It’s the day before Remembrance Day, when we look back to remember the sacrifices of our ancestors in the two World Wars and by those in more recent operations overseas in our uncertain world. In the modern world, we know about the role of scientists in total war mainly from the dramatic results of the Manhattan Project. Decades of work towards nuclear power were lost, as all efforts were redirected towards getting the atomic bomb before Germany.  During these global conflicts of the twentieth century, many scientists were thrown at the problems created by modern warfare.

Walter Roberts was the astronomer in charge of the Climax Observatory (later renamed the High Altitude Observatory) in Colorado, 1940-45. He made daily observations of the Sun, using a coronagraph, a solar observing devise that had only been discovered by a Frenchman (Bernard Lyot) nine years before he took over operations at the Colorado observatory. Essentially, the coronagraph filters out the unwanted glare of the Sun so astronomers can view the much fainter edge (corona), to observe solar flares and prominences. Before the invention of the coronagraph, observers would have to wait for a total eclipse of the Sun to be able to do this and even then they would only have a couple minutes of viewing time, if the weather cooperated.

Making use of this new instrument, at the Climax Observatory, Walter Roberts discovered that there was a link between radio interference on Earth and solar activity. The importance of this discovery, during World War II, caused it to be immediately classified and for the rest of the war Roberts reported his daily observations directly to the US Navy. Because of the critical importance of radios to coordinate military operations, his reports on solar activity were transmitted to Allied Command in various theatres to ensure no major operations were launched when they would be disrupted by solar activity, effectively jamming their communications. In the lead up to D-Day, Roberts’ reports were transmitted daily to nervous planners in England, to ensure that one of the largest amphibious landings of the war didn’t become a complete fiasco.

Because of the quality of the work by Walter Roberts, during and after the war, Colorado has become a world headquarters of solar astronomy. Straddling the sciences of astronomy and meteorology, his work pushed the boundaries of our understanding, about the relationship between the Sun and our terrestrial weather.  Walter Roberts spent the last decades of his life applying his scientific knowledge and will against a new threat to humanity: Climate Change.

It’s time for a scientific summer reading list to get the neurons firing. There are times when you want to read something that might profoundly change how you think about the world around you. These are eight recent reads, but not necessarily recently published books, on subjects ranging from material science and astronomy, to psychology and linguistic archaeology. These are eight books that will challenge or enhance your understanding on the subjects they cover or they might be just the thing to help make up your mind about what field you want to go into.

1) Why Things Break, by Mark E. Eberhart; Harmony Books (2003)

A self-described theoretical chemist, the author takes us on a journey through the history of material science and the scientific reasons why things break. Eberhart is a talented and personable writer, providing an excellent introduction to material science. He takes us through his career, in a fledgling science that at the time made other scientist have a hard time figuring out how to classify what he was doing. It’s the kind of book that can inspire you to choose material science as a career.

2) Stuff, by Ivan Amato; Basic Books (1997)

Stuff is another strongly written book on material science. It tackles a lot of the nuts and bolts issues, whether you’re a distant ancestor standing on the Serengeti Plains or a modern scientist manipulating molecular to create materials that have never existed before. Stuff puts you in the shoes of the earliest man, making sense of his surroundings as the earliest material scientist making the most of what is on hand and improvising from there. Amato shows us the motivations of material scientists as they do their best to keep up with the needs of industry, while at the same time drag us kicking and screaming into the future.

3) The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, by David W. Anthony; Princeton (2007)

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language won the 2010 book award from the Society for American Archaeology and it’s easy to see why. Anthony delves deep into the past of archaeological linguistics in search of the Proto-Indo-European language. He shows in great detail how languages shift over time and allows us to witness the migrations of our earliest linguistic ancestors through his writings. It’s also long hard look at the archaeology of the people who spoke these languages, who have often been overlooked in the West as our cultural ancestors. It’s an amazing read.

4) Britain AD, by Francis Pryor; Harper Perennial (2004)

Britain AD picks up where Britain BC leaves us, with the Celts and Romans staking their claims to England. It also deals with the coming of the Anglo-Saxons that created a whole new level of upheaval in the already fragmented British cultural landscape. Britain BC does its best to look at the often murky time when a historical Arthur would have laid the foundation for his timeless and confusing legacy. For anyone interested in archaeology and English history it’s a must read.

