Sun Rise

Camping trip shots:

Another failed attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

In order to avoid foggy weather, I went to another campsite (黃石營地) where we might be able to have a relatively clear East to NE horizon.  But since it's on the sea side, the temperature was much higher at 30 degree C inside the tent.

So, I couldn't sleep much and I woke up at around 4:00am myself before the alarm clock.

The first shot looked quite promising?

Here is my tent:

As time went by, more cloud came out.  I kept scanning around with my Canon 10x30 IS but then I saw nothing.

After the sun came out, I cooked a simple breakfast and left as soon as possible to avoid the hot weather.  I bought myself a cold drink while waiting for the bus.

A bonus shot of the milkway before sleeping, taken with a Canon 24mm f2.8 pancake lens, 14 shots stacked:

Failed attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

I planned a day off on 9/7 in order to prepare myself to capture the comet.

I will have to find a place where we might have a clear view of the East or NE, and since it will rise very early in the morning just before dawn.  

My first plan was in the East Dam of High Island Reservoir but then I couldn't setup a tent, and transportation is either expensive or I will need to walk for two hours.  So, I gave that up.

My second plan was in Tai Mo Shan where there's a campsite nearby the potential observation spot.  Therefore, I took the plunge to calculate whether the view would be clear:

And it seems feasible, so after dinner, I packed up my stuff and went out.  The sky was a bit cloudy but it's not without hope.  I arrived the bus station at around 23:15 waiting for the bus scheduled at around 23:25.

Armed with minimal camping setup, I've a just a tent and a small stove with a titanium cup for boiling water for the cup noodle breakfast tomorrow.  I also had a small bottle of Yakult.

Summer night was not too hot up there in the campsite, but it was super hot at home.

The humidity was very high, and it was very foggy with strong wind.  My half pitched tent was blew down.  I setup the alarm clock at around 4:30 and I have prepared myself to walk around 10 minutes to the observation spot.

On waking up, I heard some stepping sound around my tent.  There's no body around the campsite, anyway, on going out, I saw a cow plus super thick fog!  So, I gave up and sleep again.

At around 7:00, the cow was still there as well as the fog.

After short breakfast, I went to the observation spot to check whether my calculation is correct or not, but then it was full of fog!

I believe that it's no good to attempt any observation on the hill, here are some more shots during my morning walk:

Packed up my stuff and caught the bus on 9:00, and then back home for sleeping.

My stuff:

Canon 70D, a 24mm f2.8 lens, a 50mm f1.8 lens plus a 200mm f2.8 lens, a simple carbon fibre tripod and a pair of Canon 10x30 IS.

Some Chinese keywords:

荃錦營地

露營

夏天

彗星

白果之旅

(長咀) Camping and simple wide field imaging

Just went camping again, this site requires three hours walk of over 10km difficult hiking trail.

So, I only had a simple small tripod plus a Canon 70D with 24mm pancake lens.

Two persons, two tent, a simple shelter more for wind shielding than anything else.

Waiting for the sunset.

This is not really a dark site, bright light from mainland China could be seen easily, but it's not bad either.

Wind was exceptionally strong, this is a shot of M45 combined with landscape... for the camera fell down with the tripod in the middle of the exposure.

We could see the light pollution from below:

I love this shot the most, combining M41 and Sirius with landscape.  I guess I shall do more of this type from now on, before going to tracked photography?

Mug shot of Orion with M42.

I was forced inside the tent after maybe ten o clock at night!

--

On the way to the camping site, we had a partial solar eclipse...

(狗嶺涌營地) Camping and stargazing again!

This time I went to the Lantau Island for camping with my friend, camping is the goal and stargazing is a side dish.  This time, I bought my trusty Tele Vue Ranger without any camera in the hope to focus myself on visual observation.

Astrophotography is never my cup of tea, for:

1. Hong Kong is a city where people are proud of their light pollution
2. Astrophotography took much time and effort which I don't really have
3. I don't like post-processing.
4. By 1-3, I know my results would be less than desirable.
5. I love visual observation more, photography is just a way to keep memory going.  Just like why I keep this blog.

So, let's go back to the trip.  The sky was pretty promising.



After getting off from the bus, we have to talk 70 minutes to the camping site.  The last ten minutes:



After setting up the tent and stuff...



I setup my Ranger!  We have a small concrete platform which is nice for placing the tripod:



The above were what I had!  My Ranger, Rigel Quick Finder and my Japanese Widescan Type III 20mm.  What's new this time was a carbon fibre tripod and a swing head, they're excellent for low power scanning and observation!

This tripod is very thin and compact, it weights a bit more than 300g!  Yes, 300g only!  However, it's stable enough for this setup, no shake, not any sort of instability, none!  I'm happy with that!

M45 is visible to naked eyes, and the clear was clear.  I swing to M31 and it's there!  One of the best view with this small telescope I ever had.  When my friend finished his setup, we started cooking.

We have some strong wind that night and I left the setup there.  No problem at all!

It's a pity that the sky was fully covered after our dinner.

My Ranger were more than 20 years old!  I enjoy it as from day one of the ownership!  This is about a perfect telescope for me, light weight compact and always ready to go!



I acquired a 85ED  refractor which is both bigger and higher quality than my Ranger, but then it's already too heavy for me to bring it out for camping which requires non-trivial hiking.  Maybe I shall try to use the 85ED next time?

20191110-1111 Sunset Peak 大東山

This is not a stargazing trip but mainly for camping, I only got a DSLR plus a 24mm lens on a small tripod.

