Category Archives: Celestial

It has been six months. That’s pathetic.

by in Celestial, Seasons, Sunrises and Sunsets, Victoria | 6 Comments

I really enjoyed blogging when I started six years ago. I seem to have lost my way with it lately. I think my weakness for Facebook is to blame. It reminds me of when I was a smoker. I knew it was doing me harm but could not kick it. I am not dumping Facebook this time like I have before. I am going to try to become a watcher, and initially, a once a day poster. It is now 12:15 PM and I have already shared 2 things today. Oh well. One was plugging a CD by a local musician, the other a mariachi version of Gold and Brown. Hardly controversial. Maybe good shares like this are OK? Having said that, I still do not want to allow Facebook to continue to consume me. I gave up cigarettes by slowing weaning myself off over a few years, thirty years ago. I think I can discipline myself with Facebook, and get it down to a decent level of observance.

In early January 2020, large parts of Australia were on fire. Some of these fires had been burning since September 2019. An overseas observer would be forgiven for thinking that all of Australia was burning. This was most certainly not the case, however, no matter where you lived, except maybe the top end, there was ever present evidence of these fires burning; in all capital cities, bar Darwin. This is unprecedented. This was, and is still, a crisis for Australia. I have no photos from this period.

The weather turned later in January, as we prepared to go to our yearly sojourn to Rosebud, on the Mornington Peninsula, South of Melbourne.

  • Rosebud at night
  • Waxing crescent Moon set
  • Beautiful serene coast

The stars were amazing, and my phone could take pics of them

  • Milky Way over the dark Bass Strait skies
  • The Large Magellanic Cloud
  • The Milky Way
  • Orion over the Bay
  • Orion through the trees

There was of course relaxation, entertainment, catching up with family and friends.

An there was plenty of beauty

We do not stay at the beach constantly, as we have two dogs that need caring for at home. While there, in February and prior to the covid lockdown, I started the process of baking sourdough. Here are some photos of my fun.

I like to take photos of plants, and this six month period has been no exception.

Some nice sunsets and Autumn scenes

Some covid lockdown activities

  • Early days reverse camera
  • All fixed now

With Winter upon us now

The Changing Seasons. July 2018

by in Celestial, Seasons, Victoria and tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Ok, it’s July 31. I’ve had enough of this Winter thing now. I know we still have another three months of it to go down here in Victoria.
I have been playing a lot of music lately so my photos have suffered. And I am itching to get out on the water again. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I’m off to Gippsland again.
Also, Jo and I have been slowly emptying rooms here. After living here for 20 years, we are yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ll get there. Here’s some pics from July. Added for Su’s Changing Seasons which can be found here.

Moon and Venus last week
Prince’s Bridge, Melbourne
The Yarra River and Melbourne
Collingwood v Essendon
The MCG!
Collingwood won – Boo
The MCG

Night

by in Black and White, Celestial and tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Some previously published night snaps here. Nice to put them together.

Melbourne from the Macedon Ranges
Ninety Mile Beach
Port Phillip Bay from Rosebud

Swimming pool at Koh Samet resort
Hosier Lane, Melbourne
Melbourne
Newlyweds, Flinders St, Melbourne
The Large Magellanic Cloud
Dancing on a boat
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Ha Long Bay
Huế Vietnam
Bangkok Temple
Bangkok

Moon

by in Celestial | 8 Comments

Moon, Melbourne, Macro, Marriage, Mouths, Mountains; one can get carried away. Moon

Slither moonset
How we see it in the South
How you see it in the North
Open the front door and there it is
Moonrise
Moonrise
Christmas night 2015

Blog for blog’s sake. A.

by in Black and White, Celestial | 8 Comments

Blogging has not been high on my list for most 2016. I can probably come up with lots of excuses why but I think they would be wrong. It’s just mild depression,  I just shut down on a lot of things. Anyway I thought I would unofficially add to the April thingo challenge as well. Why not. I’m a bit late – but not in the Western Hemisphere. Here’s A. Astronomy.

The South Celestial Pole

by in Celestial | 3 Comments

Pole star or Polaris; no we do not have a pole star in the Southern Hemisphere. To most, it’s not all that important, but I like to use it to find out where south is at night or to line up star trail pics.

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Draw a line through the long beam of the cross and continue the line below the cross until meets a line which emanates from between Alpha and Beta Centauri perpendicularly.

Orion in the Southern Hemisphere

by in Celestial | 8 Comments

Summer is special time for stargazing in the south. Firstly, it’s warm outside but most importantly we have Orion and the Seven Sisters to wonder at. We don’t call it Orion, however, but the Saucepan or the Pot. Check it out.orion and seven sistersThe Pot is to the right of the tree; the Seven Sisters or Pleiades to the left.

My muse: The Moon, Planets and Stars

by in Celestial | 6 Comments

Change, change, change; that’s what expected of us all. It has always been the case but the turnover is a little faster these days. If this bugs you, like it bugs me, go outside on a clear night and look at the Cosmos. If you live in a dirty city get out of it for a night. This will remind you, most conclusively, that nothing much has changed. I photograph it every now and then. I have been for 35 years. I am a beginner at it but maybe I’ll nail it in the end. In this photograph I have inadvertantly captured the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite gallaxy of the Milky Way. I was rapt when I spotted this, because I did not expect it. There is a Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) as well. Next time I will capture both.looking south shortest day 15See more examples of muse here