Astrophotography | Tony's Takes Photography

Daytime waning gibbous moon

February 1, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Let’s call it Moon Monday.

Much of yesterday morning was spent either waiting for a photo subject to do something or driving around just trying to find a photo subject. Getting bored waiting for an elk herd to decide if they were going to move closer or not, I pointed my camera up to the gorgeous moon hovering above.

I know the full moon gets all the press but it is the earlier / later stages that truly make it shine. The slightly offset light really help to bring out the depth of the craters and other features on the surface.

Taken in Boulder County, Colorado.

The Great Conjunction

December 21, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

I am the first to admit that I kinda suck at astrophotography. I just really struggle making things work and look the way I want and tonight wasn’t really any different.

My chosen location didn’t provide for any unique compositions and without going crazy in Photoshop (which I refuse to do), things pretty much looked like bright lights in the sky. Haha!

Having said that, it was pretty neat. I captured Jupiter and three of its moons and was able to get Saturn and its rings. At least that is somewhat different and something I haven’t done before.

Tonight’s celestial show – the crescent moon and Jupiter and Saturn!

December 16, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Tonight’s celestial show – the crescent moon and #Jupiter and Saturn! Oh, and if you look close, you can see a couple of Jupiter’s moons too. All of this gearing up for next week’s “Christmas star” show when Jupiter and Saturn will be in conjunction. Be sure to click for the full view.

Thank you to my friend, David, providing a heads up to get outside with my camera right away.

Saturn, Jupiter and two of Jupiter's moons. (© Tony's Takes) — Saturn, Jupiter and two of Jupiter’s moons. (© Tony’s Takes)

The Milky Way galaxy over an old farm house – with some bonuses

July 22, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Kind of a cool, early morning scene from a few weeks ago. I wanted to do some astrophotography so was looking for a spot with a cool foreground and this old house in Logan County, Colorado fit the bill.

The problem was that there was only a brief, early morning window between the moon setting and the sun rising plus the city of Sterling was on the horizon. Nevertheless, the shot came out pretty well.

In addition to the view of our galaxy’s core are the four very bright “stars” that are seen. They really are noticeable but, not being much into astronomy, I had no idea what they were so I looked it up.

The brightest one to the bottom left is in fact Jupiter. Just above and to the left is Saturn. Moving above and to the right, the bright star there is Altair, the 12th brightest star in our sky whose name comes from the Arabic phrase, “the flying eagle.” Moving to the blue one further to the top right is the star Vega, also called “the swooping eagle.” Kind of fun and interesting I think, particularly given my fascination with eagles. 😉

Planetary interception as Mercury transits the sun

November 11, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

They call it a twice-in-a-lifetime event so I figured I better give it shot.

This morning, the planet Mercury passed between the Earth and the sun giving us a look at the closest planet to the sun. My problem – clouds! While our latest storm system here in Colorado was in the process of moving out, I was worried I wouldn’t get to see it.

Thankfully, not long before the event was over, skies cleared and I got my shot. Yes, it is just a little black dot on an orange ball but the geek in me was excited. 😀

The planet Mercury is 38% the size of our home planet and averages 48 million miles from us.

Did you miss the event? The next Mercury transit visible across all of North America doesn’t occur until May 7, 2049!

The planet Mercury transits in front of the sun. (© Tony’s Takes)

The Milky Way rises over the forest

June 30, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

Clear skies and getting away from city lights allowed me to get out and shoot the stars this past Monday. It was, as always, amazing to me to see how many points of light are above when conditions are right – it is breathtaking.

Here, thanks to a long exposure, you can see the center of our galaxy. The bright ‘star’ you see is actually Saturn and toward the left edge of the image you can see two, faint meteors streaking side by side

Starry skies over Eleven Mile State Park – and a few too many clouds

June 10, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

I visited this awesome Colorado park this past weekend for the first time since I was probably only thigh-high to an adult. It was a great visit getting away from the city and signifies the start of my camping season in earnest.

One of my big goals for the weekend was Milky Way photography. Well, Mother Nature had other plans. I set my alarm, crawled out of the warm comfort of my sleeping bag at 3:00am, emerged to 38 degrees and… Clouds! Being a sailor, you can imagine I used a few “colorful metaphors.” 😀

Nevertheless, I was awake so figured I might as well snap some pics. In between the cirrus clouds you could get a hint of the brilliant display of stars that you can see once you get away from population and lights.

I didn’t get the images I wanted but I did appreciate the quiet and solitude standing on the shoreline of the lake without another person in sight.

Stars try to shine through the early morning cloud cover at Eleven Mile State Park in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Total lunar eclipse among the stars

January 21, 2019 by Tony

Just a quick edit of one of my pics of the big celestial event last night as I had to get to bed and sleep before work today.

We were very lucky here in the Denver area in that while we had clouds much of the day yesterday, it cleared off quite nicely after dark. That gave us prime viewing for the so-called “Super Blood Wolf Moon” (or whatever the hype-masters called it). 😉

One of the things that struck me most about the event was that once totality was reached, the stars really brightened up and became quite visible. Here in the city, we don’t usually see so many except when there is a new moon.

I decided this is probably one of my favorite shots from the night as it offsets the moon and allows you to really see all the stars.

Wave to Mars’ newest resident

November 26, 2018 by Tony

Today, NASA successfully landed its InSight probe on the red planet. That made me recall all the times this past summer when I was doing astrophotography and staring up at the Milky Way and a very bright, red ‘star’ – Mars.

Seen here in this image taken back in September, you can see InSight’s new home toward the bottom left corner. Of course from the probe’s point of view, we are little more than a bright blue dot in the sky. Kind of cool to think about.

Starry reflections in Colorado’s high country

September 23, 2018 by Tony Leave a Comment

Living in the city, you forget just how beautiful the night sky can be without all the light pollution. That’s why I absolutely love going to Colorado’s high country. You get away from the people, the crowds, the city lights and at night, you can just stare up in awe at the stars.

On this night a couple weeks ago, I was able to situate myself such that not only were the stars above, they were also reflected on Brainard Lake’s surface. Kind of fun and very, very pretty. That glow on the horizon is from Longmont and other Front Range cities.