Full Moon over The Andes

It was a pleasant evening tonight and we had a picturesque view of a full moon as it slowly rose from behind the Andes mountains. I have seen it bigger and yellower on other occasions though tonight's performance was still inspiring. I love this time of night!

Of course I took to opportunity to film the moment since it was only this weekend that I finally found a way to make semi-decent videos. The ones that I have taken until now come from my normal digital camera (which is as old as the hills) and with a low quality of image. The boring details of what I did can be found below.



The boring details...
The problem with my normal camera is that you can only record a couple of minutes at any one time before the memory gets filled up. Not the best thing to happen when you are in the middle of nowhere unless you are lugging your laptop around to download them.

So how could I take better videos of the places we visit AND get them on my computer? The solution was actually simple. We have a Sony Handycam DCR-HC48 that has been sitting around for the last year doing nothing much other than taking shots of our kids every now and then. Since it uses a Tape (or MiniDV or whatever they call it), I naturally assumed that you couldn't transfer the videos to the computer. Looking up via google I found there is a special cable that connects to the battery charger of the handycam (not the thing itself) to your computer. It's called a Sony i-link cable and when the handycam is sitting in the charger, you can download the videos to your computer. (The reason I write the this with the boring technical names is to help anyone else that may be in the same predicament.)

Comet in Chilean Sky during February

A comet known as Lulin will be passing a mere 60 million kilometers from Chile (ok, the Earth) this month.

It can currently be seen with binoculars or small telescopes though may be seen with the naked eye on the 24th of February when it will be at its brightest. Since there isn’t much smog in Santiago during February (half the city seems to leave town on vacation), it shouldn’t be difficult to see. Ideally of course you may want to head up to the ski fields in the Andes or even up north for a much better view.

At the moment the comet can only be seen in the early hours of the morning though towards the end of February you will be able to see it most of the night.
And for those that know their stuff, me NOT included, you can find the comet leaving the constellation of Libra and passing through Virgo during February. For those that don’t know, look up… and lots. :) (If anyone can let us common folk know where it is, please leave a message below)

Lulin, the name of the comet, has nothing to do with the scantily clothed curly hair Luli that appears on Chilean national TV (usually doing nothing more than standing around on set as decoration for frustrated men). No, its official name is C/2007 N3 Lulin, 2007 being the year it was discovered by Taiwanese/Chinese astronomers and the name given to it by them.

Has anyone seen it yet? Let us know!