An introduction

Ok, so i suppose i should start with an introduction to this blog and what it is all about. Mostly this will focus on my hobby and passion which is astronomy. I am as you might say just a rank amature but i hope to progress to a more learned and experienced astronomer which should become more evident as my blog continues. 

I have been interested in astronomy and space in general for as long as i can remember. The fascination started many years ago as a child watching episodes of the original Star Trek and Buck Rogers, wondering to myself if all those things of the creators imagination were really possible out there. 

To this day the mysteries of what is really out there still fascinate me and i have spent many a night studying the works of the most prominent and impressive minds of our time whose lives works have been to try and solve these mysteries for us and the novels of those who seek to entice us into imagining something greater and questioning our true destiny in this universe.

I have spent most of my working life travelling all over the world and have only now settled into a position where i can actually spend time indulging my hobby and for those that are interested i will be keeping a record of my activities here. 

To start i will leave you with an image i took recently of the Venus transit of the Sun in Costa Rica, from a boat in Marina Papagayo just after i finished work. It is not the greatest solar image i have ever taken but i was being beaten by the incoming clouds and trying to shoot from a moving platform.

Device:    Nikon D90
Lens:    VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
Focal Length:    550mm
Focus Mode:    Manual
AF-Area Mode:    Single
VR:    ON
Aperture:    f/11
Shutter Speed:    1/10s
Exposure Mode:    Manual
Exposure Comp.:    0EV
Metering:    Matrix
ISO Sensitivity:    ISO 640
White Balance:    Auto, 0, 0
Color Space:    sRGB
High ISO NR:    OFF
Long Exposure NR:    OFF
Active D-Lighting:    Auto
Picture Control:    [LS] Landscape
Base:    [LS] Landscape
Sharpening:    4
Contrast:    Active D-Lighting
Brightness:    Active D-Lighting
Saturation:    0
Hue:    0

For this picture i was using a 2 X tele extender and a Thousand Oaks Optics polymer plus solar filter.