Ghubra Bowl
Star Party, November 1999 North Oman, between Nakhl and
Awabi
The Ras al Hamra
Astronomy Section had a star party at the Ghubra Bowl in November
1999. Here are some photos I took of the Milky Way.
Exposure 15mins @ f/2.8 with a Tamron 14mm lens on Fujicolor
800. For orientation I have
put labels on some of the stars below. The massive shadows on the bottom of the
photos are the surrounding mountains, hence the name Ghubra
"Bowl".
I then spent some time
looking for the North America Nebula. Even though the telescope was pointing in
the right direction (It's a go-to scope) I could not make out a thing. So I
decided to see if I can capture it on film anyway. Lo and behold! It's the red
nebula to the left of Deneb, with that distinctive shape of North America and
the Gulf of Mexico. 15mins with a Canon EOS 100mm Macro (yes!) lens at f/2.8.
Same Fuji 800 film. Actually there is a lot of nebulosity in the entire area and
the "Gulf of Mexico" is in fact defined by a dark nebula in between the North
America, on the left, and the Pelican on its right. Sorry, but I cannot imagine
any pelican there, can you? OK, if you know exactly what it should look like,
and exactly where, then you can ;-)
I also tried to
photograph the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with the same lens and exposure but I am
unable to make it out on the negative, even though it was easily visible through
binoculars, and even by naked eye. Must have been pointing inaccuracy. Will have
to try harder next time!