5) First Man, by James R. Hansen, Simon & Schuster (2005)

If you’ve ever felt inspired by the Apollo astronauts, then the only authorized biography of the late Neil Armstrong is what you should be reading right now. It chronicles the life of the most famous astronaut from childhood to retirement, with a lot of details about the fascinating work he did along the way, as an aerospace pioneer. When he was chosen by the Gemini program he wasn’t just a test pilot, he was a research pilot, who worked closely with the engineers to prepare jets for the test pilots. In the Apollo program he was the astronaut chosen to head up the team running the simulators. He published multiple engineering papers a year, with new technology being developed all around him, all while training hard for his chance to go into space with the Apollo program. There’s an amazing amount of detail about the man and the missions he took part in that make this book an essential part of the collection of anyone interested in space exploration.

6) Mirror Mirror, by Mark Pendergrast; Basic Books (2003)

At first you might wonder what a book about mirrors has to do with science, until you pause to think about the primary instruments used in microscopy and astronomy. A good portion of the work is dedicated to the early development of mirrors. The rest is all about the use of mirrors in science, including the development of microscopes. It also covers the aperture race, where optical technicians and engineers vied to build the biggest mirrors to examine the universe with. Mirror Mirror takes an in depth look into the advances of technology that made amateur astronomy something more than a hobby for the very rich, with the introduction of new materials and telescope designs. This is a great read for anyone interested in the history of engineering and science.

7) The Third Man, by John Geiger; Penguin (2009)

The Third Man examines the seldom discussed phenomenon of people under high stress visualizing an additional person in their company. From the darkest hours of the Shackleton expedition to desperate climbing parties on Mount Everest, there are many incidents of the “third man effect”, where a ‘shadow person‘ appears to join a lone traveler or small group under great duress and provide them with comfort. This book delves into the psychology and neurology of what is behind this phenomenon, with many references to Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jayness’s Bicameral Mind Theory, which is in and of itself a great read. It’s a very interesting book on a tough to tackle subject.

8) Rust, Jonathon Waldman; Simon & Schuster (2015)

Jonathon Waldman brings us a compelling book on what many would find hard to believe to be a compelling subject. As a civilization that’s built on metal, the long fight against rust is well documented but overlooked by most people in a modern consumer society. It’s a fascinating look at how rust attacks the infrastructure of our modern world, how we’ve gone horribly wrong fighting it, and where we’ve got it right.  Waldman also gives us a view into our industrial world that many running that world would rather you not look too closely at: like the metal cans a lot of our food is stored in. Given the amount of metal all around us in our daily lives, Rust is an essential read to help make sense of how to understand and protect the basis of our industrial world. Given the sheer amount of metal out there, a career as an engineer specializing in corrosion has a lot of job security.

One of the things that make a lunar eclipse special for amateur astronomers is that it can be enjoyed with minimal or no gear at all. Whether you’re just looking up at the sky or using a pair of binoculars, you can take in events like this. You can see a lot more when you’re looking through a telescope, but anyone looking up at the moon can watch as it gets covered by the Earth’s shadow, before temporarily turning red. All you need is a clear sky and because it’s the moon, you can even watch it happen in a light polluted city.

The lunar eclipse this Sunday, September 27^th is a special one for a few reasons. For the last couple of years, we’ve been spoiled with having two lunar eclipses a year. After Sunday’s event that changes. This lunar eclipse will be the last one we get until January 31st, 2018.

This eclipse also happens to be a perigee-syzygy or super moon event. This means that the moon is slightly closer in its orbit than it usually is when the moon is full. The moon has an egg-like, elliptical orbit. When the moon is at the furthest distance in its orbit from our planet it’s referred to as being at apogee. At its closest, like tomorrow, it’s referred to as being at perigee. This means that to observers on Earth, the moon will appear to be big bigger and a bit brighter, but nothing like some of the exaggerated, Photoshopped pictures you sometimes see online. The media really loves the term supermoon, when referring to the full moons at perigee, but you’ll never hear the media get excited about micromoons, when the full moon is at apogee.

For observers on the west coast, the moon will rise in the east, minutes away from the actual eclipse event. You’ll want to get to a place with an unobstructed view of the east and south-east to get the best view. Moon rise here in Victoria is at about 7pm (PST) and the total eclipse begins at 7:11pm. The eclipse will last until 8:23pm and then the shadow of the Earth on the Moon will slowly recede until the full moon resets at 9:27pm (PST). For local moon rise and eclipse timings elsewhere, check your planetarium software or search online.

