Ad Astra Observatory

Not strictly qualifying as “astronomy” photos, these are a set of photos that I shot while on a trip to the Grand Canyon over Thanksgiving 2007. It was a full moon night, so the canyon was lit up pretty brightly. In editing the photos, I found that there was a very fine line between bringing out all the detail that I could see by moonlight and yet ending up with a shot that didn’t look like it was shot during daylight.

That’s Mars rising over the eastern horizon in the background.

The first shot I took wasn’t in great focus, but I picked up a lot of cool color in the canyon, so it stays.

In order to pick up deatils at night, I had to set the camera up for 30 second exposures (the longest I can take without extra equipment). It’s impossible to hold still for that long. Here’s my family waiting patiently in the cold(!) for me to finish shooting.

The blown-out blob in the upper right-hand corner is the moon. Taurus rising over the canyon.

The most “astronomy-looking” photo of the bunch, this is shot with my back to the canyon (and to the rising moon).