September 2015

Month

Totally wonderful…

Last night's perigee moon approaches totality — Last night’s perigee moon approaches totality

I hope you all had a chance to see the eclipse last night. It was truly spectacular. We had a bit of a gathering here with a few neighbors. I had the observatory open and was taking pictures (of course…) but the best view was in a lawn chair under the stars. I think my favorite part of the eclipse was the way the stars and the Milky Way gradually emerged as the moon reached totality. Wonderful. And the color! Wow!

I took the above photo using my Nikon D600 and an old Celestron 6″ telescope as a lens at prime focus. My results were varied and not completely satisfying (at least to my level of pickiness!) This was a half-second exposure at ISO 640. I think the scope is an f/10 at 1500mm.

September 28, 2015 0

Dusted

Our front field is abuzz with pollinators making the most of the warm weather. There are a variety of different insects working the asters—white, blue, and purple stemmed—and goldenrod. This honey bee is nicely dusted with a bit of pollen.

Panasonic Lumix GM5, Lumix 30mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/8, 1/640″ exposure.

September 23, 2015 0

L’écureuil souriant

This little red squirrel was quite busy in the hemlock tree right in front of the Studio steps. She’s been spending a good part of each recent day munching away on the fresh green cones that are prolific this year.

This little lady looks like she might be either gestating or nursing. Red squirrels are unique in that the females go through two breeding seasons. They breed from March until May, and then again from July until September. Their gestation period lasts for forty days, at which point they give birth to a litter which contains anywhere from three to six baby squirrels. You can read more about red squirrels here.