Whirlpool Galaxy

Last night was a clear night so I spent a few hours at the observatory. One of the more interesting images obtained through the C14 scope was of the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. It is a conspicuous spiral galaxy about 23 million light years away. The smaller object below is NGC 5195, a smaller galaxy captured by M51. They are located near the handle of the Big Dipper which is high in the night sky at this time of year.

Hummingbird Video and Images

I updated some of my hummingbird images and added a hummingbird video taken with the Canon 5D Mark II on the recent Ecuador trip. You can see them at my  Hummingbirds of Ecuador page.

The Leo Triplett

Last night I was out at the Hallam Observatory. The image below was captured with the 111 mm refractor telescope (equivalent to a 777 mm lens at f7).  This group of three galaxies is called the M66 group or the Leo Triplett and consists of the Messier objects M65 (NGC 3623) and M66 (NGC 3627) as well as the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628.  

All the stars we see at night  (at least here in Canada) are part of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, although if you look carefully in the summer you can see the faint smudge which is the Andromeda Galaxy.  The Leo Triplett is much more distant,  the light from these galaxies took 35,000,000 years to reach my camera sensor! 

Saturn

This year Saturn reached its closest point to Earth on March 8. This image of Saturn was taken March 13 at the Hallam Observatory. The rings are nearly edge on this year!

This image is from a short movie (about 30 sec) of Saturn that I took with my Canon SLR through the 14 inch telescope. The image looked quite dark and fuzzy before it was processed. Once home I used a free program called Lynkeos that aligns and stacks the individual frames of the video into a still image.

Tundra Swan migration

Mid March is the peak of Tundra Swan migration in southwestern Ontario. The sight (and sound) of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of these impressive birds descending into a flooded corn stubble field is truly memorable. Here are a few images taken on March 16, 2008 from the fields adjacent the St. Clair National Wildlife Area near Chatham. 

Comet Lulin

Last night Comet Lulin was at its closest approach to Earth (only 38,000,000 miles) so I drove out to the observatory near Comber and attached my camera to a AT111 refractor telescope. The greenish colour and long tail were easily captured with a one minute exposure.

Ecuador

Here are a few images from my birding trip to northern Ecuador, February 6-19.  I was a co-leader for a birding tour provided by Tom Hince. See Tom's blog for a day-by-day account of the trip.

White-capped Tanager along the road above the lodge at San Isidro. 

Hummingbird feeders are everywhere in Ecuador and many species can be observed at close range. I had birds perch on my camera and watched hummers inspect any patch of red coloured clothing, even painted  fingernails.  

Buff-tailed Coronet video.  This is a very common hummingbird on the west slope at places such as Bellavista and Tony Nunnery's. 

Booted Racketails are another common hummingbird on the west slope of the Andes  (and one of my favourite hummers).  The Viridian Metaltail was photographed at Termas de Papallacta, high in the mountains.  See my Homepage for more hummingbird images from Ecuador.

One night at Septimo Paraiso we were invited to go along with Mike Knoerr who was conducting an amphibian and reptile survey of the property.  Here are a couple of the frogs and a forest anole found on the walk.

A night time visit to any of the lights around a lodge would reveal hundreds of spectacular moths, beetles and other insects. These insects in turn attracted a lot birds each morning!