Cumberland Astronomy Club Sun Moon and Planet Page

Click on the thumbnail image for a larger picture.

New! Image by Mark Rudy
This is a montage of images showing the totally eclipsed moon, Saturn, and Regulus on February 20, 2008.  The camera is a  Nikon E8700V.  The individual exposures were 2 sec with the lens set for a focal length of 25.4 mm at f/3.6.  A total of seven images were taken from 10:22 PM EST to 10:50 PM EST at 5 minute intervals.  Note that since the moon is not centered in the earth's shadow, the brightness varies across the lunar disk.  The brightest part of the disk shifts as the shadow moves.  To help keep track of the relative positons of Saturn and Regulus, here are links to two pictures showing just the first image with Saturn to the left and below the moon with Regulus above the moon, and a second picture with the moon, Saturn, and Regulus identified in the first exposure.  Image 1  Annotated Image

Photo by Steve Luzader
A photo of the lunar eclipse in the early morning of August 28, 2007.  This photo was taken around 5:50 AM. The exposure was 1/2 second on ASA 800 film using a zoom lens set at 270 mm/ f/5.6. The sky was pretty gray at the time.

Photo by Steve Vincent
A photo of the lunar eclipse in the early morning of August 28, 2007.  The moon is about half covered, with the penumbral part looking distinctly coppery.  The photo was taken with a Kodak digital camera.

Photo by Mark Rudy
A photo taken October 21, 2007, of the moon rising over Seneca Rocks in WV.  

Photo by Steve Vincent
Mercury, Venus, and Saturn on June 27, 2005. Venus and Mercury are very close at the top center, and Saturn is barely visible just above the trees in the lower center of the photo. This image was cropped from the original taken with a digital camera, and then the contrast was enhanced to bring out Saturn.

Photo by Steve Vincent
An eyepiece projection image of Venus and Mercury taken with a digital camera looking into a 25 mm eyepiece. The gibbous shape of Venus can easily be seen.

 

 

Photo by Steve Luzader
My first photo of the 2004 Venus transit, taken about 6:36 AM on June 8 from the Glendening Recreation Complex in Frostburg. The sun was rising behind some trees. The exposure was 1/500 sec on Fuji Superia 800 film using my 80 mm f/4 Shorttube refractor fitted with an aluminized glass solar filter.

STV image by Steve Luzader
This image of the Venus transit was taken at approximately 7:10 AM with my STV camera fitted to the Shorttube refractor. While it may not be easily visible in the image on the computer screen, the "teardrop" effect can be seen developing.

Photo by Steve Luzader
This is one of my last photos, taken at about 7:17 AM. Venus now looks like a notch on the limb of the sun. The exposure information is the same as for the first color photo..

Image by Steve Luzader
Mars as seen about 11 PM on September 24, 2003. The image is comprised of several STV exposures taken through a red filter, then processed and combined with AIP4WIN. During the time that elapsed since the September 10 image, the opposite hemisphere of Mars has rotated into view. The polar cap can now be seen clearly.

Image by Steve Luzader
Mars as seen about 11 PM on September 15, 2003. The image is comprised of 14 STV exposures processed and combined with AIP4WIN. Because the Martian day is about half an hour longer than an earth day, observing at the same time every night brings a slightly different part of the surface into view. Mare Cimmerium has moved to the west edge of the disk, and Tharsis (location of three huge volcanos) is visible at the eastern edge. This picture is larger than the one from September 10 because only the central quarter of the STV frame is used.

Image by Gus Johnson
For comparison with the CCD image below, here is a sketch made by Gus Johnson at about the same time. South is up in the drawing. Features visible are identified beside the sketch.

 

New! Image by Steve Luzader
Mars as seen about 11 PM on September 10, 2003. The image is comprised of 14 STV exposures processed and combined with AIP4WIN. By using a 2X Barlow, my 8-inch SCT was operating at f/20. The orientation is true, with north up and east to the right. Syrtis Major is visible at the far west side, with the Hellas impact feature visible just below Syrtis. The southern polar cap, which had shrunk dramatically over two weeks of observing, is visible. Click here to see a picture identifying some of the features that can be seen.

Image by Steve Luzader
Mars as seen about 11 PM on September 6, 2003, at a Mars observing session at the Glendening Recreation Complex in Frostburg.. The image is comprised of 14 STV exposures processed and combined with AIP4WIN. My 8-inch SCT was operating a f/10, and the STV image was read out in Zoom mode (one quarter of the full STV frame. The orientation is true, with north up and east to the right. Syrtis Major is in the center, with the Hellas impact feature visible just below Syrtis. The southern polar cap is visible.