The moon was very bright, with a layer of thin haze.

Hong Kong Stargazing + Camping 香港 觀星 + 露營

I am trying out stargazing camping, it takes a balance between stargazing and camping.

其實一早想咁玩，但香港好天機會不大，能去露營的日子未必適合觀星，另外露營本身都重裝備，觀星當然亦不輕，所以要平衡兩者不易。

Originally, I wanted to try out tracked photography:

原朲我係想帶埋赤道儀，已經係超小型那種：

But then the pack was over 18kg, so I gave up the Sky Adventurer, keeping only a fisheye lens and my Canon 18x50 IS, the weight dropped to around 15kg.

最後發現個代有 18kg，所以最後都放返低赤道儀，當然亦唔會帶支 200mm，最後只帶了一支魚眼鏡，再加埋 Canon 18x50 IS 做目視，成個袋去返 15kg 呢個舒服既範圍。

On destination was 灣仔西營地， only around 20 minutes walk from 海下小巴站。

今次目的地係灣西，由海下小巴站行入去大約二十分鐘，所以我覺得下次可以揹返 18kg 甚至 20kg 應該都得！

This is probably the biggest campsite in Hong Kong.

灣西可能係最大的露營地點（當日個天其實麻麻）

With very nice facilities:

設施亦算一流：

I setup at the far corner in the hope that I won't be affected by other camping light.

我走到去最入既位，希望唔好被鄰近既營燈影響我睇星影相。

Minimalist setup to me, just to free up more weight for stargazing.  There are some kids running around at night with their flashlight shinning everywhere, intentionally shine other people.

露營裝備方面，我減到近乎最輕，個金仔一公斤左右，但天幕我覺得都要帶，日出後可以瞓晏啲嘛！就算第二朝醒左，都有個陰涼地方煮食。

Very nice temperature, even better at night.  Waiting sunset.

當日溫度不錯，日落前濕度都低，好舒服，慢慢等日落

Neighborhood, they are at least 10 meters from me, and the far end has even more tents and youngster which must be avoided.

我突登去入啲，最近既營至少都有十米以上。另一邊有超多後生仔，似乎係有活動，我臨瞓前行過去望下，見佢地都幾多光害，揀啱位了。

I even got a small fan!

有天幕好方便，營燈吊高照明好有效，另外仲可以開把吊扇仔：

My minimalist dinner, enough if there were good sky for stargazing!

晚餐亦盡量精簡，煮頹麵算數！若果有星睇就唔食都得添呀！

Carefully chosen location for setup provided me with longer sleeping time.

第二朝瞓到近九點，個天幕擋太陽光：

It was very dry during the day, but it was very wet at night!  Note the dew up spider net:

雖然日間好乾，但入黑之後突然好濕，連蜘蛛網都滿露水：

My breakfast, again minimalist:

早餐繼續食頹麵，加多個頹湯：

My fly was all wet, both sides!!!  My double walled tent was soaked with dew:

因為濕度急升，天幕底面都濕晒，金仔亦內外帳都濕晒！

Luckily we had sunshine to dry them up before packing!  My tent was repaired and this is the first time I use it after repairing, it was not windy at night, so I don't know how it works out.

幸好第二朝出太陽可以晒返乾！呢個金仔上次上大東吹爛咗，今次係修理後第一次出動，今次唔算風大，無咩機會測試修補既效果：

But then I found another issue on top, the seam shield tape was most detached on top.  Now I had good reason to buy a new tent?

但後來收營時發現，外帳頂既防水膠已經老化甩咗，或者我都有足夠藉口買個新既營？

After initial packing, I've to dry up the footprint under the sun, so I relax a bit in the shadow of a nearby tree.  I bought two fans, and this one still had power after a full night of usage.

收咗一部份野，濕既放咗去太陽下晒乾，等緊既時候我坐在樹蔭下休息。今次帶咗兩把風扇，其中一把用咗成晚都仲有電！

Let's get back to the results, this campsite was dark, I could do 5 minutes exposure!  But the sky was hazy, milkyway was just detectable:

最後先講返觀星，呢個營地唔錯，五分鐘曝光都無事！雖然當晚好重煙霞，但睇星仍然不俗，影星就真係麻麻，銀河過中天勉強影到，除咗煙霞其實間中仲有薄雲：

Weather not permitting, just feasibility test.

今次天氣麻麻，不過講真，以香港嚟計其實都算係咁。今次算係可行性測試，下次可以再重裝啲都得！

Dewly night was uncomfortable, but then I found covering myself up with sleeping bag, to allow my body temperature to dry out the bag and it's surprisingly good in terms of comfort.  Of course, the temperature has to be low enough.  The temperature was 22 degree Celsius at lowest.

當晚濕度突然上升，所以瞓得唔算太好。當濕度高既時候，我發現蓋少少睡袋係好，因為體溫會逼走啲水氣，反而會覺得乾爽少少！當然，呢種技巧溫度不能太高，否則又會太熱！當晚最低廿二度左右還可以。

That night I bought along an extra footprint for a single person tent so as to enable me to lay down and use my binoculars.  Due to the foggy sky, deep sky observation is less than favorable, and the most memorable object was only "coat hanger".

當晚我帶咗張一人營 footprint 墊地瞓度用雙筒睇星，因為煙霞關係無咩 deep sky 睇，印象最深可能就係衣架星團，其他效果麻麻。