Astronomy
A tombstone epitaph I thought was really cool:
The stars have been my friends -- how
shall I then fear the night?
(See my page on All
Through the Night for more on the
romanticism of stars.)
A time exposure (10 min) taken
at midnight under a full moon. You can make out the constellation of Lyra
at top left. (Vega is the bright star.)
In 1985, while looking forward to Halley's Comet, I built a large box-like contraption that would let me take time exposures of constellations. It's basically a platform with a crank in it that I can turn manually while guiding on a star through a spotting scope. Exposures are limited to about three minutes, because my hand starts shaking after that! All in all, though, my constellation portraits aren't bad. I've had quite a few of them published in Astronomy magazine. Here are a couple for you to look at:
Orion |
Leo (my sign!) |
Comet Hyakutake |
|
Crux, the Coal Sack, and Eta Carinae from Central Australia. You cannot possibly believe the number of stars you see from the outback! |
© 1998 Dan McGlaun