The Hocking Hills Observatory |
Built and operated by: Stuart Little Joe Fiume |
To Catch A Comet
After careful calibration, we could not get the telescope to track the stars. We checked and rechecked everything we could think of and still no success. After half an hour we decided the telescope was pointed backwards (that Joe) ... our excuse was "We always look at things in the southern skies not the northern skies." After correcting, we were smoking.
Taking a snapshot of the heavens is no easy task. You must leave the shutter open for three minutes to sometimes sixty minutes or more depending on many variables. You can appreciate how taking 10-15 shots in one night can be almost impossible. Joe and I are professionals, we did it and were meticulous about it.
Not one for wasting exposures, the next morning I took pictures of my house, my truck, and anything else to use the rest of the film before developing. I rewound the film and went into a semi-dark room to remove it from the camera ... Yea you guessed it ... no film in the camera. Sometimes life will play little jokes on you.
The accompanying pictures prove that with a little perseverance anyone can take a good astrophoto in spite of themselves... Go ahead and try it. In the mean time "Keep looking up". Mission Accomplished! — Stuart Little & Joe Fiume
|