Photo opportunity 24th April – Moon, Antares & M4

[Dennis]

Hi,

Astronomy 2008 and AS&T Mar/Apr 2008 Issue advise of an occultation or close approach of Antares to our Moon, depending on your location, on 24th April 2008.

This might provide a nice photo opportunity (weather permitting) if you can grab some background photos of Antares and M4 a few days before the Moon gets there, then grab some photos of the Moon on the night.

You can then use a bit of Photoshop thuggery to blend the 2 sets of photos, something I did last year although with some difficulty due to the poor horizon and light pollution from our backyard, not to mention my then clumsy blending skills using my software of that time, Corel PhotoPaint.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Hi,

Well the weather is looking a little suspect for the 24th April, so this project may flounder in the end. I’m using the Vixen 4” refractor so I’ll require 4 panels to make the background mosaic onto which I can hopefully graft the Moon, should the weather gods smile kindly on Brisbane that morning.

Last night I managed to capture another panel for the mosaic, which included Antares and NGC6144 although there was a horrible gradient due to, you guessed it, the Moon.

Here is a screen capture (from The Sky 6 Pro) of what the event might look like if, your eyes were able to process high dynamic range scenes.


Cheers

Dennis

[jakob]

According to starry night the event is on the 23rd / 24th!
But this does not improove the weather condition.
Good Luck.

[Dennis]

I’m after the particular scene as displayed around 1:50am on 24th April, which places the Moon in a pleasing composition midway between M4 and Antares.

Around 11:00pm on the 23rd April, the Moon glides in front of M4.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Yawn – woke up late having slept through the alarm but managed to get the 4” Vixen out set up with the 40D in time to capture the last set of photos for the M4 – Antares – NGC6144 tapestry that will form the background for the Moon as seen around 1:50am on 24th April.

If we get clouded out, it will have been a good exercise in making a mosaic so I can’t really complain. Good luck and clear skies to those in the West who get to see an actual occultation.

Is anyone else trying to photograph this event?

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman (Mike)]

The best I'll be able to do is get the Moon and antares - M4 will be too washed out because I haven't done the preparation

That's if it even clears here by then. It's predicted to clear on Friday, but rain for the next few days still.

I'm really looking forward to your efforts though, Dennis.