Sunday, December 12, 2010

Nix et Luna. (Snow and Moon)

Well, it turns out you can't see the summit of Mauna Kea from the Vis, and there was a thick blanket of clouds hugging the slopes on the way up, so I didn't manage to get any picture of the snow-clad peaks on Saturday. I did see a bit of snow... in the beds of various pickup truck coming down, and in a cooler at the Vis.

I also managed to get some nice shots of the moon through one of the 14-inch telescopes.


The five-day-old crescent moon made a nice telescopic target, as the moon usually does when it's close to new. Note the impressive amount of detail you can see, especially near the terminator (the boundary between light and dark, in astronomer's parlance). This is because of the long shadows cast by the rising sun, making subtle features easier to spot.

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