For viewing the moon, you don’t need any equipment but a pair of binoculars will give you a better view than not having a pair of binoculars. For telescopes, you don’t need a large telescope to observe the moon. On Sunday night, I’ll actually be using a focal reducer-flattener, to reduce the power of my 203mm (8”) aperture telescope, so I can have a wide field view of the whole moon through a low power eyepiece.

If you’re photographing the lunar eclipse, you’ll want a tripod and a telephoto lens, using either a timer or remote shutter trigger to minimize camera shake. The bigger the lens, the closer view you’ll get, and the less cropping you’ll have to do later. Make sure you use point metering on the Moon or the brightness of the moon will wash out the picture, as the camera attempts to compensate for the darker sky. If you’re not certain take a lot of shots at various exposures to see what works (use your manual modes). Don’t use infinity as a focus, but set it manually through your live view (or viewer). You don’t need a lot of depth of field (F/stop) to shoot the moon, so keep that number on the low end (whatever your lens allows for). You need to understand that you will need to regularly adjust the shutter speed as the moon darkens, from the Earth’s shadow, and when it begins to brighten. As the shutter speed gets slower, unless you have a camera on a tracking mount, you’ll probably also need to increase the ISO at some point, so that the movement of the moon doesn’t blur the shot. Above all take a lot of shots and experiment, since this is your last chance until 2018 to see a lunar eclipse!

I thought it would be a good idea to do a summer science reading list. There are a lot of books that have changed me profoundly after reading them. All of these science books are that kind of book; the ones that make you go ‘wow’ more than a few times before you finally put them down. Some of these books have been around a while, but the science remains relevant today. They’re also all books that have a permanent spot on my book shelf.

1) The Trouble with Physics, by Lee Smolin; Mariner Books (2006).

For anyone interested in String Theory, M Theory, or cosmology this is a must read.  It’s not a light read, by any means. I found myself often going back and forth to keep up, but it remains one of my favourite books written about physics.

2) 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense, by Michael Brooks; Doubleday (2008)

Tackling subjects from cold fusion to the placebo effect, this book is a roller-coaster of scientific head scratchers that make you realize what an incredible universe we all live in. It also addresses the problems dealing with the missing mass of the universe we all live in.

3) Chaos: Making a New Science, by James Gleick; Penguin Books (1987)

Chaos is a classic, but the content discussed is germane to current science.  This was the first book ever written about Chaos Theory that grabbed the public consciousness. It’s the story of the development of Chaos Science and the story of how a science developed that had a profound effect on every other field of science. If you’ve ever wanted to learn about the butterfly effect or fractals, this is a great introduction.

4) Britain BC, by Francis Pryor; Harper Perennial (2003)

I’ve read a lot of books on British history and archaeology, about the pre-Roman period. This is by far my favourite book on this subject. Francis Pryor is an engaging author and an archaeologist with a fresh perspective in his field. Whether you’re a history buff, have an interest in the archaeology of the British Isles, or are fascinated by the period, this is a must read.  And yes, there is considerable discussion in this book about Stonehenge and other well-known stone monuments.

5) Oxygen: the Molecule that made the World, by Nick Lane;  Oxford University Press (2002)

You’ll never think about oxygen with the same casual regard after reading this book. In the examination of this chemical compound, the author takes us on a journey through Earth’s geography, chemistry, and biological evolution, before giving us a glimpse into the future of medicine. This book gives an incredibly detailed account of how oxygen has shaped our biological evolution. It also explains how while oxygen has driven evolution it’s resulted in more than a few design flaws that plague our current existence. Regardless of your scientific field of interest, you’re doing yourself a disfavour if you haven’t read this book.

6) Coming of Age in the Milky Way, by Timothy Ferris; William Morrow & Company (1988)

If you were going to pick one book about the history of cosmology, this would be that book.  It takes us through the earliest recorded thoughts about night sky, then forward to the greatest shapers of our own modern cosmology (Kepler, Newton, and Einstein) and finally to modern physics and the construction of CERN.  One of the things I loved about this book is the attention to detail and how it dedicates so much time to the science of astronomy as practiced by the ancients.  Considering how few shoulders the earliest astronomers had to stand on and the tools they had, it’s truly amazing to read about how they calculated the size of our solar system and the distance to the stars.

