I just wait for clear spots to take images, although you can still see clouds here passing. Normally, I can't image on a Monday, so this is a great opportunity. Now I am off to work!

Tonight's Moon:

Moon at Waning Gibbous Phase

Thought I won't be able to image today because it rained and my imaging area is wet. But when I saw the moon about  20° at my window, I decided to setup anyway in our dining area and shoot through the window. My shooting opportunity is only about 2hours before I get obstructed. That is quite long but clouds rolled in and I had to wait until it was 30° high before I could start shooting.

I just had to take it.

Last image of the Day. Good Night!

Solar Imaging Session:

Upon going home from teaching a guitar student in greenhills (SM super sale = super traffic!) I had a long chat with James Kevin Ty about solar imaging stuff (Well we always talk over the phone!).  A long talk over the phone on a bus going home. We talked about imaging techniques, equipments and processing, all of the geek stuff. I bet the girl beside me found me weird for talking shutter speeds, aperture, stacking etc. probably alien language for her!..sometimes even for those who own a 1D!

This is how I learn.

Aside from reading tons of materials about imaging, processing etc. I take advice only from those who have done it well.  Please take time to look at James Kevin Ty's site for some great astro-imaging.

With everything, from photography to teaching, from playing music to whatever you do. The most important thing is your character. How do you handle critics? Will you have a teachable heart? A Humble heart? Are you willing to take corrections?

One thing I love about astronomy is that every time I look up to check what's in the skies, I am just in awe of God's creation and what He has done. How can a perfect God come down to Earth to lay down his own life in exchange of our sins so that we don't have to pay for it forever? For me that's unfathomable. That is what keeps me humble.