icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unfazed by the Transit
Last week during the transit of Venus, I took the opportunity to check out the astronomical observatory I've seen for years on a nearby mountain. I've always wanted to visit... I was deeply into astronomy as a teenager, going so far as to start to grind a mirror for an 8" reflector telescope I intended to build, when it all got left behind after seeing a computer for the first time.
Anyway, I still have interest, so I decided to take a hike up there to check the place out. On the way I snapped a few photos...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Restaurant Entrance
The last time I posted something from this entrance (here), it seems that I captioned it identically, so I guess I don't have much imagination other than that this is... well... the entrance to a restaurant.
The path gets steep even while still in the city streets, so the middle of the streets have steps for pedestrians, while the non-middle areas are left drivable....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos
Steps in the Middle of the Street
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nice View of the Main Gate
of the Heian Shrine
I took the trail up to Shogunzuka (where I often go to try to get a nice sunset, as I did the other day). It's mostly quite mild hiking (like this), but early on is very steep for a short while...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Steep Switchbacks
Still, it's nothing like the Mt. Hiei hike that I tried the other day. The most intense three minutes of this hike, if extended to a few hours, would be that hike.
Once you get up the initial steep area, it's pretty mild...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nature Field Trip
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Be Careful at Night
I came up through the Shogunzuka area at the top of the mountain, with its sweeping view of Kyoto, then took the road partially down the other side. Eventually one comes to a small side road....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Observatory Is That Way
... and then immediately finds something that definitely doesn't look like an observatory:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82mm — 1/500 sec, f/10, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Impressive
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just About The Most Polite Way
one can say “KEEP OUT”
I'm not 100% sure what this place is, but it's not a typical old Kyoto temple. I've heard enough to be wary of the folks involved, so I did not venture in. But if they (whoever they are) intended a gorgeous face projecting power and wealth, they achieved their goal.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/14, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Building On The Other Side
of the street
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 135mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Simple Veranda
Not much further along the road and we're at the decidedly less-spectacular entrance to the observatory.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 86mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Observatory Entrance
With a somewhat less polite “KEEP OUT” in the background
Walking further along the road, eventually I get my first close-up glimpse of a building I've seen many times from afar...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160mm — 1/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thar She Blows
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Informal Observation
in the waiting area
They had by-reservation-only tour groups going through, but seeing as I didn't need a place on the shuttle bus and I was already there, they kindly allowed me to participate.
The little telescope seen above gave a remarkably good view of the sun, and even more remarkable was what I was able to get when I shoved my iPhone up to the eyepiece:
iPhone 4S at an effective 35mm — 1/120 sec, f/2.4, ISO 80 — map & image data — nearby photos
Taken with my iPhone
peering into the eyepiece of the small telescope in the photo above
Everyone was pretty shocked at how well it worked, and I was soon pressed into “take one using my cell phone” service. It's quite difficult to get the alignment right by hand, and I couldn't do it for some, but it was nice to try to be of service.
On the tour, we saw various things around the observatory's many buildings, including the walk-in (literally) solar telescope....
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Primary Mirror
of a complex walk-through solar telescope
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 78mm — 1/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Secondary Mirror
being explained
Sunlight naturally hits the primary mirror, which reflects it up to the secondary mirror. Both mirrors can adjust their angle to match the movement of the earth, so the light coming off the secondary mirror is always beamed straight into the main telescope housing...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Inside the Solar Telescope
The light hits a couple of other mirrors within the telescope, the details of which I didn't quite get, but it's eventually beamed across a hall to a small collector which feeds it into another room where they can hook up instruments and cameras and such. For the tour, they had a piece of paper placed in front of the collector as a projection screen, so we could see the nicely formed image.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Projection of the Sun
was really really really bright
It was really really really bright. I had to reduce the exposure by many stops just to keep the projection from blowing out.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Drive Wheel
on the primary mirror of the solar telescope
( I was thinking to use this for one of “What am I?” quizzes )
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Confusing
photo through the first mirror to the second mirror
with a fuzzy third and subsequent mirrors (and my head) reflected in the background
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/3200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Telescopes Everywhere
The observatory has two domed buildings, the smaller of which we went in. It housed a pair of refracting telescopes (the straight look-through kind a pirate sea captain might have, but much bigger), with a bunch of complex-looking controls within reach...
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
Complex
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Electrical Transfer
for the rotating dome
This shows the answer to the Oh-So-Obvious “What am I?” Quiz the other day. The bright orange color was in stark contrast to the rest of the 81-year-old building.
One of the members of the tour was 13 years old when the building was finished. It was my pleasure to be able to assist her down the narrow steep banister-less stairs when we exited the observatory. At 94, she was still spry enough, mentally and physically, to want to come on the tour. At less than half her age, I can only wonder how I'll be if I make it that far.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Well-Oiled
the smallest gear was the size of an apple
iPhone 4S at an effective 35mm — 1/40 sec, f/2.4, ISO 64 — map & image data — nearby photos
Parting Shot
in the waiting area
My main camera (Nikon D700) battery ran out at about this time, a first for me in many years of shooting to run out of battery (except when doing many long exposures, which drain the battery very quickly).
Lacking the ability to take photos on the way home, I made a nonstop hike home; it took about 40 minutes.