The Safari was out on Patch 1 last night before we did the pic of Jupiter and its moons. On the small field a pair of Herring Gulls were making the last of the light searching for worms and were quite unconcerned about our (fairly) close approach although maintaining a beady eye on us all the time.
We tried sneaking a little nearer but eventually reached the edge of their comfort zone and the both flew off, but not before we managed to get one of them to stay still enough for a reasonable-ish shot.
After the Jupiter pic we received an email from our Extreme Photographer with an attachment - a crackin digi-scoped pic of the moon. Not to be out-done we rigged up the camera back on its tripod and went outside again. Not a bad effort but there is a little Colour Fringing along the perimeter of the moon - despite that we're quite happy with the result...best pic of the moon we've ever taken and to see it like this in its first full quater on 29th February again you'll have to wait until 2088...needless to say we won't be waiting with you or if we are we'll have just had our 128 1/2th birthday!!!
Our next astronomical quest is to try to get a pic of the Red Spot and bands of gas on Jupiter - will we succeed?
Where to next? A late evening/early night-time safari coming up in a couple of hours, but not for planetary reasons - more news tomorrow.
Where to next? A late evening/early night-time safari coming up in a couple of hours, but not for planetary reasons - more news tomorrow.
In the meantime let us know if 29-02-2088 is within your grasp. God willing - assuming there is one of course.
