The First Quarter

This is the moon as seen over Makati City, Philippines last night. Taken using handheld Olympus E-PL2
at 150mm.

The moon is probably the most photographed object in the night sky. In 1839 John W. Draper captured the first known photograph of the moon, making him not only the first astrophotographer but launching the age of astrophotography. It is great how imaging technologies have advantage recently - now anyone with simple digital camera can take moon photos with visible details like in the one above.

Saturn at Opposition

Opposition is when a planet is directly opposite the Sun in the sky, making it visible all night as it will illuminated by the Sun.

Last night was Saturn's opposition- Earth was closest with Saturn and directly between the sun and the giant ringed planet. Normally, it is only visible in the early mornings so this is the best time to take photos of it. As if Saturn, arguably the most amazing and wonderful thing to photograph in the solar system,  was intentionally placed there for Earth observers to take pictures. Lucky to those with  telescopes and imaging equipment. For those like me who only have the internet, we always have http://events.slooh.com for these kinds of events.

Here's a picture from slooh.com last night.

My First Moon Shot

This is my first moon picture taken just one hour earlier. I took about 20 test shots before I got the setting to have this. Tripod and 40-150mm lens were used. I applied smart sharpen and crop in PS CS5.


It may not be as crispy as other moon pictures but im quite satisfied for now considering this is taken with a solo Olympus E-PL2. 

Lyrids Meteor Shower

Pinoy sky gazers can enjoy the Lyrids meteor shower this month as it should be visible in the Philippine skies and other throughout the northern hemisphere.

The Lyrids meteor shower last from April 16 to April 26 every year. The radiant of the meteor shower is located in the constellation Lyra, peaking at April 22—hence they are also called the Alpha Lyrids or April Lyrids. The Lyrids have been observed for the past 2600 years.  Usually peaking on around April 22 and the morning of April 23. Counts typically range from 5 to 20 averaging around 10 meteors per hour.

Of course watchers away from the cities will always get better views so why not get your summer vacations/getaway in the province or at the beach during these dates so you can wish upon a falling star. =)

Happy sky gazing!