It was a nice night

Last night was a nice nice for sky watching. It was cool enough to get a nice view of Jupiter. There were at least 6 moons visible.

Because of the difference in the planet and the moons, either the planet will be overexposed....

Or the moons will be underexposed.

Baby, it's COLD out there

One of the bonuses (bonusi? No, that's a small Japanese tree.) Anyway, as aircrew, I got to go a lot places most people don't. When the scientists need to get somewhere, we were how they got there.

H-52 helicopter on the Ross Ice shelf.

One of the more desirable flights was a trip to lake Vanda in the Wright valley.

Lake Vanda.

Me at Vanda station.
(That is a mummified seal below the sign)

Vanda station was famed for its 'swim club'. A swim in lake Vanda entitled one to purchase an embroidered Vanda Swim Club patch. The requirements for the patch were simple

1. Complete submersion in the lake.
2. No clothing with the exception of some kind of footwear. (The rocks along the shore were razor sharp.)
3. No limits on photography.

Me again. That water is cold!


But some days you're the dog, others you're the hydrant.
This is the wreckage of a Navy helo in the Wright valley.

Summer break

While I'm waiting for the semester to begin I ve been going through some of my old pics. I need to get into the closet where the transparencies are and rescan them all.

Machu picchu.

A shipwreck in the Straits of Magellan.



Adelie peguins at Cape Royds, Antarctica. This was the site of Shackleton's expedtion camp.



Minke whale 'spyhopping'. There were actually two of them and they stayed for quite some time watching the ship.

More pics

I like night photography. And a digital camera is great for night shots, even with some limitations. (Auto-focus and a few other problems) but I like being able to immediately determine whether the exposure needs adjusting. Neon at night...




There are surprisingly few people around at 3 am and those few around are moving too fast to show up in the images...




And nothing looks better at night than fireworks.

Back to skool

It's been a while since I posted. time to see if the blog still works. I usually take summer classes but some medical adventures prevented that. It's been a while since I had the whole summer off. I did a little night photography.

Jupiter and a full moon rise over Sparks, NV

Jupiter through my 'scope. It's kind of a PITA to set up for photography, but it's worth it.

Jupiter

Jupiter and four Jovian moons.