Owls O, Stars 2

Gretchen and I went owling tonight in the Scotia Barrens but came up empty. I'm guessing we should've waited longer or something, or maybe it was too cold (in the teens) -- but my feet were frozen!

Still, I had mounted the camera on the tripod in case we got any looks at owls, so when I noticed the bright stars I couldn't help but try to capture them:Orion the Hunter! I had the camera set to Night mode, and with it mounted on the tripod I was able to get something (especially once I slid the Brightness slider over to the max in my photo editing software). I even managed to get the Messier clusters in the hunter's crotch area.

You can see the slight blur on each point as, even though the aperture was only open for a few seconds, the stars had time to move. That makes me think that I could try a longer exposure and maybe point at the North Star and get one of those crazy star-trails photos like you see in astronomy books. Next time!

Here's another:Though not as bright as Orion, it's still visible: the Big Dipper, held high overhead.

I sent some emails to the Birding Nerd to see if he's going owling again anytime soon; he had some Great Horned, Eastern Screech, and even a Barred Owl the other night. I'm sure he probably stayed out there longer than the 20 minutes we stayed out. But it was cold!