INDEX

Sky images taken with the EOS 40 from the third Bali trip Feb 2012.

All pictures are taken with the 85mm f/1.8 with 60 seconds frames unless stated otherwise and stacked by Deepskystacker. North is up unless stated otherwise. The last pictures are taken in Feb 2012 on the same location in Vila Shanti Beach. The streetlamp along the beach which was on in 2010 did not work anymore so it was dark enough. The Centaurus images are made at Grand Jimbaran Hotel on 2012 Feb 28 where the sky appeared rather dark in the south. Lamps in the garden were still on at 3am so I unscrewed the most annoying to make it dark.
thumb./skypics3/2012/-tn-20120224-south.jpg
thumb./skypics3/2012/-tn-antares-rho-oph.jpg
thumb./skypics3/2012/-tn-M8+M22.jpg
thumb./skypics3/2012/-tn-alpha-beta-proxima-cen.jpg
thumb./skypics3/2012/-tn-omega-cen-cen-A.jpg
thumb./skypics3/2012/-tn-venus-moon-jupiter-20120226.jpg

Sky images taken with the EOS 40 from the second Bali trip Jan/Feb 2010.

As during my previous trip to Bali in 2009 I brought again my Genesis and other equipment to Bali and had even more luck with clear skies. The wet season was not so wet and cloudy as expected so I observed and took photos even more times than in 2009. I was also able to get up early in the morning and taking some shots and surfing the sky with the 15x70 binos. The sky is not completely dark in Sanur, but darker than most places at home. Next trip I'll stay in a darker location.

The pictures are taken with a Canon 85mm 1.8 lens, unless stated otherwise. The film speed is 1600 ASA unless stated otherwise. The polar alignment of the scope worked easily despite being so close to the equator (8° south) by using the level method and then just a two star alignment. Focusing was done by pointing the camera / telescope at a bright star and turning live view on and zooming the live view to 5x or 10x which allows very precise focusing. For pointing at an object I use an angle finder. The angular size of the prime focus images is about 1°40' by 2°30' and of the 85mm is 10° x 15°. I put the telescope on the beach of Vila Shanti hotel in Sanur which is rather dark. But I had to smash one streetlamp every 5 minutes as I could not switch it off by removing the fuse. It is an old style high pressure mercury lamp which can be temporary turned off (for a few minutes) by just kicking the lamp post.

The Orion and Carina nebula are taken in the prime focus of the Televue Genesis.
thumb./skypics3/-tn-IMG_8239.JPG
thumb./skypics3/-tn-IMG_8307.JPG
thumb./skypics3/-tn-IMG_8309.JPG
thumb./skypics3/-tn-IMG_8312.JPG
thumb./skypics3/-tn-IMG_8474.JPG
thumb./skypics3/-tn-IMG_3834.JPG
thumb./skypics3/-tn-m42-20100217-stacked.jpg
thumb./skypics3/-tn-crux-20100220-stacked.jpg
thumb./skypics3/-tn-ngc3372-20100220-30s-stacked.jpg
thumb./skypics3/-tn-ngc3372-20100220-85-stacked.jpg
thumb./skypics3/-tn-horsehead-20100220-stacked.jpg

Sky images taken with the EOS 40 from Bali /Nusa Lembongan Jan 2009.

During a trip to Bali I was able to make some mages of the sky. Despite the rainy season which clouded out most nights suitable for astrophotography, I was able to make nice images. Mostly the sky was clear for a rather short time or there were too many cirrus clouds. The clear sky is very transparent despite the high humidity and very dark as well. Even in Sanur close to a 500000 inhabitants city of Denpasar and the tourist resorts, the sky is considerably darker than in most parts of the Netherlands. On locations such as Nusa Lembongan or Gili Islands, the sky is very dark. Due to the only short periods I could not use the Televue Genesis (which I lugged around with mount + tripod in my backpack during the trip) 10cm fluorite telescope not very often during this trip. But I used the 15x70 binoculars very extensively for visually browsing the sky which gave very nice images. Many faint deep sky objects were easy to find.

On one night (2009 Jan 20) I tried to make focal exposures through the Genesis, but these were not tracked adequately which was due to the fact that I put only four AA batteries in its battery pack instead of six. When I corrected this problem and wanted to take new shots, clouds were coming in. The first picture shows the setup. As a counterweight I used a plastic bag with a 3 kg concrete block in it.

The pictures are taken with a Canon 85mm 1.8 lens, unless stated otherwise. The film speed is 1600 ASA unless stated otherwise.

thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_1154.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6149.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6163.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6165.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6166.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6167.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6169.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6167_6169-orion1.jpg
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6173.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6202.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6204.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6205.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6207.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6209.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6213.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6215.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6219.JPG
thumb./skypics2/-tn-IMG_6220.JPG

Videos

  • Sun in zenith of 2012 Feb 27

    play Taken with Canon Powershot S100 on Sanur Beach, Bali.