7) The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; Random House (2007)

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a well-blended mixture of chaos theory, economics, and philosophy. He’s also one of the few economists who didn’t get surprised during the crash in 2008 and had a lot of grateful clients in the aftermath. After watching him do a couple of interviews on economics, it was abundantly clear that this was someone with an amazing mind and not just someone spouting other people’s catch phrases. The Black Swan is an engaging read about the probabilities of the improbable. If you weren’t already warmed up to chaos theory, this book will have you treating the improbable not as a shocking surprise, but as something to be expected in your day to day life.

8) Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jayness’s Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited, edited by Marcel Kuijsten; Julian Jaynes Society (2006)

This revised edition is a series of later writings by several authors, along with the original writings about Bicameral Mind Theory by Julian Jaynes. This is the theory that our brains have evolved since ancient times, when our minds were more like those of schizophrenics (the bicameral mind). Over time we have evolved into our current state of consciousness. I discovered this book after coming across numerous other books that quoted extensively from it. When enough good books do this, it’s a good indication that this is a book worth reading. It’s a theory that shakes the foundations of what we know about the ancient world and human evolution.

A lot of doing successful astrophotography is having the right tools for the right job. When you’re swapping views, through a telescope, between your eyepiece and your DSLR, you’ll notice a huge loss in magnification. When you attach your camera to your telescope, you’re using the telescope as a camera lens. You will get some magnification from the camera’s image sensor chip, but never enough to compensate for the magnification that comes from using a medium or high power eyepiece. This is especially important when you’re imaging a planet or globular star cluster. When you’re using a telescope as a lens for your DSLR there are three ways to regain your magnification of the target.

Cropping the picture in post production is the easiest and the worst solution. Every time you crop a picture you’re sacrificing resolution for the sake of making the subject bigger in the frame. Your pictures will be less sharp and less satisfying. If you find yourself constantly doing lots of cropping to make the subjects the size you want, you’re going to have to consider getting a more expensive camera so you have more pixels to sacrifice.

Tele-extenders, like the Celestron Deluxe Tele-Extender, give you a way to connect your camera and look through the eyepiece at the same time. To attach your DSLR to the tele-extender you’ll need a brand specific Camera T-Ring, either Canon or Nikon. When it works, it’s a great solution. Problems can arise though when the length of the tele-extenders’s metal tube is too long to clear some mounts, when observing objects that are high in the sky. Tele-extenders work fine with most Plossl eyepieces, but many of the wider eyepiece body designs won’t fit inside the tele-extender sleeve. There can also be issues with the screws holding the tele-extender in place. They can get loosened during use and are all that is holding your expensive DSLR camera  from hitting the ground. Some telescopes will only allow you to use one of the two screws provided! A lot of users will add additional straps to secure their camera. Some also put a thick elastic around the tele-extender tube, to help keep the screws underneath from moving. When things work well, a tele-extender is great way to get up close to your subject when doing astrophotography. You just need to make sure you have eyepieces that will fit inside the metal sleeve of the tele-extender, you’re not fighting the mount, and are mindful of how well secured your camera and tele-extender are to the telescope.

What I find myself using most for astrophotography is the Celestron Barlow T-Adapter. It’s a Barlow lens and T-Adapter in one! The Barlow lens doubles your magnification, offsetting a lot of the loss of magnification from removing the eyepiece. To attach your DSLR to the Barlow T-Adapter you’ll need a brand specific Camera T-Ring, either Canon or Nikon. Unless you’re using a solar telescope, remove the diagonal and attach the Barlow T-Adapter to the visual back of the telescope. Depending on the telescope that you’re using, you may have problems reaching focus. At that point you’ll need something like Sky-Watcher’s Adjustable Camera Adapter or similar extension tube. What makes me rely on the the Barlow T-Adapter is that it’s very easy to use and requires a lot less fussing around than a tele-extender.

Another feature I really like about the Barlow T-Adapter is the same threads that attach the Barlow to the T-Adapter can be used for eyepiece filters. That means I can take any of my eyepiece filters, designed to attach to 1.25″ (31.7 mm) barreled eyepieces, and use them with this T-Adapter.

Barlow T-Adapter with Celestron Filter Kit (left) and Moon Filter (right)

A few months ago, I used this feature to take a series of pictures of the Orion Nebula, using different filters. You just unscrew the Barlow  on the end of the T-Adapter and screw on filters (stacking them if I want to).

