Tuesday 3 November 2009

The Moon

I have no new beads to show you this week, so I thought I'd show you the moon instead!

As I drove home from work today the moon was large and low, and had that beautiful golden glow that you only get at this time of the year. I raced home hoping that the clouds would stay away long enough for me to get my telescope out. I was rewarded!



This is my very first piece of astrophotography. It was taken this evening through my telescope and my strategically placed trusty Canon Ixus. It was just an experimental shot, and I didn't expect it to work at all, but it did! Ok, so it's not perfectly focused but you can still pick out lots of features. I need to get my moon map out to navigate my way around.

It's amazing how looking through a telescope puts everything in perspective. All the worries and irritations of the day dissolve as you realise how insignificant they are in the grand scheme of things.

The clouds are coming in now, but it was a treat to have a clear sky to view this beautiful waxing gibbous moon.

I imagine that it won't be long before the image above finds its way into a bead, or maybe an entire set of beads. Or, maybe a piece of silver jewellery. You see, I'm inspired already!

If you would like to begin stargazing there are two fantastic pieces of software that will get you started. The first is Stellarium, and the second is Pocket Universe for iPhone. There's an entire universe out there to discover!

2 comments:

BeadyPool said...

Amazing photo - so glad you managed to capture the moment x

Anonymous said...

How fantastic that you have a telescope (I have always wanted one...) and managed to capture such a cool pic!