Category Archives: Blog

What we’ve been up to: Light Pollution, Solar Eclipse, Lunar Eclipse

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If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know that Urban Astronomer has been doing a fair bit of astronomy outreach over recent months.  In July, I gave a presentation on Light Pollution for the Rhenosterspruit Conservancy, and in September I filmed the partial solar eclipse, and streamed it live for Slooh.com.  And without even realising it, we became a major source of news on a surprising superstition regarding the recent Lunar Eclipse! Light Pollution Talk On 19 July, … Continue reading →

Constantly Learning

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I have just completed processing my third image of the famous southern radio galaxy Centaurus A.  Each time I go back to this object, I get better results, even though I’m using the exact same equipment each time.  It just goes to prove that it’s not the equipment that makes the shot, but the photographer.  Just to labour the point, here are all three of my images (so far) of Centaurus A, along with notes of how I captured each … Continue reading →

Repairing a Lens

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One of my favourite tools for astrophotography is the Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 lens which I use for wide field deep sky images. It’s the single cheapest lens on the market, as evidenced by its all-plastic construction and the scratchy grinding noise made by its autofocus motor. But it’s also fast, small and light, and it performs way above its price range. It’s the perfect accessory for an astronomer on a budget, like me. Unfortunately, kids and photography gear don’t … Continue reading →

M42 from my backyard

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A few weeks ago, we had a spell of unseasonable clear weather, and I planned an evening to image the Crab Nebula in Taurus. I wasn’t particularly disciplined about it, though, and ended up pointing the telescope all over the sky, and grabbed about 30 frames of M42, the great nebula in Orion. I processed it a few weeks later, and was pleasantly surprised at how popular it’s become on my various social media accounts. It’s even been picked as … Continue reading →

How not to maintain a lens

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A few weeks ago, I did a terrible thing to my camera.  I made things worse by trying to fix it, to the point where the guy at the repair shop look visibly shocked and advised me to buy a replacement.  This is the story of what I did, and how I fixed it at no cost.  I own an entry-level DSLR camera that I use for family photos, forgettable landscapes of the hills outside my home, and astrophotography.  It … Continue reading →