Final Observing Report of 2012

Tonight was a good end to a great year of astronomy. I haven’t been out in a couple of weeks so I decided to wrap up the year with a short session tonight. Conditions weren’t great, transparency and seeing were average. I got a good view of Jupiter and its moons, as well as the Pleiades. I waited a little bit for Orion to rise and observed the Orion nebula and Auriga and Gemini clusters, M35, M36, M37, and M38. This year was my first full year in astronomy, and I really enjoy this hobby and look forward to more experience and clear skies in 2013.

Here's a short video I threw together documenting some of my experiences in 2012.

Widefield: Orion and Moon

Here's a wide-field shot of the Moon and Orion. This picture was taken around 9:30pm, the full moon washes everything out. Also, here's a close-up shot of the moon.

10 sec., ISO 200.

10 sec., ISO 200.

1/2000 sec., ISO 200.

2012 Space Year in Review

I recently made a video of space highlights in 2012, including Curiosity, SpaceX, etc.

Also, here are pictures of the sun and moon from today.

1/640 sec., ISO 400

1/1250 sec., ISO 200

Halo around the Moon

The world didn't end! Here's an image from tonight; a Lunar Halo. This event is caused by moonlight reflecting off ice crystals in our upper atmosphere.

10 sec., ISO 800

ISS Passover

The International Space Station passed over earlier this evening. I got some wide field images, it leaves trails. It was my first time ever seeing the ISS pass over. It started out dim in the SW, then got really bright as it passed overhead. It got dimmer as it retreated in the NE. Seeing the ISS was a great experience.

All images are 15 sec., ISO 400. Processed in Photoshop CS6.