APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:57 am

Image Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece

Explanation: It may appear to be day, but it's night. Those wondrous orange streaks may appear to be rays from the setting Sun, but they're actually thin clouds illuminated by the Moon as they quickly streaked toward the distant horizon. The thick clouds on the far left may appear to have many layers, but actually they are just a few simple clouds captured on numerous separate exposures. What is surely true, though, is that the above time lapse image sequence was taken over two hours, about two weeks ago, in Sounio, Greece. Also, those really are star trails swirling around the north star Polaris on the upper right of the image. But what about the building in the foreground? It may appear to be a famous ancient structure, but it's actually a small deserted church built only last century.

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by agulesin » Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:58 pm

This must be the best star-trail photo I've ever seen - congratulations to Chris for taking it and the APOD team for letting us see it.

As an "amateur" astronomer and photographer I can only dream of taking such a photo...

Thanks! :D

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by Ayiomamitis » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:51 pm

This is a stunning result and perhaps the irony is the fact the full moon (less one day) was around bathing the sky in light. Speak about an oxymoron.

Anyway, great composition and great execution.

Well done, Chris!

Anthony.
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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by ChrisKotsiopoulos » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:27 pm

Gentlemen,
Many thanks for your kind words. It's always a pleasure to contribute to APOD!
:mrgreen:

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by RJN » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:38 pm

Hi Chris,
Thanks for posting! It's an honor hearing from the photographer himself (or herself in other cases). Is there a story behind the taking of this image? If so, then please do share any part of it you feel comfortable sharing.
- RJN

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by ChrisKotsiopoulos » Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:58 pm

RJN wrote:Hi Chris,
Thanks for posting! It's an honor hearing from the photographer himself (or herself in other cases). Is there a story behind the taking of this image? If so, then please do share any part of it you feel comfortable sharing.
- RJN
Thank you! The honor is all mine!

To be honest, there is a story...
And my wife, Tery -the love of my life- has a significant part! Few hours before the shooting I was thinking about going out to take a few test shots with my new fisheye lens. The conditions where not so good. When I saw the full Moon, wind and clouds I said to Tery that it wasn't worth it to spend the night out even for test shooting. And then she responded: 'Hey Chris, go out, take some shots, have some fun, I'm sure that you will end up with something nice!'
That's what I did! And after a whole night of shooting and experimentation I ended up with a dozen of interesting shots! I give you the links below...
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/lan ... dHouse.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/lan ... rails1.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/lan ... rails2.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/lan ... emple1.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/oth ... atsHdr.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/oth ... 8Shell.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/oth ... abirds.htm
http://www.greeksky.gr/files/photos/oth ... eabird.htm

Conclusion:
Get up, go out, and do something! While you sitting on the couch, nothing significant is going to happen!
Well... You asked for the story...
:mrgreen:

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by owlice » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:54 pm

Once again, an APOD from which I learn quite a bit, and not just about astronomy! I didn't know there was such a thing as Pontic Greek, for example; now I do.

Chris, please thank your wife for prodding you to get up, go out, and do something; you did indeed end up with "something nice!" Thank you very much for sharing your nice somethings with us; today's APOD pic was fascinating, and the others are gorgeous, too!
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by DaveBone » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:15 pm

What an excellent shot. Many thanks for submiting it and thanks to your wife for insisting. I'm just blown away.

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by biddie67 » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:20 am

This is a fun picture to study to pick out elements of circular movement, linear movement and non-movement. Great stuff!

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by agulesin » Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:10 pm

As the song by (?) goes: "This is a man's world, but he would be nothing, without a woman or a girl"

But I don't think my wife would like me staying up all night to take photos! :-))

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Re: APOD: Illuminated Cloud Trails Above Greece (2010 Mar 15

Post by rstevenson » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:18 pm

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome, recorded by Brown in 1966, and by many others since.

Rob

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