Thursday, August 28, 2008

Infrared Photography And The Mars Hoax



One of the reasons I got my DSLR camera besides taking images of the celestial wonders was to get into infrared photography, it has always fascinated me how the photographers were able to capture such otherworldly looking images, trees look white as covered in snow, the sky is darker, just everything is cooler.

So I just got my infrared filter, I ordered it 5 months ago, not one to be found in town, I got the dreaded reply;

"Oh, we don't carry them here", unbeknowenst to me, we don't cotton to that them there infrared filter thingy up here in Saskatoon, we have to order them from China, it takes 3-6 months to come in. Okay, did I miss the succession of China from the Earth? Why oh why do things take so long to get to here from there? somebody should let the Chinese know we have other modes of transportation besides slow boats.

Anyways the image above is a picture of the area I go to at night to watch the celestial wonders of the night, I figure there is something missing, the Moon, so I fooled around in photoshop and added a Moon, works for me.



I got a comment from marvin the martian last night about The Mars Spectacular hoax, the one that states the Moon and Mars will be the same size, apparently the hoax is still going strong. It all started back in August of 2003 when Mars was as close to the Earth as it had ever been and that it wouldn't be this close again till 2287, the hoax said it is so close it will be as large as the Moon.

Boy did I get a lot of emails and questions that year from friends and family, actually every year since, no one called me about it this year and I hadn't heard or seen the hoax up until now, so just to let you know it is a hoax and the image below is a more accurate depiction of the relative sizes of both the Moon and Mars, an Image I took December last year during Mar's conjunction with the Moon.


I'll leave you now with an animation of the Aurora that took place August 9th.


31 comments:

Anonymous said...

I got a D80 yesterday too. But I won't buy any lenses or filters until I travel to 2 more countries :P

The mars hoax was amusing. Hypothetically if Mars does come so close, what would happen? Earth's mass is so large yet Mars will pull it away from the sun until the planets crash?

Bob Johnson said...

Hi Priyank, if Mars were to actually look as big as the Moon,it would have to be a lot closer, of course, would do a couple things, alter our orbit and the tides would be raised, both not good scenarios, the climate would be changed, basically changing the delicate balance of life as we know it.\m/\m/

Swubird said...

Bob:

Another great post.

When I was younger I shared your interest in photography, and I was also interested in infra red images, just like you are. I never got one, though - just read about them and enjoyed images that other photographers had taken. However, something tells me that you are going to take a whole bunch of them.

The moon and Mars deal? LOL, LOL, LOL!

Happy stargazing.

Anonymous said...

Am I ever envious. I need that new camera of mine. I love the infrared shot Bob....and its good to know that der dem thingy you can't find in Saskatachuwon has got to come from dat dem der planet called China. Seems once I get my new camera it'll probably take me 6 months to get the filter as well considering the fact that New Brunswick is greatly more concealed than Saskatchewan. Thanks alot.

As always my friend another interesting post.

Take care.

~JD

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, I think looking at the world through infrared adds a whole new dimesion to how we look at things, very cool.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JD, good luck with getting the new camera, getting the infrared filter was a task indeed, they have over a billion people in China, ya think one could have whipped up a filter in less then 5 months,lol.\m/\m/

S-V-H said...

Always loved Infrared pictures, they are really fun looking. Great post, Bob!

Anonymous said...

I remember the first time I got that "Mars as big as the Moon" email... it was supposed to be happening in the next few days, and I thought - how the heck could I miss something like that?? So I went running outside and looked ... but Mars was the same as always - tiny - and far away.

LOL. They got me on that one alright!

So, what I'm itching to see is an infrared photo of a tiny alien with a stun gun standing on a micrometeor that is floating on animated gif water with an aurora, the milky way, and the moon in the background!

Ha! Just kidding. I really do love the aurora... of all your animations, that one is my favorite, so far.

Thanks for giving me something else to think about today!

myonlyphoto said...

:giggle: Hey Bob, did you miss me, lol? Wow such a beautiful annimation of the Aurora. Am I missing something, Bob did you get another camera? I must go back and read more of your posts then, lol. Some hoax, if you did not inform us about it, I probably would believe. Great post as always. Anna :)

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Susanne, they are fun, plus there is so much you can do with them.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, it fooled a lot of people and continues to do so every year.

I'll see what I can whip up with the alien guy and the micrometeorites with the aurora and Moon,lol, isn't photoshop neat.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Anna, I did miss you, hope the baby and family is doing fine, no new camera but I did pick up a Konica 10-17 fisheye which I use quite a bit.\m/\m/

Sherer said...

Ah, cool picture, I cant wait for the celestial wonders that will be shot with the infrared. And way to disprove the Mars Hoax! That was great.

Question of the month" Being an outdoor looking at the sky kinda guy, have you ever seen a ufo (possibly extra solar or alternate dimension, or military)????? :Glasses:

Anonymous said...

WHAT??????????
You mean Mars won't look as large as the moon???.....hahahahahaha!!!.Oh well,from what I heard rock eating microb's were slowly consuming the moon and by the year 3000,the moon was going look like a small asteroid :) !.
Good news on the new filter!.I never gave infrared photography a thought!.
With luck,I will be at a very dark site tomorrow night for some observing/imaging!.The skies are suppose to be crystal clear...Yay!!!!!.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Jesse.

Now for your second question, it's hard to answer that without sounding crazy,lol. I have seen things that made me do a double take, but probably were terrestrial, having said that there was one object that I saw that was questionable, leave it at that, by the way it had no lights whatsoever and was what I felt fairly close to me at the time.

:greenalien: :greenalien:

Bob Johnson said...

Andrew, the Moon is being eaten by microbes?, I knew the Earth was, but the Moon, interesting, better take lots of pics,lol.

Good luck with the imaging and have lots of fun, clear skies don't happen that often. \m/\m/

franx said...

Wow Bob your picture using infra red look great...SLR Camera more accurate than digital Camera

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks i am.\m/\m/

joanneet said...

We were in Homer Alaska but did not know about the aurora......too bad. Got up at 3:00 A.M. to see the stars. (my Dad is from your neck of the woods)
Houston TX

Texas Travelers said...

Great photo. Back in the olden days of film, I shot a lot of IR, color and b/w. I got some great photos.

Good luck on the filter. I don't know what ever happened to my IR filters.

I enjoyed my visit.

If you are keeping track,
Alaska Sunday is posted.
It's the trip log with some new photos.
To see the post, Click here.
Troy and Martha

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Joanneet, I bet the Auroras look spectacular from Alaska.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Troy, I have been keeping track of the Alaska adventure, I'm heading over, thanks.\m/\m/

Marvin said...

Ha, thanks for the mention, sir! It would be fun if Mars was that close. It would make the tides very interesting here. And the trip back and forth to Mars would take a bit less time.

I like that IR photography. Perhaps they don't sell those filters in your neck of the woods because it's soooooo cold, there's not enough heat to register properly on the film? Hmmm? ;-)

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, no problem marvin, thanks for the tip about the hoax, still going strong it seems, the closeness would be a good thing for you, just a skip and a stones throws away.lol.\m/\m/

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