T-Adapter with Barlow removed and Moon Filter attached

I can also screw on a filter and then re-attach the Barlow to the end of the filter, but this means you’ll need to re-adjust the telescope’s focus. Unfortunately, you can’t attach filters to the end of the Barlow, because there are no threads available.

The most important thing to remember, when you’re doing astrophotography with a telescope, is to get the focus right. The focus of your telescope, when you’re looking through an eyepiece, will always be different from how your telescope is focused for the camera. To focus my camera I aim the telescope at the brightest star I can find, adjust the ISO setting on my camera to maximum, and the exposure set to BULB. I use the LCD screen and maximize the image to get the star as big in the screen as I can to get the best focusing results. After that I don’t touch the focus. This means if you’re swapping between observing and astrophotography, you’ll also have to change the telescope focus each time you do so.  Also, always use a remote shutter trigger for taking pictures to minimize camera shake.

Some people might think the idea, of organizing a group of people to get together for the solitary activity of looking through a telescope, to be a bit of a contradiction.  But when you’re involved in a hobby, with a technical aspect and a learning curve, it’s never a bad idea to put yourself in the company of people with experiences in what you’re interested in.

There are a lot of reasons for amateur astronomers to join an astronomy club of like-minded individuals. For a lot of people, it’s getting some advice and ideas to help them through their new hobby’s learning curve. It answers that question some people have after getting a telescope: now what? It’s also a chance to help promote science in your community, by volunteering at events organized by your astronomy club. Then there’s the social aspect; the opportunity to mix with a variety of people who share an interest in astronomy.  For most amateur astronomers it’s a mixture of all three.

For me, joining an astronomy club was a mixture of all three reasons. I started out as a solo amateur astronomer, but that changed, after attending a weekend star party put on by the local astronomy club. I joined the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Victoria Centre) and by doing so got a lot more out of being an amateur astronomer. RASC has 29 centres across Canada and there are numerous other astronomy clubs (like the Cowichan Starfinders on Vancouver Island).  Each of these local groups provides members with the chance to learn more about their hobby, social events, and volunteering opportunities to give back to the community.  If you live in an area, where urban light pollution is a problem, these are also the people who can give you advice about the best places to go for stargazing.

As a member of the RASC Victoria Centre, I’m looking forward to doing some observing this weekend, with other observers, to take advantage of the clear skies. On Saturday, I’ll be joining a lot of other volunteers to do astronomy public outreach for a Beaver Scout event. We just wrapped up our last Astronomy Cafe for the season, with the Monday social gatherings returning again in September.  Friday after this (June 6th), weather permitting, we’ll be out with our telescopes at Cattle Point, one of only two urban star parks in Canada. Our monthly club meeting will be happening in a couple of weeks, with a guest speaker to educate and inform on the subject of astronomy. On the July 25-27 weekend we’ll be hosting the annual RASCals Star Party in Metchosin, for people who want to drop by or camp for the weekend under the stars. On the August 22-24^th weekend, the Cowichan Starfinders  astronomy club will be putting on a star party of their own, near Duncan.

It’s the 100^th Anniversary of RASC Victoria Centre and to honour the occasion Victoria is hosting the 2014 RASC General Assembly. This is a conference for astronomers from across Canada, taking place at the University of Victoria, from June 26-30^th. There will be lots to do, food, and numerous speakers, including the host of Quirks and Quarks: Bob McDonald. For members of RASC and people thinking about joining RASC, there’s still time to register for the General Assembly.

Photograph of the heart of the Orion Nebula, taken with Canon T3i, using a Hydrogen-Alpha Filter, through a 127mm apochromatic refractor.

I’m lucky. In a world with a growing trend towards urbanization, I grew up in a small, rural community without a lot of light pollution. I’d sometimes sneak outside after bedtime at night, just to gaze up at the Milky Way, in those crystal clear night skies of my childhood. I read what books on astronomy I could find at the small, school library. There weren’t many. I sometimes wonder how much sooner I could have gotten to where I am now as an amateur astronomer, if I’d had access to a telescope and some star charts.

I never lost the wonder at looking up at the night sky, but opportunities for star gazing were pretty limited, under the light polluted skies of the downtown core where I lived, after moving away from home. The city lights and busy streets have a way of making you forget about looking up at the stars. Years later and I’m pulled over on the side of the road, on highway 93, somewhere between Jasper and Banff. It’s dark and I’m laying down on the hood of the old Mustang, looking up at Mars. It’s a bright red point of light in the night sky, in opposition (the closest that Earth and Mars get to each other in their individual orbits).

