@EOSHD

Thanks. I had no idea the plane had crossed in front of the moon until I watched the video on the camera. I was too busy trying to keep the camera still @ 3200mm. Please share this video if you get the chance.

Honestly, I am not even sure what brand the teleconverters are. The lens cost me $25 on ebay and the teleconverters were $5 each. I bought them all because they were cheap. I never dreamed they would work this well.

Ironically the m4/3s to FD adapter cost me more than the lens, a super nice leather case for everything, and the two teleconverters. Eventually I will just buy a nice telescope. However, for less than $100 I think this turned out fairly well.

Thanks. Not sure what you mean by “Close to the cut”. The whole clip was about 45 seconds long and the plane appeared about 10-15 seconds before I ended the clip. At 3200mm the moon was flying past so I had to readjust it every couple of seconds. The video was bouncing because I had just finished resetting it and it was still settling down.

I was testing the I.dynamic range setting and the different black and white color modes so I went back and watched it. I was about to delete it because I felt the contrast was too low for what I was looking for. Then I saw the plane and I definitely hit “Protect” right away.

@EOSHD

Yea I had to do the fade or it would just jump right into it going by. It would make you sick to watch the video anymore than about a half of a second before the plane went by because it was shaking so much.

If it would have been possible to stage this shot I definitely would have used the 720p @ 60 FPS mode with the ETC and I probably would have taken a TC off if not taken both of them off.

However, that is what is so cool about the video. It was purely by chance. I just happened to film the moon when a plane was in perfect position. I couldn’t repeat this shot even if I tried.

Oh yea, the sound is not actually from a plane. It was from a car going by. The plane must have been at cruising altitude(30,000-40,000 feet) or it would have been gigantic at 3200mm.

I was just getting ready to shoot Jupiter when I saw the moon shot and decided to post it right away. At this magnification it is hard to line up Jupiter so I find the moon first and then pan to Jupiter. The problem is that the weather turned this morning. Completely cloudy for the next few days now.

Lucky shot!! Nice

@v10tdi

Did you take any video of that. Sounds awesome.

@mpgxsvcd

Not sure if it's your kids in those climbing vids, but if so maybe they can be the first to free climb on Mars. ;)

@mpgxsvcd
I took a cell phone pic of the shuttle launching. :-) I thought about bringing my camera, etc., but I knew it would be a complex shoot - and I wanted to just enjoy the moment.

I live about 40 miles west of KSC, so I see (and hear) launches with some frequency from my house. My luck being what it is, every time I went out to the cape to watch a shuttle launch close up - it was scrubbed and I came home swearing I'd never do it again (the traffic going home really sucks). But I decided to try again for this "night" launch and got lucky...in fact, it was almost scrubbed due to some kind of issue down range. Issue was cleared up with about 30 seconds remaining in the hold window. Yikes!

I don't think the USA will completely abandon the space program, but I've heard we may scale back manned space flight programs - perhaps favoring unmanned programs. For my own part, I've never been a fan of the manned space flight program. I'd rather see those funds diverted (and even increased) to unmanned programs...probably more than 10x the science value at 1/10 the cost and far less risk for unmanned missions. Why send people? Let's just invest to push robotics and computer technology further.

BTW - if you'd like to see the ISS pass over during sun set or sun rise, there is a handy little java web program that will tell you when/where to look for your position on the globe. In the USA it uses your ZIP code to make it easy. You'll need clear weather and an unobstructed view of the sky. It's amazing to see it fly over...a big, bright star that's orbiting a few hundred miles away @ 17,000+ mph. Your kid/s will love it.

Here's the link:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/SSapplications/Post/JavaSSOP/JavaSSOP.html
Other satellites are available on the list (even unmanned ones), but ISS is a nice bright one. One time I saw both the shuttle and ISS pass over as the shuttle was "catching up" to ISS for docking. Amazing.

@stonebat

Where do you live? Find the closest climbing gym and take her. The climbing community is a very close group. For the most part they are all very helpful and encourage new climbers.

Have her start on the easiest route in the gym. They will have something marked VB or V0 for bouldering and 5.5 or 5.6 for roped climbing. Just ask someone there to help spot her if bouldering and use an auto belay if you are not certified for belaying yet.

The biggest thing will be if she gets scared when climbing at higher heights. Usually if they can make it to the top without crying and asking to come down then climbing might be for them.

I took my daughter a few times and she always asked to come down after about 14 feet. Climbing just isn't for her. My son is a different story. It is pretty much all he wants to do. Luckily I have overcome my fear of heights and I climb with him all the time.

If you let me know where you live I can look up the gyms in your area.

@mpgxsvcd

Thanks a lot. I guess I gotta try it to find out whether my kids like it or not.

@stonebat

I am heading to Lynchburg Va, on Saturday for my son's climbing competition at the Rise Up gym there. Come on down if you want to get some footage of kids crushing really hard problems. It looks like you are closest to the Earth Treks gyms(Timonium I think). There are also the sport rock gyms there as well.

I have a lot of great friends that climb at Earth Treks. They are all awesome people. Take your daughter there and I am sure she will have a great time.