O is a hard word to come up with an idea for, especially when Blogging.. But last night my husband took an absolutely BEAUTIFUL shot of Orion and I couldn't help but feel drawn to post it and blog about that :)
Way back when, I bought my first telescope for myself using money I got from taxes from working at Burger King. I paid nearly 300 dollars for it at the Discovery Store, probably more than twice what it was probably worth but I didn't care. It was a small 4.5inch reflector scope on a completely manual wooden mount with some pretty poor eye pieces but I loved it.
Years later, when I met my husband, he began to use my telescope. Astronomy was something he had been interested in but never had the money to get into. So even thought at that point in time my telescope was old and pretty beat up and the mount no longer functioned properly, he made the best he could with it and started viewing the skies.
Fast forward nearly 10 years and the 4.5 inch beater is history (although the mirror is somewhere in our closet waiting for another project). Instead my living room is cluttered with much more expensive and much larger telescopes, one which I so lovingly refer to as R2D2 because the thing literally is the size and shape of the Star Wars Droid.
Last night Charles took R2D2 outside. The sky was clear, the air was cold.. And over the course of 45 minutes he produced this amazing photograph of Orion's Nebula. (Clicking the image will enlarge it significantly).
I love that my love of the Heavens has passed on to my husband, who not only matched my enthusiasm but then surpassed it to the point he is well past where I was. I also hope that in our homeschooling, together we can pass that love on to the children. The Heavens are so amazing and knowing that this photograph only represents one very small and very insignificant portion of the sky (when compared to the whole) just blows my mind.
This blog post is being linked up with the "Blogging Through the Alphabet" linkup hosted by Through the Calm and Through the Storm and Adventures with Jude .
Be sure to check out both of their blogs and link yours up as well :)
What a great picture! Over the last several years, I, too, have developed a much bigger appreciation for the wonders of our night sky. I'm curious, though: Did you take the picture through the telescope? How so? Now you've got me wondering how I can take pictures like that!
ReplyDeleteHi Tim. This was a composite of photographs taken using a DLSR attached to a 14inch schmidt cassegrain style telescope. He has an adapter that fits on the camera in place of the lens and then attaches to the scope in place of the eyepiece. While his equipment is specialized, you would be extremely surprised the amazing images that people take using a I-phone looking through the eye piece. :) However, if you're wanting to get into Astrophotography, feel free to email him at warpfactorx@gmail.com and he would be happy to answer anything you might want to know. Also, the facebook group "Night Skies Network" is a great place to learn as well :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by :) and I hope this helps.