Astronomy was never one of my strong suits. We had a telescope many years ago but sold it. Recently my son has gotten seriously interested in astronomy, and some of the pictures he is getting using a realtively inexpensive telescope and his Canon XTI are pretty astounding. Technology has certainly changed the accessibility to do things like this.
One of the great things about living in Big Water is the lack of light pollution. The stars really shine here. Some of the photos he is taking are using exposures of up to 4 minutes. A laptop, a webcam, a small motor for the telescope, a tracking program and the result are some breath-taking photos.
Big Water, in fact, Kane County, is pretty quiet at night. You hear the coyotes yipping at each other and trying to stir up the local dogs, but not much in the way of traffic. The 71 miles of Highway 89 running from Kanab, Utah to Page, Arizona has the occassional semi truck whiz by, but even that is off in the distance. One of my next posts will delve into the wild life of this area but for now, the idea that it is quiet is what I am going for.
Sitting in the front yard, telescope set up, watching the images on the laptop and enjoying good conversation has got to be a highlight in my life. Knowing summer is around the corner and conversations will turn to Lake Powell, boating, fishing, swimming, and torusim it's nice to enjoy this chilly part of spring, the stillness of it all and ponder what's out there.
Posted by Heather Rankin, Realtor
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