They activated their live POV cams inside their helmets...HOLY CRAP!
- Carlos Ayala
Just now- OH: Bresnik (on board the shuttle/ISS): "Hey Bobby we see what you see" Bobby: "That's a scary thought" Bresnik: "You're right about that!"
- Carlos Ayala
Completed successfully @ 401pm EST and ahead of schedule by two hours. Total time 6hrs 37mins. They even ran some Ethernet! :)
- Carlos Ayala
@Astro_Nicole Happy Birthday Nicole! You really know how to spend a birthday! Good Luck today!
The shuttle is now moving ahead of the ISS and also getting to about 300 feet from the ISS and will begin to back up. Twice Orbital Rate V-Bar Approach begins now.
- Carlos Ayala
Thanks. This was a very difficult shoot. We were not able to drop anchor correctly so we were in a constant bob fest. The boat was not able to level out. Most of the pictures were unusable, the haze made it even worse. Also, our broadcast was on a 1:30 delay and we were not looking at the actual time. If it wasnt for me trying to get a lock on the pad and happen to see the smoke...we would've missed it completely. We were facing the other direction. Oh well, all part of the excitement I guess. Good times.
- Carlos Ayala
Next time you go, take one of my radios. They do a amateur radio rebroadcast that I think is not delayed in any way.
- Matt Hilton
from email
Thanks Matt, maybe next time you'll be there too.
- Carlos Ayala
Once again, great work! Looks like you had a blast too. :D
- Adrian
Hopefully I can, did you guys go to Haulover Canal again?
- Matt Hilton
Yes Matt, marker 45 like last time, only this time we were not able to anchor down.
- Carlos Ayala
not sure...radar/sonar said we were 9.2 feet...we went beyond that with two anchors and all we hooked was black seaweed. its was pretty rough out there too. those river anchors we were using were too small for that area is my guess.
- Carlos Ayala
90 second delay? Holy tin-foil, Batman! Somebody's got some serious secrets to hide.
- Josh Haley
I have no idea which is better..i just know that i thoroughly love this junk right here.
- Carlos Ayala
Just sticking to Glenlivet tonight. But I'll add this to the list of stuff to try.
- Matt Hilton
this is more of a liqueur than a bourbon, if you ask me. i'll take a glenlivet any day over this...
- Carlos Ayala
I don't drink but if I ever start, I'm gonna start with something that's called American Honey. I mean, come on. How can that NOT be good?
- pea
its actually really good. borderline froofy but good.
- Carlos Ayala
Well its my second bottle in a row, and its time for something different. I may have to find something to mix it with if its a liqueur, but Derrick's Red Stag my fit my next bottle. And it looks like its about 2/3 the price, which is really why I'm looking for a change.
- Matt Hilton
you dont move from what you are drinking to either of these...from here you go to the balvenie! (but yeah, its more money)...american honey is also ~$20
- Carlos Ayala
Yeah, I hate the thought of moving in reverse. But hey, we're in a recession right? I shouldn't complain about not being able to drink single malt every night.
- Matt Hilton
And there she was sitting on Pad 39b. This is the closest Ive ever been to her. To appreciate the scale, take a look at the semi in lower right of the image.
- Carlos Ayala
In order: Calisto, Europa, Jupiter, Io, Ganymede and to the southeast IOT Cap - HIP105515. This is a composite of two pictures taken one after another at 560mm and at two different exposures placed on a black background and cropped. Some resolutions may see this edit. No other post processing was done to any of these incredible celestial bodies. Pictures taken 10/25/09 @ 7:54pmEST
- Carlos Ayala
Very nice. I've been trying to just get Jupiter and the moon these past few weeks.
- Anika
Sweet! It looks really clear. What did you set the white balance at? I know this is converted black and white and all, just wondering what kind of color info the lens/sensor were able to register for Jupiter.
- Adrian
@Anika they should be in your southern sky for most of your night and a wide angle will get them both together in the frame. the only problem is capturing any detail in both at the same time is virtually impossible.
- Carlos Ayala
If I didn't live on the other side of the continent (and had half the money) I'd go in halves on a GEM. Keeping the camera on Jupiter at that kind of magnification with a crappy tripod is a bear.
- Adrian
Oh, I can see them randomly. That's not the problem. It's actually shooting them where they're not blogs of white. I was going to do what you did and stitch together two photos, but the moon pics I've taken have been unusuable.
