Above the Cloud - the blog!

5/3/2012 More images of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon: Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-400 f5.6 exposure 4 secs 26mm lens. 7/3/2012 Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-400 f5.6 exposure 4 secs 30mm lens. The constellation of Orion. Fuji HS10 ISO-200 f2.8 exposure 4 secs 24mm lens. 8/3/2012 The Full Moon with the planet Mars to the left and the bright star Regulus to the right. Fuji HS10 ISO-200 f3.2 exposure 2.6 secs 26mm lens. Close-up of Mars with the camera. Fuji HS10 ISO-400 f5.6 exposure 4 secs 135mm lens. 10/3/2012 Venus is the brighter 'star' at right, while Jupiter is to the right in these two images taken by myself. Fuji HS10 ISO-200 f3.2 exposure 0.56 secs 24mm lens. Fuji HS10 ISO-200 f2.8 exposure 4 secs 24mm lens. 11/3/2012 Fuji HS10 ISO-200 f3.2 exposure 4 secs 26mm lens. This image of the planet pair also shows the stars of the constellations of Aries and Triangulum to the r...

19/3/2012 Venus has now moved above Jupiter and will continue to pull away. Meanwhile, Jupiter will move closer to the Sun and will soon be lost to view. Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-200 f2.8 exposure 1.5 secs 24mm lens. Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-400 f5.6 exposure 3.1 secs 150mm lens.   25/3/2012 Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-200 f4 exposure 1/126 sec 100mm lens. Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-200 f5.6 exposure 1/6 sec 290mm lens. Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-200 f5.6 exposure 4 sec 100mm lens. Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-200 f5.6 exposure 4 sec 290mm lens. 26/3/2012 Tonight, I got home a 'tad' too late as Jupiter had set behind the conifers, though the Moon and Venus were still on display from my garden!   Fuji HS10 digital camera ISO-200 f5.6 exposure 4 sec 250mm lens. Here, I was after a 'flaring-star' effect for Venus which also over exposes the crescent Moon but reveals detail on the unlit portion while...

Sunday 19/2/2012 Over the next few months, the planets Venus and Jupiter, seen as very bright 'stars' in the western sky will perform an astral ballet as they swap positions in the sky and partner the waxing crescent Moon for several wonderful photo opportunities. All these photos were taken with my Fujifilm HS10 digital camera which was mounted on a tripod for stability. Fuji HS10 digital camera:  ISO-400 exposure 1/4 secs @ f3.2 with optical zoom of 36mm lens. Shot at 17:58 hrs UT. Don't you just love these daylight shots! Fuji HS10 digital camera: ISO-400 exposure 4 secs @ f5.6 with telephoto set to 126mm which equates to an optical zoom of 720mm! This has to be one of my best ever shots of Venus not done with the aid of a telescope! Fuji HS10 digital camera: ISO-400 exposure 4 secs @ f2.8 with 24mm lens, shot at 18:44 hrs UT. I was caught unawares not realising that the International Space Station was doing a fly-over tonight! ...