Friday, November 8, 2024

A Tree Full of Stars


A Tree Full of Stars!  We had another outreach event tonight at Sunken Meadow State Park.  It was an event to raise money and get food donations for Long Island Cares, The Harry Chapin Food Bank.  There were something like 20 astronomers with telescopes from two different astronomy clubs here.  And the public turnout looked pretty good which was great because this is the first time we did this.  When I arrived it was dark and I took a walk over to the administration building, and as I was leaving, here was this tree right in front of me, illuminated by a spotlight on the building.  It stopped me in my tracks.  My camera was in the car, so I took about a dozen images with my iPhone 12.  The exposure for this was at least two seconds, but the phone is amazing and this image seems as sharp as a tack.  What I love is that it appears that the tree is full of stars.  Actually, those are the few last leaves still clinging to the branches after all the others have fallen.  And the brightest spot near the center of the tree is the planet Venus!  Wow, how cool is this shot!

 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic photo! Love it and what your group did to help others. Joan

Anonymous said...

Before I read your blog, I thought that the tree was covered in tiny lights. Fantastic shot. I saw the moon peaking through :-) So glad that you had a good turnout. Betsey

ken schwarz said...

This nighttime shot is outstanding and a testament to Apple's engineering ability to put so much photographic performance into such a small device. It's no wonder why iPhone camera's have nearly decimated the market for simple point-and-shoot cameras. PS: And very nice work your astronomy club has done for charity.