1. July 2009 by beckster.

It was on time(according to Heavens-above.com) but moon light almost washed out seeing it.

It was also naked eye-tough at times, but definitely the wounded satellite I’ve been stalking the past few weeks.

My image is very crappy, but you can barely see the streak going from the lower left to the upper right of the frame.

Vega is the bright star on the lower right, and the head of Draco can be seen on the left as well–albeit messy with noise.

I’ll keep trying.

ISO 800

50 seconds

f/4  Nikon D70 on tripod

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1. July 2009 by beckster.

thanks to all you Obi-Wans out there for the links and advice.

I have sent the 5000 back to Nikon for repair.

Seems there was a service memo on it, so fingers crossed my little buddy gets repaired.

Thanks again all!!

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30. June 2009 by beckster.

While trying in vain to see the wreckage of Iridium #33 tonight, I made this image in hopes of capturing a flash of the injured satellite-but it was not to be.

You can see the Big Dipper on the left edge of the frame.  The bowl is upside down.  The Little Dipper is toward the right of the sucker hole in the clouds…..

I think this image looks like you’re zooming through clouds at warp speed.  Nikon D70 on tripod

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30. June 2009 by beckster.

The monsoon season has arrived and with it come monster rainbows!

In a previous post I mentioned that rainbows in the Land of Enchantment are technicolor, and they truly are amazing to behold.  This one was from this morning.

The sky had a peachy-golden glow and the rainbow…well it kinda speaks for itself.

Nikon D70 on tripod

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29. June 2009 by beckster.

after quite a few years of trusty service, my Nikon 5000 has decided to not work any more!

Well, not work correctly I should say.

This is an image I made of the Moon tonight, and as you can see it’s looks as if I have made some sci-fi experiment with it and Jupiter…or something.

Sadly this is the camera that I have hand held up to the eyepiece for years, and I’m going to be lost without it.

Any ideas what causes the rainbow streaks? I should also mention that while the camera is on, the monitor shows the view as being streaky with dark bands across it.

Do I repair the camera, or just get a new one?  Help me Obi-Wans…..

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