Image by Gus Johnson
Here is a sketch made by Gus Johnson on August 20. Information is included in the image.

 

Photo by Gus Johnson
The moon and Mars photographed at 5 AM EDT on July 17, 2003. The photo was 1/125 sec on ASA 800 film using a 6-inch reflector with eyepiece projection (about f/10).

Photo by Rob Himmler
A group of sunspots photographed by eyepiece projection. The magnification is 30x and the exposure was 1/125 second on Ektachrome 100 slide film.

 

Photo by Steve Luzader
Mars and the globular cluster M19, which have been very close during June and July of 2001. This photo was taken on July 12, a few days after Mars' closest approach to M19. The exposure was 10 minutes on Fujicolor Superia 400 color negative film. The camera was attached to my 80 mm f/4 "Shorttube" refractor riding piggyback on my 8" SCT. The displayed image was cropped from the negative and rotated to show the scene roughly as it would appear in binoculars.

Photo by Steve Luzader
Mars and Antares, taken the same night as the picture of Mars and M19 above. This piggyback photo was a 3 minute exposure with a 50 mm lens at f/2. The globular cluster M4 is visible to the west of Antares, below Sigma Scorpii. M19 is barely visible above Mars. The color of this image was adjusted in Paint Shop Pro because the southern sky is tinted strongly green by a street light that pollutes the southern sky as seen from our home in Frostburg.

Image by Steve Luzader
Jupiter with its Red Spot imaged by an SBIG ST-V CCD camera.  The picture was taken January 22, 2001, with an 8-inch SCT at f/20 using a 2X Barlow.  The image was resampled to a larger size and the contrast and sharpness were enhanced using AIP4WIN. Unfortunately, I missed the Red Spot's transit across the meridian by over an hour, so it is visible near the planet's limb.

Image by Steve Luzader
This image of Saturn was captured with an SBIG ST-V CCD camera.  The telescope was an 8-inch SCT operating at f/20 using a 2X Barlow.  The image was resampled to a larger size and the contrast and sharpness were enhanced using AIP4WIN.

Image by Steve Luzader
This is an STV image of the sun taken at approximately 2:15 PM EST on December 24 in Frostburg, MD.  Note the large group of sunspots near the center of the sun's disk.  The telescope used was an Orion 80 mm f/5 "Shorttube" refractor fitted with an aluminized glass solar filter.

Image by Steve Luzader
This is an STV image of the sun showing the same group of sunspots just after the disk of the moon had crossed during the solar eclipse on Christmas Day, 2000.  The image was made at approximately 1:12 PM in Salem, WV.  The camera wasn't attached to the telescope in the same orientation as the previous image, so this picture was rotated to more closely match the earlier one.  The dark area in the image is an artifact probably caused by "blooming" in the CCD chip.  The telescope used was an Orion 80 mm f/5 "Shorttube" refractor fitted with an aluminized glass solar filter.

Images by Steve Luzader
Clicking on the thumbnail brings up a montage of three STV images of the Christmas 2000 solar eclipse.  The images were captured over a 6-minute interval as the disk of the moon uncovered a large group of sunspots.  The approximate times are given below each image.  The camera was removed between the second and third images, so the third image was rotated to have the same orientation as the other two.  The eclipse was observed in Salem, WV.  The telescope used was an Orion 80 mm f/5 "Shorttube" refractor fitted with an aluminized glass solar filter.

Image by Steve Luzader
For Christmas 2000, my wife and daughter presented me with a wonderful new toy--an SBIG ST-V CCD imager/autoguider.  It arrived on December 12, 2000, and I tried it out that evening in spite of temperatures below 20 F.  This picture of the moon is the first image I took with the STV.  The picture was taken with the camera attached to my 80 mm "Shorttube" refractor (with no clock drive).  The exposure was 1 millisecond with a 20X filter in front of the CCD.
 

Photos by Steve Luzader
Clicking on the thumbnail brings up a composite of three images of sunspots photographed on July 7, 8, and 9, 2000, at approximately the same time each afternoon. The exposure for each was 1/500 sec on Fujicolor 200 negative film using an Orion 80 mm Shorttube refractor fitted with an Orion metallized glass solar filter. Note the movement of the sunspots from day to day, as well as the rapid appearance of a large group of new spots between July 7 and July 8. Note how the rotation of the sun has carried a large sunspot into view between July 8 and July 9. The sun was partially obscured by thin clouds on July 9.

Photo by Andy McCleary
The total solar eclipse of Feb. 28, 1998, photographed from a ship in the Caribbean.
 
 

Photo by Gus Johnson
Plato and Sinum Iridum. The eyepiece projection photo was made with an 8" Newtonian reflector at about f/30 on Kodak DX ASA400 color negative film.
 
