Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, late February, early March 2023

Venus and Jupiter had a "close encounter" in the sky in late February and early March 2023. The planets were of course far away from each other, but from the vantage point of an earthbound observer, it looked like they were really close to each other. The actual conjunction and the closest encounter happened in …

Double cluster on b&w film

Object: NGC 869 & 884 Date: 21./22.9.2022 Observing place: Nakkila, Finland Equipment: Camera: Canon FTb QL, 200 mm lens, f/3.5, 5 min, mount: Skywatcher EQ-5+Skywatcher tracking motors, Photo information: Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 b&w -film, developer: D-76, 9 min 45 s, 20 C deg., printed on high contrast Foma photopaper, scanned and contrast improved digitally …

Nacreous clouds & Night sky time lapse, Finland, 11./12.2.2023

The annual Solar System -meeting of Ursa astronomical association was organized at Tähtikallio Observatory in Orimattila, Finland, in the weekend between 10th and 12th of February 2023. I was also there, but I arrived quite late in the Friday night at the place. It had been clear earlier in the evening, but it got cloudy …

Milky Way Time Lapse, Finland, 27./28.8.2022

I was at Tähtikallio Observatory in Orimattila, Finland in the weekend from 26th to 28th of August 2022. During my time there, I shot a time lapse video featuring the Milky Way. I shot the video in the night between 27th and 28th of August. During the night, humidity was high and there was lots …

Christmas Night Time Lapse 2021

In the evening of Christmas eve, I decided to shoot another time lapse video. I was spending the Christmas eve with my parents in Ulvila, Finland. There would be a good and safe location for leaving the camera out for the shooting session. After shooting the time lapse in Kokemäki, I decided to purchase AC …

Night sky time lapse & star trails in freezing weather 4./5.12.2021

The annual Arcturus Star Party of Porin Karhunvartijat was organized this year in the first weekend of December 2021, which was from 3th to 5th of December. The event location also this time was Koivuranta camp site in the southern shore of Lake Sääksjärvi (which is actually an ancient meteor impact crater) in municipality of …

Night sky time lapse video shot in Finland 10/11.9.2021

The annual deep sky meeting of Finnish amateur astronomers was organized again at Tähtikallio Observatory, in Orimattila, Finland in the weekend between 10th and 12th of September 2021. This time number of participants was a lot smaller than usually, because of the current world situation, but anyway it was fun and enjoyable event! We were …

Experimenting with film astrophotography

Date: 20./21.11.2020Time: 19:15-20:45 UTObserving site: Kokemäki, FinlandCamera: Canon FTB QLFilm: Ilford Delta 400 b&w filmDevelopment: Ilford Ilfotec DD-X, 20 C deg., 8 min.Weather: Clear skyObjects observed: constellations In the weekend between 20th and 22nd of November 2020 we were having a small gathering of the members of our local astronomy club of Porin Karhunvartijat in …

Another round of historical Lunar photography

Date: 8./9.9.2020Time: 20:35-21:00 UTObserving site: Ulvila observatory, FinlandInstrument: Celestron C11 (280/2750 mm) + 35-8 mm zoom eyepiece, 8 mm + yellow filterCamera: Canon FTB QLFilm: Rollei Ortho 25 b&w filmDevelopment: R09 "Rodinal", 1+25, 20 C deg., 8 min.Weather: Clear skyObjects observed: lunar features (photographed on film) Yesterday I wrote about my experiences with Lunar photography …

Film astrophotography experiments April 2020

Photographed object: Gemini, Cygnus and Lyra Date: 10./11.04.2020 Time: 21:00-21:30 UT Observing place: Leistilänjärvi, Nakkila, Finland Observing method: Photography Technical information about photographing equipment: Canon FTB QL, Canon 50 mm lens, Kodak Tri-X ISO 400 b&w negative film, development with Ilford Ilfotec DD-X 8 min 20 deg, 1:4, scanned from negative, contrast enhanced with Paint …