Total Lunar Eclipse December 2010

I was up nice and early today in the freezing conditions, even with a really bad cold to try and capture the total lunar eclipse . I put on several layers and headed out with my new Canon 550d camera on a tripod with a remote cable attached and my 300mm lens and a very large lens hood to try and keep the dew off of the lens.

A few minutes later and I was at a clearing off of the main road, so I could get the full horizon. I started taking a few photos, and then went for the new feature of Full HD videos on the 550d, which when I came home I used Windows Live Movie Maker to make the movie up and put it on YouTube.

I could see the moon clearly to begin with but once it was at totality I never saw it again as the low clouds covered the moon up. I began shooting at about 7.20am and finished around 7.45am GMT but even that short time was enough.

I was not that happy with the images, as even with a 300mm lens the moon still really looks small, I think you need a 600mm lens or a 2.0x converter if just using an SLR, but ideally you really need an 80mm refractor joined to the SLR to get a good image. Unfortunately I don’t get a good view of the western horizon with my permanent set up, but then again with the moon being at about 5 degrees above the horizon the local houses would have also stopped me using my telescope.

View the Lunar Eclipse YouTube video here.

Wonders of the Solar System Book

Alongside the Wonders of the Solar System DVD is the Wonders of the Solar System book.

The book accompanies the excellent DVD and TV series from the BBC. The book is split into chapters which relate to the episodes of the series.

The great thing about The Wonders of the Solar System book is the amount of amazing colour images in the book, truly fascinating.

The book (which is quite large – 28cm x 22cm) begins with a lovely and inspiring introducton. Very much of the style of the series, exhalting the ideals of exploration and celebrating the thirst for knowledge of the ocean to explore beyond the shore of our ‘thin blue line’.

The rest of the format is much like the series, 5 more chapters on the same heading as the television show;

Chapter 2 – Empire of the Sun
Chapter 3 – Order out of Chaos
Chapter 4 – The Thin Blue Line
Chapter 5 – Dead or Alive
Chapter 6 – Aliens

This book is great and very informative and also very easy to understand for all ages.

The Wonders of the Solar System book is available from Amazon

Wonders of the Solar System DVD

Here is a great gift for someone this Christmas, The Wonders of the Solar System DVD by Brian Cox.

This astronomy/space series was originally shown on the BBC.

It is presented by Professor Brian Cox, the series takes time to investigate the solar system around us, and the many natural beauties contained within it. Across the episodes, Cox covers the likes of planets themselves, the rings of Saturn, the question of whether we’re alone in the universe, and the sun itself.

What lifts Wonders Of The Solar System above the many shows that have tackled the subject before, however, are two factors. Firstly, it’s Cox himself, an enthused and interesting host, who explains things well and really helps make accessible the material. Secondly, it’s the utterly stunning visuals. The BBC has mixed in CGI along with images sent directly from space to quite breathtaking effect.

The series contains five episodes, each of which focuses on an aspect of the Solar System and features a ‘wonder’.

There are 5 episodes on the DVD:

1-Empire of the sun
A great introduction to the series that illustrates how the formation and behavior of the Sun affects each planet in the Solar System .The graphics of the formation of the sun are truly spectacular.

2-Order Out of Chaos
The second episode explores the Rings of Saturn and explains their differences and the effect of gravity on their formation. The pictures from Cassini add a wonderful touch to the stunning graphics.

3-The Thin Blue Line
The third episode looks at the atmosphere of Earth and that of Titan moon in Saturn. A very relevant program that touches on how fragile is our existence and how much we own to our atmosphere.

4-Dead or Alive
The fourth episode looks at the size of planets, volcanoes, and the moon Io ,and how size and position in the solar system determines if live can develop in a planet. The images form the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia are a great example of the conditions in other places of the solar system.

5-Aliens
The program covers life surviving in extreme environments in our planet, and how the search for life on other planets follows the search for water. This last episode is the most interesting of them all as it asks a couple of very interesting questions ,Are we alone in the Universe ? What if we are ? What if we aren’t ?

This series is available on both standard DVD and on high definition Blu Ray disks.

The DVD is available now from Amazon UK