All hands on Deck!

Astrophotography from the deck of a moving cruise ship leaves very few options. Since the ship is constantly pitching, one must use a fast shutter speed to eliminate blurring. Of course, that pretty much limits you to the sun and moon. But what's not to love? The sun and moon are awesome, particularly out at sea.

Just a couple of shots while cruising through the Atlantic a week ago. Kim and I cruised from Montreal down the St. Lawrence river, then down the East coast to Miami.

I'm still rocking...

Comet Hunter

This is an image of the Horse Head/Flame and M42 in Orion (the Hunter). And if you look closely you will see a "wanderer" passing right between them -- Comet 217P/Linear.

Although not a big and bright comet, it does sport a small tail and is particularly beautiful for the path it has chosen!

I noticed the comet was well placed last Monday morning, so I decided to have an adventure and make the drive to the Atoka dark site to shoot this composition. I took a nap, got up and left about 1:00am, started shooting by 3:30am, finished and headed home about 6:30am as the sun was coming up. Okay, maybe a little crazy but I think the photo was worth it.

AstroTrac mount
Canon XSI ISO 800
Nikon 180mm f/4
24 x 3min
Maxim DL, CS4

Be sure to click on the image for a closer view!

P.S. -- I hope somebody got my "play on words" with the title : )