Letter Box

And now for something completely different. A letter box photo from downtown central Mount Isa.

Seven Sisters

One final astro image update of the Pleiades cluster, known in Australia as the Seven Sisters.  This constellation of stars is also used by the Subaru motor company on their grill badges.

Horsehead Nebula

Another reprocessed image.  This time it was my long attempted target of the Horsehead nebula, Barnard 33 in Orion (Original here).  Again the raw files were developed before processing and stacking. The improvements can be seen mainly in the more accurate colour reproduction and reduced blooming of the bright stars.  

Siding Spring Revisited

A reprocessed and improved version of the comet Siding Spring approaching planet Mars on the 18th October 2014 (Original post here).  This version has used Adobe Lightroom to first develop the raw images before stacking and processing in Nebulosity.  The difference a great piece of software makes to the data in an image is remarkable.

Blackstar Trails

Star trails over the Mount Isa Mines near the Blackstar open cut pit.  Light pollution is a challenge for taking astro photos in towns, fortunately the foreground bush has acted as a partial light block.

Sunspot 2192

The large sunspot 2192 crossing the face of the sun Saturday morning. This is quite spectacular to see, and fun to photograph, with the right solar filter (Never look directly at the sun!).

Take A Walk

Take a walk and save some fuel and carbon dioxide.

Burke & Wills

Imagine if Burke and Wills had this kind of luxury.  Perhaps they never would have gone exploring if they could stay indoors and watch TV back in the day.

Favourite Tree

An old favourite photo of mine rehashed using Adobe Lightroom. It is amazing what a little digital development can do to a photograph. See the original image from 2010 here.

Warm Chat

A couple of locals enjoy a warm afternoon chat in the park near the Leichhardt River.

Cattle

A cattle truck rumbles across the Leichhardt River bridge on its way east toward a market sale yard. You may be eating some of these animals in a store near you soon.

Close Encounters

In a close encounter of the Mars kind, comet Siding Spring last night was on course for a flyby of planet Mars.  I captured this shot with 10 minutes of exposure time and my trusty 60mm refractor. The noise in the camera is almost unbearable and has drowned out much of the signal, so I've really stretched the curves of this image to show up the faint detail.  And there in the noise, you can see the comet, a small green ball and whispy tail in the mid left of frame, headed toward the ruddy Mars.

Of The Pleiades

A photo of a constellation made famous by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their song, Can't Stop. Where they sing of having 'come from space to teach you of the Pleiades'.

Main Roads Department 1966

This is the bridge over the river Leichhardt on the highway through the town of Mount Isa.  It was completed in 1966 according to this brass plaque.

Glitter Paint

Some purple glitter paint spilt on the footpath on the main street through town. I snapped this one on the Mount Isa photowalk.

Power Source

The full view of the Diamantina and Mica Creek power stations from a nearby hill. These gas fired turbines and combined cycle stations are the source of all the power in this outback town of Isa.

Branch Silhouette

The Diamantina power station behind a few branches. Aside from an artistic effect, the shot shows me that there are dust specks all over my CCD in the camera. It needs a clean.

Diamantina Power

A view of the Diamantina (foreground) and Mica Creek (rear) power stations taken with a 60mm TeleVue refractor. In the background is Telstra Hill. The lights glow warmly in the evening twilight.

Leichhardt River

The Foots Bridge across the River Leichhardt.

Worldwide Photowalk Out West

Yesterday I participated in a worldwide photowalk organised here in Mount Isa. It's a social get together in cities and towns across the world to share photography skills and raise some money for charity. This was one of the first shots at the beginning of the walk. Watch out for more shots from this event over the coming days.

Totality

A shot of the Moon near totality.

Lunar Eclipse

The Moon tonight as it slid into the Earth's shadow and turned a little orange due the filtered light from our atmosphere.

1911

Fisher waterhole near Mount Isa. I'm waiting for wet season to see it in its full glory. There is an engraving here that says 1885. I'm sure the local indigenous people were using it way before then.

Tree

A silhouetted tree against a dusk sky on the side of a hill.

Remarkable Stars

The stars pass over Remarkable Ridge and Battle Mountain near Mount Isa. The Moon was 68% and waxing, illuminating the sky and foreground.

Medium Format Milky Way

A medium format sized portrait of the Milky Way Galaxy. This was done by stitching photographs together, but the result is still the same, very pleasant. A medium format camera would be on my 'to buy' list were they not the price of a car.