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Night Sky Photography
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Bioluminescence at South Arm

There has been a new sparkle in the Tasmanian seas the past couple of years as the bioluminescence, or Noctiluca scintillans, has moved into Tasmanian waters. Up until last week, I had never seen or photographed this for myself but on the night of December 15, a booking for a 1 on 1 photography session...Read More

Venus and Jupiter Conjunction 2016

Over the past couple of weeks the brightest planets in the night sky – Venus and Jupiter – have been putting on a show as they appeared closer and closer together. Saturday August 27 was the closest approach but the weather ruined the show in Hobart. The next night, with clear skies, I managed a...Read More

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2

Comet Lovejoy is in a wonderful part of the night sky for viewing and photographing right now. It is currently passing very close to the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) which is the famous star cluster near Taurus and Orion and quite easy to spot on a dark night. The comet itself is visible as a diffuse...Read More

Night Sky Photography Tasmania: October 21-22 2014

For anyone into night sky photography Tasmania is a joy. As well as regular displays of the southern aurora, the dark skies of Tasmania mean many distant objects can be sought out relatively easily. The Orionids Meteor Shower My main aim heading out last night was to witness the Orionids meteor display. I have never...Read More

Full lunar eclipse and “Blood Moon”

On Wednesday October 8 we were treated to a relatively rare event – a total lunar eclipse, including a red “blood moon” in the skies above Tasmania. The event was nicely timed, starting fairly shortly after dark with the peak of the eclipse, the so-called “blood moon” looming over the city from around 8:30pm. At...Read More

Andromeda Galaxy – Lake St Clair, Tasmania

I have just come back from a whirlwind visit to the Lake St Clair and Wild Rivers National Park area of central Tasmania, and the first photo I’d like to share with you is this one… The Andromeda Galaxy is a fairly common sight for those in the northern hemisphere, but at the relatively far...Read More

More Pentax Astrotracer shots with the K5/O-GPS1

It was quite clear early last night so I had another run with the Pentax Astrotracer unit (O’GPS1). For the most part I looked at the nebulae in Sagittarius but I also focused on the Magellanic clouds before some thicker clouds of a less photographic nature ended the evening a bit earlier than expected… The...Read More

Night Sky & Pentax O’GPS1 Astro Tracer

While on Maria Island recently we were treated to an incredibly clear night and I decided to break out the Pentax O’GPS1 Unit and make use of its unique astro tracing function. I have posted in detail about this feature in a previous post, but in a nutshell, the feature utilises the cameras in camera...Read More

Comet PanSTARRS in Tasmania, March 4 2013

Comet PanSTARRS made a stunning sight very low in the south western twilight earlier this month. Luckilly for us in Tasmania we were blessed with some stunningly clear nights and on March 4th I took a trip up Mt Wellington to see what I could see. While the sky was still relatively bright I fired...Read More

Night sky photography in Tasmania

Night sky photography in Tasmania is an absolute joy. Even from the State’s capital, Hobart, it is a relatively short drive to some great dark sky locations. The past week in particular has seen a great deal of activity in the night-sky above Tasmania, luckilly co-inciding wth a series of very clear nights. From Feb...Read More

Astro Photography – Pentax K5 & Astro Tracer

I recently purchased the Pentax GPS Unit O-GPS1 for the Pentax K5, which as well as providing GPS functionality contains a rather handy little feature called “Astro Tracer”. This feature takes full advantage of the K5’s in camera shake reduction feature to literally rotate the camera’s sensor in time with the earth’s movement – as...Read More
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