That time I spent on the hood of a car, looking up at Mars, was the moment that brought me back to the night sky. I bought a copy of Night Watch, by Terence Dickinson, and saved up enough money to get myself a telescope. The next time Mars was in opposition, over two years later, I have a telescope and I’m set up at Cattle Point, one of the better dark sky observing spots in Greater Victoria.  After camping out for the weekend under the night sky for my first star party, it was only a matter of time before I joined the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Right now, International Dark Sky Week is coming to a close and Mars is once more burning bright in the sky. The opposition of Mars for 2014 started in the middle of April. Mars is clearly visible in the south-eastern sky, after sunset*, currently in the constellation of Virgo. During May, the red planet will begin to dim. You can make out the sphere shape of the planet with a pair of binoculars, but a telescope is better. It’s also the last chance to get a look at the Orion Nebula, in the west at sunset*, before it slips under the horizon for the summer.  The Orion Nebula can be seen through a pair of binoculars, but is best appreciated through a telescope.

International Dark Sky Week is as much about observing and appreciation, as it is about conservation. Take some time to look up at the night sky and think about what you can do to reduce light pollution in your area. Too many children today grow up never seeing the stars in a dark night sky.

*Observations are based on current night sky as seen from Greater Victoria region. Night sky will differ depending on the observer’s latitude and longitude.

The picture above is of the Orion Nebula, I shot this January, using a Canon T3i through a 5″ apochromatic refractor, for 600 seconds at ISO 100 (single exposure-no stacking).

A lot of you will have heard of the super moon on Sunday. It’s when the moon appears larger in the night sky because it’s actually closer to Earth than normal. This particular super moon is the best of the three super moon events of 2013, because it will be closer than the other two.  People will be seeing links to this in their social networks and news they look at. There will be many nice pictures of the moon to look at. At some point, if you do a bit of photography already, you’ll think about taking a picture of the moon yourself.

Unlike other night sky subjects, the moon and planets don’t require tracking to take pictures of them. This is because the sunlight is reflected so brightly off of them that you’ll be using a fast shutter speed to fight through the glare to get any detail of their surface. Unlike the planets, when you’re photographing the moon you won’t need the magnifying power of a telescope to see surface detail. You can see a lot of detail with just a pair of binoculars or a telephoto lens. Also, unlike the planets, you can take a picture of the moon during the daytime.  Your best choice of camera is a DSLR. There are also good point-and-shoot cameras, but a lot of them don’t process light as well as a DSLR, so they’re not the best choice for night shoots.

The most important thing is not to use automatic camera settings when taking a picture of the moon!  If you shoot on automatic camera settings, your camera will look at the dark night sky and assume it has to open up the shutter for longer. The result is a picture of a bright, white blob. Another important thing is to ensure you charged your battery before you head out and carry an extra one if you have it. It’s never fun to show up somewhere to do photography with dead batteries.

If you know how to change your camera’s metering, change it from evaluative metering (default on most DSLR’s) to spot metering. That way when you do your metering, it will be based on the moon and not the entire sky. If you don’t know anything about metering you can still take a decent shot.

I like to use my lowest ISO; ISO 100 in the case of my camera. A higher ISO will give it a grainy look and while the moon does move, it’s not moving fast enough relative to the movement of the Earth and the shutter speed I’ll be using to make me want to use a higher ISO factor. Depending on cloud cover (or pollution) and what phase the moon is in, you’ll want to use a shutter speed somewhere between 1/60 and 1/300 of a second. 1/125 is a good shutter speed to start shooting a full moon.  If it’s your first or fifth time out taking pictures of the moon, I recommend you take multiple pictures at different shutter speeds to find out what works best in the conditions you’re shooting in, and what balance between detail and lighting you like best as a photographer. You’ve taken the time to go out and take pictures of the moon, so why not take a few and use it as an opportunity to learn more about how your camera works?  For your depth of field, it depends on your composition. If you’re just shooting the moon against the night sky, F11 will work fine. If you’re shooting the moon as it rises over a hill, you might want to shoot at F16 to get more detail of the hill (which means you need lower your shutter speed to compensate for closing the lens).  If you lower your depth of field number too much, one part of the moon will be in good focus and the rest blurry (plus you’ll need to increase your shutter speed to keep the light from being too bright). If you put it up too high, it will require you to drastically lower your shutter speed to the point where you need a tracking mount to keep the moon’s motion from affecting your picture. F11 is generally where you want to set your depth of field for lunar photography.

