I've just seen the most amazing thing, and I don't know whether people in Canberra can see it because of the light pollution.

( I did manage to get a photo or two )

The moon had a halo. A really big halo. Too big for the camera. This was not the kind of halo that one normally sees. This was HUGE!! Its radius was my handspan at arm's reach*. Yes, its radius. Wow. I mean, wow. The conditions were perfect - there was just enough of a fog for the moon and its halo to be visible - the air was completely still. It was stunning.

*For those who care (and are more mathematically inclined than I), my handspan is 21cm, and 64cm from my eye. Can anyone triangulate that?

Courtesy of the Bad Astronomer:

The Sky, From Above.

So I set up my telescope, and I found out exactly how much I don't know about practical astronomy.

( picture )

I was able to get centred on Mars with the standard objective, but the planet was still pretty small in the eyepiece. I tried changing for the stronger eyepiece, but I could see damn-all through it. The mount is somewhat wobbly - the slightest touch sets it shaking for a few seconds, and it's really hard lining the target up in exactly the centre of the view so that when you change the magnification, the object is still in view.

The device also came with a 3x Barlow Lens, which is supposed to make the object appear closer, but all I got through it was a white blur - nothing like the mars I know. I suspect I was using it wrong - it was dark, after all...

It also came with a 1.5x Erecting Eyepiece, and I've no fucking clue what that's supposed to do.

I did get a pretty good view of what I think were the Pleiades (yes, I just checked that) but they still just looked like stars.

I decided I really need to do a lot more reading. And perhaps a trip to the observatory in Dickson would be in order, to see if I can talk to a genuine astronomer. I want to see if I can get someone who has a clue to do some observing with me so that I can find out what I don't know.

Since it was so nicely asked for :) here are some of my photos of last night's total lunar eclipse.

( Behind the cut. Images 640x480, <161Kb. )

Okay, well, I got a number of photos of the eclipse. Unfortunately, despite wrangling my camera as best I could, they didn't turn out very well at all. Mostly because of a lack of zoom capacity. I tried a number of different shutter speeds, but they all turned out too bright (even down to 1/50" - I thought it was going to require a very long shutter, so I originally set the camera to the maximum it could do - 15". That was crap. Adjusted to 10", 5", 2.5", 1", all crap. Oh, and I let the camera set the f-stop while doing this. That could have been my problem. But I've already seen so many great photos (and it's not even over yet!) that it's okay. It was impressive enough just being able to see it with my own eyes. I missed the recent comet, and the Leonid shower, and just about every other astronomical event of significance in my lifetime. It was good to be able to see this one.

If anyone would like to come out to our place tonight to view the lunar eclipse, you would be quite welcome. The eclipse will start shortly after 7pm and last for a couple of hours. Our place has the benefit of a lack of light pollution. :)

I plan on trying to get some photos, but I don't know how they'll turn out. Depends on how bright it's going to be.