Author Archives: Stefano De Rosa

May 27 2012

Waiting for the last Transit of Venus of this century

The much anticipated date of the rare historic Transit of Venus on the Sun’s disk is approaching! The nearly 7-hour transit begins at 22:09 on June 5th and in Italy will be visible the final phase at sunrise of the 6th.

In the meanwhile, the Sun is preaparing the stage for the show and in the last days attracted a great deal of interest thanks to its growing levels of activity. In this scenario of huge expectations, my image of the sunspot AR 1476 rising alogside the Basilica of Superga (taken on May 10th) received a great media coverage being viewed by thousands of people around the web – a list of main webisites where it has been featured in the recent couple of weeks is provided below (click on the link to go to the relevant page):

EarthSly, Spaceweather (NASA), ANSA.it, CNN Mexico, Space.com, Astronomy.com Picture of the Day, Meteoweb.

Thanks for looking and best wishes for a great view of the Transit of Venus! Here are some useful resources to plan and follow the event:

May 24 2012

Moon & Venus and the Medieval Castle of Grinzane Cavour

Crescent Moon (showing lovely earthsine) and blazing Venus captured shortly after sunset in the evening of 23 May, 2012 as the pair was setting next to the medieval Castle of Grinzane Cavour. The massive castle is located in the Langhe region, famous for its wines, about 50 km southeast of Turin. The Moon is moving away from the Sun wheras Venus is preparing for the upcoming 5-6 June transit on our star.

Tech details: Canon Eos 5D Mk II, focal lenght: 117 mm; Exp: 1/5 sec.; F/10; ISO: 1600 + cross star filter

Tech details: Canon Eos 5D Mk II, focal lenght: 147 mm; Exp: 1/4 sec.; F/5.6; ISO: 4000

May 10 2012

Sunspot AR 1476 Sunrise and the Basilica of Superga

This morning the sight of the majestic Sunspot AR 1476 was great as the Sun was rising alogside the Basilica of Superga!

Canon Eos 5D Mark II; Focal lenght:700mm; Exp: 1/8000 and 1/125 sec; F/40; ISO:50

Questa mattina la visione della gigantesca macchia solare AR 1476 è stata veramente impressionante mentre il Sole sorgeva accanto alla Basilica di Superga – Ripresa effettuata dal Monte dei Cappuccini.

May 6 2012

Super Moon of May 5, 2012

The 5th of May Super Moon captured among fast moving clouds that acted as natural filter during the exposure and created a beatiful colorful corona.

La Super Luna “catturata” fra le nuvole che hanno funzionato da filtro naturale creando una corona colorata nel cielo notturno. 

Canono Eos 5D MK II; Exp: 1.6sec; F/7.1; ISO:250

May 5 2012

Cervino in the Blue Lake

Mount Cervino’s pyramid  is reflecting in the Blue Lake (Lago Blu – 1918m). The small body of water, surrounded by century-old larch trees, is located on a road stop just before the resort town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley, a region in the North-West of Italy. The lake is fed by springs and therefore always crystal clear.

Mount Cervino (4,478m, 14,690 ft, better known as Matterhorn outside Italy) is part of the Pennine Alps and is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The mountain overlooks the town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to the north-east and Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south.

Apr 24 2012

Moon and Venus over Turin

This image, captured after sunset from the vantage point of the Cappuccini hill, shows the crescent Moon and super bright Venus putting on a magnificent show over Turin. On the right is easily recognizable the Mole Antonelliana, symbol of the city.

Tech details: Turin (Italy), April 24, 2012, Canon EOS 5D Mark II; EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens set @24mm; Exp: 0.3 sec; F/4; ISO: 1600

Apr 23 2012

Young Moon and Jupiter over Rocciamelone peak

 

I took the photo above last evening (April 22, 2012) from Turin (Italy): it shows a 36 hours old crescent Moon pairing with a bright Jupiter setting behind the peak of Rocciamelone (3,538 m -11,608 ft), a mountain of the Graian Alps. A great way to celebrate Earth Day :-)
 
Tech details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Sigma 150-500mm lens set @ 438mm; Exp: 1.6 sec; f/9; ISO: 2000

Apr 8 2012

Easter Moon-Viso

This morning to celebrate Easter I moved to Pecetto (few km from Turin) and captured the waning gibbous Moon setting behind the Alps. In the two images below the Moon appears together with the peak of Monviso (3,841 m – 12,602 ft), so I decided to call the session: “Easter Moon-Viso” ;-)     

Tech details:

  • Photo #1 – Canon 5D Mark II; Sigma 150-500mm lens set @518mm; Exp: 1/500; f/9; ISO: 250
  • Photo #2 – Canon 5D Mark II; Sigma 150-500mm lens set @150mm; Exp: 1/200; f/7.1; ISO: 250
  • Photo #3 – Canon 5D Mark II; Sigma 150-500mm lens set @289mm; Exp: 1/200; f/7.2; ISO: 250
Mar 25 2012

Contemplating the conjunction

The image shows the crescent Moon (with a beautiful earthshine), three planets (Earth, Jupiter and Venus)…and three kids (one of them is called Miranda…another Moon): what a great conjunction!

Technical details: Turin (Italy), 25 March 2012, Canon EOS 5D Mark II,  Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens set @ 70 mm; Exp: 0.5 sec; F/5.6; ISo: 1600