Last modified on 03/26/18

kotay.net - Keith - Photography - Astrophotography


Quote of the day: "The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then--to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn." --T. H. White, The Once and Future King


My father and I went to Aruba in March, 1986 to see Halley's Comet. I wanted to record the event so I bought my first camera, a couple of lenses, a hand operated pan/tilt head, and a small finder scope. The camera and the finder scope were mounted on the pan/tilt head and, by turning a small knob on the pan/tilt head, I could track the motion of the stars (and the comet). It was somewhat painstaking--a four-minute exposure was very hard on my neck and back! But I got some decent shots:

Coming soon...

After returning from Aruba I took a few more photos of Halley's Comet from Pennsylvania and Virginia:

Coming soon...

Once the comet was gone for another 75 years, I turned my attention to other heavenly bodies:

Coming soon...