For lunar photography, if you want any surface details without having to over-crop in post-production, you’re going to need at least a 300mm lens. Bigger is really better in this case. When you crop an image in post-production, you’re losing the pixel resolution you paid for. However, if you’re using a telescope as a lens, this is one time that bigger might not be better. This is because once you get to around 2000mm (8”) of aperture you can’t see the entire moon in the picture anymore without ‘dumbing’ down your aperture with a focal reducer. Something more like the 102mm (4″) BK 1025 refractor would work fine. In short, you don’t need a big telescope to look at the moon. You could also use a digital camera adapter or adapter to connect your camera to a spotting scope. Again, with the moon, you won’t need anything with tracking to keep it in focus while you shoot because of the high shutter speeds you’ll be using.

Getting perfect focus can be difficult when you’re squinting through the viewer at distant objects at night, be it city lights or objects in the night sky. If your camera has a “Live View” or equivalent function, where you can view your subject on a screen in real time, you can use the “+” buttons to magnify details and get a much cleaner focus.  Always focus manually, or the camera will focus on whatever it wants and not what you want.

If you want a good picture you should always shoot with a tripod and remote trigger (or timer). If you feel that hauling a huge tripod is too much of a chore, there are some very small, portable tripods out there that work well for this type of photography. Anytime your shutter speed is slower than 1/mm of your lens you shouldn’t be doing handheld photography. When you use a tripod, always remember to turn off the stabilizer on your lens (if it has one). If it’s on when the camera is perfectly still, the lens will introduce artificial shaking because it just assumes you’re using it handheld if it’s on and you couldn’t possibly be holding it that steady. Timers are acceptable, although the button mashing will mean that for a few seconds, depending on how sturdy your tripod is, the tripod will be still shaking. You should be fine if you wait ten seconds, but if there are clouds moving around the moon and you have everything timed perfectly, a remote shutter trigger is always the best option for photography (unless you’re wanting the time delay to give you a chance to get into the shot).  Use a remote trigger and tripod to get the least vibrations. If there are people walking around the tripod or you’re next to a busy road, you might also want to put vibration suppression pads under the legs of your tripod. This is even more important for longer duration exposure night shots. If you get caught without a tripod and remote trigger, in a pinch you can crumple up a jacket to form a supportive nest around your camera and use the timer. It’s probably best not to ask for someone else’s coat though, if you want to be well thought of. You’re the one who forgot the tripod.

A lot of people forget about composition when they photograph the moon. If you’re shooting it between the branches of a prominent tree or as it rises over a majestic hill, it can really add to the shot. Sometimes it’s just being in the right place at the right time. If you want the perfect shot though, you may want to carefully observe the movements of the moon across the night sky a few nights in advance and then wait for it to get into position on picture day. Another option is to use planetarium software and a compass to plan your shot location well in advance. A fun thing to do is to have a model (friends are less expensive) interact with the moon – such as pretending to hold it in their hand, balance it on their head, or any other pose you can think of.

Another technique to consider is paint the foreground with a flashlight or a detachable flash.  Because the moon is so bright compared to the dark ground, this extra light will help to provide some detail to the ground so that it appears to be more than just a dark shape. Practice this technique beforehand, especially if you don’t have a lot of time when you’re doing your photograph of the moon.

If you really want to get fancy, take two photographs, one of the moon and one of the foreground, and then combine them in post-production. Or do what some astrophotographers do: take a series of pictures and use software to stack them into a single image.

Most importantly, while you’re out there taking pictures of the moon, don’t forget to take a moment and have a long look at it. It’s an amazing feature in our night sky that is often taken for granted.

Nothing quite says Christmas like a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton! The 51 piece T-Rex Skeleton is just the thing to capture the excitement of any junior paleontologist. For a lot of parents, who want something that their kid won’t assemble in under two minutes, this model kit has 51 pieces. One of the things I liked the most was that there was no need to glue the pieces together. You can put it together and take it apart, and then put it together again. The large colour piece map, shows you where everything goes and includes a description of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

I like look of the mottled, fossil-look plastic. The metal pole frame that you slide the spinal column pieces onto makes assembly easy. The box itself is stunning, but the assembled dinosaur is huge! The claims of this T-Rex Skeleton being over 91cm (36?) long are not exaggerated. It’s really big. Designed for ages 8 and up, if you have a child with an interest (0r obsession) with dinosaurs then this is the perfect gift.

