Topanga State Park and Astrophotography

On the night of January 15th the class went to Topanga State Park, and there we used our film and digital cameras to capture the star trails. The sky was clear and the temperature of the area wasn't that chilly. In order for us capture these star trails, we mounted the camera onto a barn door tracker, that Scott Mathews kindly made for us, then placed that onto a tripod. Attaching the laser to the side of the barn door tracker helped us to line it up to the north star. We then used a cable release to keep the camera shutter open for several minutes instead of several seconds, so that it was able to capture the movement of the stars. The only negative aspect of using a film camera was that I wasn't able to see the images immediately after they were taken, and since this was my first time doing this, I was afraid that my images would ultimately come out screwed up. But that did not stop me from further enjoying that incredible night.

We were definitely fortunate that night, because not only was there one telescope, but three of them were set up. They allowed us to see clusters of stars, nebulas, the planet Jupiter, and the moon up close. Since the moon was a closer distance to the earth, the details of the craters were clearly visible, and that just really rocked my socks. Don't get me wrong though, looking at the nebulas and Jupiter were also equally pleasing to the eye. Also a potluck was set up between the students, which made the gathering even better, because nothing can go wrong when there's food.

When coming into this project, I had no idea how to use a camera, but that activity really taught me the steps of loading the film, and choosing which bulb setting is right for taking pictures of the star trails. Despite the drive and almost getting lost in the dark, I 110% recommend going through the process of learning how to do astrophotography. It was an amazing opportunity, and it is something that I wish to further experiment with.