- Anika
@Adrian WB is almost always on Auto for these shots. If i am doing long exposures of starscapes in polluted skies i may do Tungsten. and I never convert to B&W. The shot of Jupiter is straight on shot @ 0.8 Seconds F8.0 ISO 1600. The Moon was shot @ 1/30 ISO 100. Both @ 560mm on a tripod.
- Carlos Ayala
@Anika you have to keep in mind that what you see of the Moon is sunlight. Always shoot it at ISO100, as though you were shooting in daylight. The actual speed will vary between 1/30 - 1/200, as an example. The shutter speed is dependent on position in the sky and type of moon, for the most part.
- Carlos Ayala
@Anika to stitch them, all i did was open both of them in photoshop and place them side by side in a new file. Since i wanted an accurate representation of position in the sky i moved the Moon to where it is in relation to Jupiter. This created a gap. The gap was easily fixed by making the background black. So, 3 layers: black background, the Moon and Jupiter and its neighbors.
- Carlos Ayala
So I shouldn't be getting color data on Jupiter at this magnification? I'm probably seeing chromatic aberration from the lens. You saw my photos... the colors on Jupiter and it's glow would switch up depending on how I had the white balance set. Strange, I guess I should look this up.
- Adrian
the only way to get any color data at this this magnification is if you track it using a GEM while taking many many many exposures at different lengths and later stacking the frames. If i had to guess, what you (and I) are picking up is actually reflected sunlight.
- Carlos Ayala
Crazy! The rovers on Mars shoot like that too. They have filters for the various color wavelengths and they piece the color photos together from these. I want a mount... and filters. :D
- Adrian
Oh it's not just color wavelengths they go for it's chemical wavelengths. They can identify chemistry on visible objects with the technique.
- Adrian
as for the canon's you can either purchase a modified camera for astrophotography, have your current canon permanently modified, add a filter above the sensor yourself or just wing it like i do. these filters cut out the wavelengths that produce the chromatic aberrations you mentioned and high pressure sodium and mercury light pollution. a GEM and a 800mm telescope with t-adapter is on my Christmas list for sure.
- Carlos Ayala
Dude, I have an Oly OM-1MD! In the 70's it was *the* astro-photography camera. ;) It was one of the main reasons I got it. It has mirror lock-up for vibration-free images. Since I don't have a long lens for it, I'm thinking I should just get a telescope with a mount, and an adapter for the camera. But for now it's just a dream.
- Adrian
haha yeah man i know the camera, i forgot you had that beast. awesome. unfortunately we are really limited as to what we can realistically photograph without a GEM. we are basically limited to the Moon. all deep sky objects require a GEM at the very least and a decent (fast) lens or telescope. look at this way my 560mm shot is effectively 896mm on my crop (if i have the math right) and thats the best i can do with what i have.
- Carlos Ayala
It varies, I guess. In a reptile class I took in jr. high summer school, an adult garter snake was the calmest snake we had. But a younger one was inclined to bite on occasion. If that's a garter, that's a really pretty species.
- Spidra Webster
she took it one step further on this one...she stole the kicks from her cousin and dressed herself, topped it off with the mask and went on a Boo-spree. I wish i had a video of this.
- Carlos Ayala
careful what you wish for pea, we may never see you again!
- Carlos Ayala
you keep warning me but I gotta tell you, I've taken on some seriously challenging kids and survived to tell the tales so, bring it on. i ain't scared! ;D
- pea
pfft. has she ever broken into anyone's home? broken some stranger's sunroof? gone to bed with every knife in the house under her pillows because she's a ninja? shoplifted when she was 3? :D i got this.
- pea
give her time. she is only two and is currently only throwing forks and knives at her mother while saying "shit" 'cuz she missed. but when she connects she reaches out to dad for a high five. trust me, there is much evil brewing within this one. the force is definitely strong with her.
- Carlos Ayala
lmao @ reaches out to dad for a high five.
- nakachi
Great pics. I wonder if Cletus will ever calm down enough for stuff like that.
- Matt Hilton
What an adorable pair. I just can't take the cuteness + her awesome shirt. <3
- Carmen
Ray Villafane is one of my favorite sculptors. I own a few of his Marvel based designs (Wolverine, Ghost Rider, etc). He also carves his insane creations into pumpkins..these are a few.
- Carlos Ayala
he won a food network competition. and not only did he win, but slapped the effin crap out of his competition with some insane jack-o-lantern with bloody eyeballs and a pumpkin hand attached to a motor that moved. bananas.
- tiffany
damn. those are ridiculous. in the good sense of the word.
- pea