Bill Westphal's Photo Gallery

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young_moon.jpg
A Young Moon2033 viewsThe Moon was merely 63 Hours Old. Setting in the West, here at about 19:00 hrs PDT. Still 78 Degrees with mild Santa Ana conditions with winds from the North, after a high of 94.5 Degrees earlier today. View looking West from my backyard in Altadena, CA
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Another Day In Paradise1702 viewsWhile it wasn't the most exceptional pass of the ISS, it was a good pass for photography. The ISS passed from Northwest to North-Northeast at only 58 degrees above the horizon but it was very bright at -3.4 Magnitude of Brightness.
This image was a 2 minute exposure at f6.3, ISO 100. The North Star is just right of center and is a precise dot while the other stars near the edge of the frame are streaked because of the Earth's rotation. The clouds are blurred because of their movement in the wind.
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Comet Holmes2128 viewsComet Holmes 11-5-2007.

Comet Holmes has been known for more than a century. But a recent change has brought much attention. The comet’s brightness has increased dramatically.

This is a photo taken with a 75-300 Zoom Lens on my Canon Digital Rebel. Comet Holmes can be seen in the Constellation Perseus.

The bright star near the top of the frame is Mirfak, also called Alpha Persei. Comet Holmes is below and to the left. It appears as a fuzzy circle with a bright center.

There is some speculation that Comet Holmes may have been struck by a meteor, producing this large dust cloud which is being illuminated by the Sun.

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Comet Holmes1910 viewsComet Holmes, normally only visible with the aid of telescopes has suddenly become brighter after emitting a large dust cloud. Now usually somewhat visible with the naked eye, it is definitely visible with binoculars.

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Full Moon1855 viewsTaken 5/4/04 with a Canon Digital Rebel attached to a Celestron C5 Telescope. 1/640 sec, ISO 800.
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Full Moon At Triunfo Pass2183 viewsI've been spending some time at the AT&T Satellite Earth Station nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu, CA.
Since it was clear, warm, and there was a Full Moon, I thought I'd try some more night shots of the Earth Station.
The Full Moon was illuminating the huge 32 Meter Dish on Antenna #3.
This is a 30 second exposure at f6.3 ISO400.
An airplane happened to be by passing by during the exposure.
It makes it look like a shooting star.
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Geminid Meteor 12/14/071923 views
geminids_12-13-06~0.jpg
Geminids 12-13-061976 viewsI had the WebCam set up to capture an image every minute in an attempt to catch a meteor. This was in the evening and the radiant was still near the Eastern horizon. The meteor can be seen in the upper left quadrant of the photo. It's trajectory is near horizontal to the horizon.
These images also appear in the WeatherCam Favorites section.

Click on the medium size image above to view a 1024x768 version.
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Geminids 12-14-061907 viewsAs mentioned in the earlier photo, I had the WebCam set up to capture an image every minute. This is the second Geminid Meteor I captured. This one was in the early morning hours and the radiant had risen high in the sky and the metoer is going almost straight down in the middle of the image.

These images also appear in the WeatherCam Favorites section.

Click on the medium size image above to view a 1024x768 version.
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Glamis Moon1765 viewsThe thin Waxing Crescent Moon sets in the evening sky. Glamis is located East of Brawley CA which can be seen along the bottom of the photo. This was an 8 second exposure.
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In Alignment1866 viewsTaken 5/14/04
A beautiful warm evening here in the Los Angeles area. 95 degrees at my station in Altadena today. I spent the evening in the back yard to watch a visible pass of the International Space Station (ISS) and took some photos of the evening sky. The brightest object is Venus, the "Evening Star". Moving 45 degrees from Venus to the upper left you see Mars and then Saturn. A beautiful alignment of three of the visible planets.
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ISS 4-12-082331 viewsNice pass of the International Space Station (ISS) tonight.
It was magnitude -2.1 brightness and passed from Northwest to the East.
This was taken with my new Canon 5D Digital SLR e/w 24-105MM lens.
138 Second Exposure, f4.5, ISO 100.
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