 

Photo by Steve Luzader
Near first quarter moon photographed by eyepiece projection. North is up in this picture. A 26 mm Plossl eyepiece was used in a Celestron 8" SCT. The exposure was about 1 sec on Fujichrome Sensia 100 slide film. The "shutter" was a large piece of cardboard held in front of the telescope, yanked away and quickly put back. This view extends from the north pole to just south of the lunar equator. The circular mountain chains which border Mare Imbrium are the lunar Alps near the top and the Apennines below them. Apollo 15 landed in the highlands on the western side of the Apennines near the end of the mountain chain. The prominent crater in Imbrium near the terminator is Copernicus. Just south of the equator is a chain of three craters, the largest of which is Ptolemaeus. Closeup views of the Alps and Ptolemaeus are offered below.

Photo by Steve Luzader
First quarter moon photographed by eyepiece projection with a 10 mm eyepiece in a Celestron 8" SCT. The exposure is about 1/2 sec on Konica 3200 film. North is up in this picture. The large crater at the top is Ptolomaeus, and Mare Nubium is the smooth region in the left side of the picture. The Ranger 9 space probe crashed just northeast of the central peak in Alphonsus, the crater just below Ptolomaeus.

Photo by Steve Luzader
First quarter moon photographed by eyepiece projection with a 10 mm eyepiece in a Celestron 8" SCT. The exposure is about 1/2 sec on Konica 3200 film. North is up in this picture. Plato is the large crater near the center of the image, and the dark area on the west side of the picture is Mare Imbrium. The straight feature east of Plato is Vallis Alpes, which cuts through Montes Alpes.
 

Photo by Steve Luzader
First quarter moon photographed by eyepiece projection. South is up in this picture. A 10 mm Vixen LV eyepiece was used in a Celestron 8" SCT. The exposure was about 1/2 sec on Konica 3200 film. The "shutter" was a large piece of cardboard held in front of the telescope, yanked away and quickly put back. The large crater about a third of the way down from the top of the image is Clavius, while the small crater with the prominent peak about a third of the way up from the bottom is Tycho.

Photo by Bob Doyle
A short exposure taken during the March 1997 partial lunar eclipse. The fixed tripod exposure was made with a 135 mm lens at f/1.8 (yep, f/1.8!) on Seattle Film Works ASA 400 slide/print film. The image was cropped and enlarged from a slide.

Photo by Bob Doyle
A longer exposure of the March 1997 partial lunar eclipse. The image is from a slide.

 

Photos by Steve Luzader
This pair of images shows Venus in its gibbous and crescent phases. Seeing Venus going through a cycle of phases like the Moon helped convince Galileo that the planets in the solar system were orbiting the sun, not the earth. Both photos are by eyepiece projection using a 10 mm eyepiece in an Orion adjustable telextender at maximum length for greatest magnification. The resulting small image on the 35 mm slide was cropped and enlarged for display. Both exposures were about 1/2 second and were made by holding a large piece of cardboard in front of the telescope to act as a shutter. The cardboard was yanked away and put back as quickly as possible. The gibbous phase was photographed Oct. 3, 1997, on Ektachrome 100 film. The crescent phase was taken Dec. 28, 1997 on Fujichrome Sensia 100 film.
 

Photo by Bill Sherman
Jupiter photographed by eyepiece projection. A 9 mm eyepiece was used in an 8" Meade SCT to form an image on Fujicolor 400 film. The exposure was determined automatically by the camera.
 

Photo by Steve Luzader
This piggyback photo shows Jupiter, Venus, and Mars at about 6 PM EST on Dec. 16, 1997. Jupiter is in the upper left corner of the image, Venus is the very bright object, and Mars is to the right of Venus, about a third of the way up from the bottom. The image is tilted because of the orientation of the camera on the guiding telescope. These bright planets were lined up just below the ecliptic that evening. Neptune (magnitude 8) was just to the west (right) of Mars, but is lost in the skyglow. Uranus was about a third of the way between Venus and Jupiter, and a check of the stars with the program Red Shift showed that Uranus (magnitude 5.9) was indeed captured in the image. It's circled in the photo. The exposure was 5 minutes with a 55 mm lens at f/2.8 on Fujichrome Sensia 100 film.
 

Photo by Bill Sherman
Saturn photographed by eyepiece projection. A 9 mm eyepiece was used in an 8" Meade SCT to form an image on Fujicolor 400 film. The exposure was determined automatically by the camera. The image shown was cropped from a small portion of a print, causing the displayed image to be a little grainy. The print was also very light, so the brightness and contrast were changed for the displayed image.
 
 
 

Last Revised 02/22/08.