I decided to make an effort to shoot some pictures of yesterday's eclipse, and that meant SCIENCE!

I'm going to Japan in May and I found a good deal on a small superzoom bridge camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H300 which serendipitously would a) replace my need for a telescope with its 35x zoom and b) provide a large image courtesy of its 20 ( Read more... )

 I bought a new-to-me camera for my recent trip to Japan, a second-hand Fujifuilm HS30EXR bridge camera outfitted with what is termed a "superzoom" lens. It's the first digital camera I've had with a substantial zoom capability -- my usual pocket camera is a Panasonic LX-3 which takes wonderful low-light pictures with its Leica lens but it has a ( Read more... )

I didn't know this when I booked my trip here, but there's going to be an annular eclipse of the sun on the 21st of May. Guess where the line of totality runs? Right through the middle of Tokyo, believe it or not. I'll be travelling overnight up from the south but I'll be in Tokyo early enough (07:30) to catch the last part of the eclipse assuming ( Read more... )

 Lunar eclipse tonight. I schlepped a camera and tripod up Calton Hill in Edinburgh to get away from the street-level lights and freeze my ass off taking pictures.

It was experimental on my part -- it's a long time since I did amateur astrophotography and this was the first time with a digital camera. In addition it was a low-end prosumer unit, ( Read more... )