Solar X-rays: Geomagnetic Field: |
Current Moon Phase |
Foggy Morning in late November... Gary A. Becker image, Coopersburg, PA... |
This composite image of Jupiter and three of its four Galilean satellites was taken on November 28 at 9:02 p.m. A 7-inch Questar, F/14.4 was used to snap Jupiter at 1/30 second, ASA 200. The original picture was underexposed by several stops. North is up. Prominent in the picture is Jupiter’s Northern Equatorial Belt. The Southern Equatorial Belt has been absent since May of this year, but may now be showing signs of returning. Gary A. Becker photo from Coopersburg, PA... |
Geminid meteors will be radiating from the "X" in the above map. Although the best time to see the Geminids will be on the morning of December 14 near dawn, rates of about 20-40 meteors per hour could be seen after 10 p.m. on the 13th. Map by Gary A. Becker using Software Bisque's The Sky, and real Geminid meteors... |
Geminid meteors will be radiating from the "X" in the above map which assumes the observer is facing south and looking directly overhead around 2 a.m. on December 14. Dress warmly. Map by Gary A. Becker using Software Bisque's The Sky, and real Geminid meteors... |
'Twill be nights before Christmas and high overhead, the moon will turn orange or maybe bright red. The Earth and the sun with celestial scripts will conspire to make a total lunar eclipse (anonymous). This diagram of the eclipse was made prior to the event and then images of the real eclipse were superimposed over the computer generated lunar positions. All photography, Gary A. Becker… |
Earth's Shadow Revealed: Composite images of the eclipse to scale with the Earth's shadow by Gary A. Becker from Coopersburg, PA... |
Penumbral Procession: The moon first enters Earth's secondary shadow, the penumbra. If you were an astronaut standing on the moon in Earth's penumbral shadow, you would see part of the Earth covering part of the sun, a partial solar eclipse. All images were snapped at 1/2000 second, F/4, ASA 200. Photography by Gary A. Becker from Coopersburg, PA... |
This sequence of photos represents the partial segment of the eclipse as the moon entered into the shadow of the Earth. The moon is NOT going through its sequence of phases. The full moon is simply disappearing into Earth’s shadow. Totality, when the moon was completely immersed into Earth’s shadow, occurred at 2:43 a.m. EST All images, Gary A. Becker from Coopersburg, PA... |
This photo of the mid-ingress portion of the lunar eclipse represents a detailed look at the Earth’s shadow (umbra) as it raced across the lunar surface at 02:00 EST. Notice how the ray system of crater Tycho splashes radially outward from inside the shadow boundary Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA... |
Several minutes into totality... Can it get any prettier? Can it get any colder? My hands and body were numb from a five hour stint outdoors photographing the winter solstice lunar eclipse this morning. This 4 second, ASA 200, image was captured with an 8-inch, F/4 Meade Schmidt-Newtonian reflector shortly after totality began. A Canon 60D imaged the reddened prime focus moon. Another picture of 6 seconds in duration at ASA 400 showed the moon and nearby stars during mid-totality, while the last 5 second image was taken near the end of the total portion of the eclipse. Gary A. Becker images from Coopersburg, PA... |
Mid-totality... There are so many techniques that can be performed to an astronomical image to make it look better. In this case I only reduced the original and sharpened it. The color is exactly the way the camera recorded it. An 8-inch, F/4, Meade Schmidt-Newtonian reflector on an equatorially driven Vixen mount was used with a Canon 60D camera to record this 6 second, ASA 400, prime focus image around mid-totality. Wow! Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA... |
All good things come to an end. That's easy to say when you are "snug as a bug" in front of your computer. However being outside in the cold and wind was a totally different story at the time. Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA... |
The moon begins to emerge from Earth's shadow into sunlight. Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA... |
Egress Close-up 04:31: During the lunar eclipse the altitude of the moon was decreasing which meant that any movement within the column of air through which the telescope was peering would deteriorate the image. The wind kicked up near the end of totality and this image worsening became very noticeable. Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA... |
Egress photography of the Winter Solstice Eclipse... Gary A. Becker images from Coopersburg, PA... |
Trinity Episcopal on Luminaria Night 2010: For the past five years Bethlehem, PA has promoted an evening where residents and businesses place luminarias, candles set in sand inside paper bags, along the sidewalks in town. Luminarias are more of a Mexican and Southwestern tradition, but it is one, that in my mind should be popular all over the country. Gary A. Becker image... |
"X" marks the spot from where Quadrantid meteors will be radiating. This year shower, which could be hit or miss for the US will occur under a new moon. Map by Gary A. Becker drawn for 3 a.m. local time using Software Bisque's The Sky... |