With winter nearly upon us, the days are getting shorter. For amateur astronomers this means that you won’t have to stay up until after midnight to get dark skies for observing. On the downside, it also means that it’s going to be a lot colder out at night. An important factor to consider, when dressing up for astronomy, is that you won’t be moving around a lot when you’re stargazing.  It’s dark and you’ll be looking up a lot. Because you’ll be observing on nights with clear skies, it will also be much colder than if it was cloudy.

Whether you’re a night photographer, amateur astronomer, or both, often the difference between an enjoyable and miserable experience will be how comfortable you are in your environment. Something to cover your head is a good start. While it’s a myth that most of your body heat in the cold is lost through your head, any uncovered area of your body results in faster heat loss and your head is often uncovered. You should be careful when considering a hat though, because you could easily find your hat brim pecking at your carefully targeted telescope when you lean in for a look through your eyepiece. A toque is a better choice. A balaclava might seem the ideal head-wear, right up until your neighbours start putting 911 on speed dial every time you go out into the backyard. Similarly, operating in the dark of a city park, wearing a ski mask, could result in unwanted consequences with the police. So unless you’re at a star party or very remote location, leave the balaclava at home.

Wear thermal long underwear when you’re observing at night. I’d recommend even wearing them observing in the summer. It’s an easy thing to throw on an extra upper body layer, but once you’ve left home, it’s too late to change into your long johns. You’ll want to stay away from useless cotton long underwear and stick to wool or high tech materials, like polypropylene. The best thermal long underwear I’ve ever owned were military issue and you can buy new ones at most military surplus stores. They’re about ten times better than the best civilian grade long johns for about one third of the cost. I had a lot of time to compare the merits of different types of thermal wear when I worked in a warehouse freezer, while operating heavy equipment for hours at a time.

Even during the summer, when I’m out at night, I keep a pair of light gloves on hand, because uncovered skin gets cold fast. I use what are sometimes called “minute” gloves, probably because when performing hard labour they’ll only be good for a few minutes. They often have tiny rubber beads on either one or both sides, for better grip, and are very inexpensive cloth gloves that you can find in any hardware store. You won’t want heavy gloves when you’re observing because you will lose too much sense of touch to use your equipment when you’re wearing them. Wools socks and scarfs are also a good idea.

Make sure you don’t wear any clothes that are too constricting, because cutting off your circulation isn’t going to help you stay warm. That goes for your footwear too. Dress in layers and stay away from cotton. High tech fibers and wool are better. You’ll want a hard shell jacket as your outside layer, to keep the wind from robbing you of your warmth. I tend to get most of the clothes I use for astronomy from outdoor adventure or military surplus stores. Keep at least one more layer of clothing on hand than you think you’re going to use, but don’t leave unworn clothes exposed to the elements or they might be soaked with dew by the time you need them. Keep clothes in a sealed bag until needed.

Eating and drinking are also important factors to determine if you’ll stay warm outside at night. You’ll want to eat a good meal before you go out, but try not to eat a big meal minutes before leaving or at least in the short term you’ll be even colder than if you hadn’t eaten, as your body diverts energy from keeping you warm to digesting your food. Hydration is a tricky issue for amateur astronomers. While you’re bundled up against the winter night, there might not be washrooms available or you might not be in a place where you feel comfortable abandoning your expensive equipment. You want to drink enough that you’re not dehydrated, but not so much that you’re running to the bathroom all night instead of observing. In cold weather, our sense of thirst is dulled, so just because you’re not thirsty doesn’t mean you’re not dehydrated. Also, make sure to go to the bathroom before you leave, because your body will divert energy to keeping human waste products warm that could be better used keeping the rest of you warm.

Some amateur astronomers use chemical hot packets for heating and while they’re nice for short term use, they create a lot of garbage and the money you spend on them over the long haul can be better put to use buying a new eyepiece. I like pocket charcoal hand warmers. They consist of a felt covered metal case that you burn inexpensive sticks of charcoal inside of. You can either put the case in your chest pocket, to warm your body core, or use it to warm your hands. I’ve used these charcoal burners for wilderness winter camping and they can really take the edge off the cold weather. There are amateur astronomers who choose to escape the cold by operating their telescopes remotely with a laptop, from within the confines of their own home, but for the rest of us it’s time to bundle up against the cold.