20061105 - Marathon Day

Today the New York City Marathon completed. It was ratcheting up in the past couple of days and now it's over. I made my way into the park coincident with the lead runners passing the "1 mile to go" marker. The lead runner, Marilson Gomes dos Santos, had about a hundred yards on second & third place, fourth place was back another 100 or so yards. I was surprised to see the see the women's leader near the male front runners. I came to learn that they get something like a 30 minute head start so that the male & female finishes occur close together - gotta be something determined by the TV.

I planned to go to the park to practice shooting Sun with the Coolpix. I still have a ways to go in understanding how to make best us of the camera. The Nikon remote control, MC-EU1, has me scratching my head as i do not get consistent results. It seems to lose synch with the camera and most times I reboot the camera. As said not consistent and reviews across the Internet complain of its buggy behavior.

Focus is difficult to achieve with that little screen and I am not certain that what one sees on the screen is actually what gets photographed. Some shots appeared focused but when I got home and transferred them to the PC they looked less than appealing. Above is one of the lunar photos taken to practice focusing and realize how the Tele Vue Ranger interfaces with the Coolpix 995 setup. Not yet like Vern's but expect it'll be like getting to Carnegie Hall: Practice, Practice, Practice.

This is a 14d20h Full Moon where libration is favorable to the southeast. The photograph is flipped east west, lunar North sits around 1:00 position along the limb. Even though the evening terminator begins to grow, Mare Marginis and Mare Smythii can be seen in the terminator. Neper is the large crater with a central peak between the two maria and straddles the terminator. Mare Australe is seen further down along the eastern limb.