May 1st conjunction from Mt Coot-tha

[StephenM]

Hi all,

We had a beautiful morning here in Brisbane, so I headed up Mt C to photograph the conjunction. It was a spectacular sight, and well worth getting up for!

I was a bit surprised when I got to the lookout in the dark at about 4:45am - I was expecting lots of photographers, but instead there was a large group of Highland Dancers, plus several accordians, flutes, drums etc! They played, danced, and sang for the whole time I was there, keeping the few photographers present entertained...

Anyway, here is a quick selection of some of my images.

Hope others had similarly good weather (and entertainment...)

Cheers,
Stephen

[supernova1965]

Very nice and with music as well:thumbsup:

[Derek Klepp]

Nice ones Stephen I was hoping you'd get clear weather to capture the view.The city in the foreground adds so much more to the shot.

[iceman]

Awesome Stephen, they're excellent!

We had a big cloud bank in the East which blocked Jupiter and Mars, but I saw glimpses of the Moon, Venus and Mercury at times. Nothing like yours though!

[Analog6]

Nice ones!

[dannat]

Terrific captures, clouded out here unfortunately

[StephenM]

Thanks very much for the comments Warren, Derek, Mike, Odille and Daniel! I'm glad you like them.

Cheers,
Stephen

[h0ughy]

Absolutely awesome shots Stephen.

[multiweb]

Yes - very nice shots. :thumbsup: The city and cloud line behind really add depth to the whole scenery.

[[1ponders]]

Those 3rd and 4th shots are absolute crackers Stephen. Its a stunning view.

[von Tom]

Very very nice Stephen, thanks for going up there to give us this view!

Tom

[Liz]

Fabulous images Stephen - the city certainly makes for a supherb foreground. :thumbsup:

[Quark]

Superb images Stephen, a lovely record of this conjunction indeed.

Stephen, there seems to be a most interesting profile of something on the horizon in the right hand third of the first image, just to the right of a hi-rise which had an illuminated aerial on top of it.

This quite distinct profile on the horizon disappears in the other three images.

Extremely well done.
Regards
Trevor

[Dennis]

A terrific set of photos Stephen – sounds like you had quite a party up there!

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

That might be the “Big Wheel (http://city-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/big-wheel-ready-to-roll-at-south-bank/)” at South Bank Trevor?

Cheers

Dennis

[m@s]

In order to shoot this conjonction we woke up at 3h45 this morning but weather was rainy and eastern horizon was populated by heavy clouds :(
We'll try again on monday.

I'm happy to see you have been much luckier in Brisbane :)
Thanks a lot for sharing your superb shots above this nice city scape !

m@s

[StephenM]

Thanks again for the comments everyone! Much appreciated.



Not quite sure which feature you're referring to Trevor - is it a cloud top on the horizon that has moved?

Cheers,
Stephen

[Quark]

Hi Stephen, it is faint but has a well defined outline, have indicated it with a white line.

Cheers
Trevor

[StephenM]

OK, that dark shadow was a cloud top on the horizon. The 1st and 2nd shots were taken over 8 minutes apart, and those clouds on the horizon were moving fairly quickly to the left.

Cheers,
Stephen

[hotspur]

WOW-stunning-the first two are worthy of a gong!-how about IOTW?

(what gear and settings Stephen?if its not too rude to ask)

[StephenM]

Thanks Chris!

These were all shot with my 50D and 15-85 lens (at 42mm or 35mm), f/8 and 10 second exposures. For the first two I used 400 iso, and for the last two I used 200 iso.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Matt Wastell]

Great image Stephen. One morning I will get to Mt Cooth-tha!!!

[StephenM]

Thanks Matt!

Cheers,
Stephen

[cookie8]

Fantastic images Stephen. I wish I was there.

[iceman]

Congrats Stephen, this is now IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au).

[hotspur]

WHoA! ,well done! congrats'!!

[spacealliance]

Wow Stephen, That photograph is absolutely stunning. Would you mind if we posted it on our Facebook page? We can link to your website/iceinspace if you like.

Cheers,
Peter Crane.
www.spacealliance.com.au (http://www.spacealliance.com.au)

[astroron]

Nice pictures as usual Steven:)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[steve000]

curse youuuu Stephen *shakes fists*

not really, very fine images grats on image of the week mate, you capped the scene very well.

[Doodles23]

Stupendous! Now I'm all excited. Will be travelling to the Florida Keys this weekend to try to photograph the conjuntion from this side of the planet.

[StephenM]

Thanks very much Mike!

And thanks for the comments Vincent, Chris, Peter, Ron, Steve, and Dave! Much appreciated.




Yes Peter, I'm happy for you to post it.

[Phil Hart]

+1 from me too. getting good conjunction shots is not easy and this is a ripper. it seems one of the secrets is a very low east/west horizon to get the nice dusk colours.. perfect!

phil

[StephenM]

Thanks very much Phil! I agree, the low horizon certainly helps, and I'd realized several months ago that this conjunction was perfectly placed over the CBD as viewed from Mt Coot-tha, so it was nice that the weather co-operated.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Spares]

Nice shot stephen......:question: but after reading your post this morning I'm left with an uneasy feeling that early every morning there a highland dances and drummers at your local look out. Any further information to easy the unease would be appreciative.
Spares