Stars, Planets and Moons!!!

I was thinking about all that I did this summer and all that didn't get done. I think the biggest one for me was using our telescopes. We're avid star gazers and each have our own telescopes and accessories etc. Something we LOVE and want to get more into, is Astrophotography. It's not an easy task, I mean I can grab my camera and just shoot a picture of the night sky, but chances are I won't see anything.

I've researched astrophotography sites, we've bought the different filters and the LPI camera, and last year we started snapping pictures. I would then load them on my computer and take them to Photoshop to clean them up, fix them etc. I don't alter any of the pictures, all I do is brighten them and remove noise etc, so that we see what the real effect. We got some really good ones, at least for amateur astrophotographers that we are. LOL

Here are my favorites:

The Night Sky, look at all those gorgeous colors.

Saturn, you can actually see half of it's rings, this is by far one of my favorites.

Jupiter surrounded by nebulae and beautiful stars


Another shot of Jupiter, showing 4 of it's moons


Here's one of the moon, still my favorite thing to photograph


And last but not least, the sun, you can even see a sun spot on the right

Knowing that soon it will be too cold to venture out with telescopes in tow, we've decided that today we're going to enjoy the sky and maybe grab some more neat photos. The kids are excited and so are we, it's a family event for us, believe me, even the little ones have their own telescopes. Obviously nothing expensive or major, but at least they don't fight over whose turn it is.

Within the next two weeks, we're also planning a weekend trip to the Bruneau Dunes. They have the cutest little cabins for real cheap, and they're situated just a walks away from the Observatory, which is open every friday and saturday night. There's a public program followed by observing through their HUGE 25" Telescope like THIS one. You have to climb stairs to get to top just to be able to view the sky through this enormous telescope, and the views??? Oh man, they're nothing short of stunning.

So anyway, that's what we'll be doing later today, so if we get good shots, I'll definitely be posting them in tomorrow's post.

I have laundry drying right now, and I have to get things ready for dinner too, I'm making a Pizza Loaf and I'll post the recipe later.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone :)





Pizza Loaf and right now I have the wonderful aroma of German Chocolate Cake baking in the oven.



 

• The Night Sky
  

 

• Finishing Laundry
• Baking a cake
• Starting Dinner
• Getting Telescopes ready for viewing