Timeout for Sunrise

TIMEOUT FOR SUNRISE AT THE LAB
includes not only the colorful sunrise but the planet Jupiter rising above Taipei 101. Priceless.

Moon Sandwich

Moon in between two skyscrapers

CATCHING THE MOON SANDWICH
IN BETWEEN TWO SKYSCRAPERS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2013
It's not very often one can catch the Moon sandwiched like this, in between two of the largest skyscrapers, 101 at left, and the bank building at right, in downtown Taipei.

Favorable conditions, no visible air pollution, a blue sky, no clouds, room temperatures, and lack of significant water vapor/haze/mist made viewing exceptional. Note the tiny Moon with its visible half phase. iPhone 5 photo in HD. Click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

New Year 2013 Spectacular

Creative pinwheel by Taiwan Masters is spectacular!

NEW YEAR 2013 SPECTACULAR CELEBRATION!!!

You've never seen Taipei 101 like this before!!! - Welcome to Taiwan!!!

This year, Taiwan officials in charge of managing New Years fireworks at Taipei 101, one of the tallest sky scraper buildings in the world, came back with a spectacular display of fireworks, one so great - it defied the imagination!

The display solved the challenges from an earlier year when the great fireworks and amazing choreography ended up producing smoke which rose from the ground level upwards, and blocked out some of the fantastic fireworks shot and launched from the side of the 101 building.

Today, the new millions of dollars display, seen by crowds of millions of people at ground level, was ever more spectacular. Obvious visuals included perfect timing and position, as fireworks launched outwards in patterns with synchronization where the smoke quickly dissipated. The breeze was also cooperative and the weather was perfect, the brilliant Moon high in the sky to prove the excellent conditions.

For the multi-days holiday, it appeared that pollution completely vanished when the island's manufacturing plants, and possibly those located in Mainland China, shut down.

PHOTO 1 Take a look at our most spectacular introduction photo. Look carefully and closely about two thirds of the way up, in the center, where you'll see the dimly glowing two Chinese characters proclaiming New Year good luck. How this was master-minded so perfectly is beyond belief!

 photo 2

CLICK ON THE SMALLER PHOTOS TO SEE THEIR FULL SIZE
Nothing burned down, not like what happened in Mainland China the other year when a new skyscraper completely burned out, a fire caused by the abundance of amateur lit fireworks during Chinese New Year!

Taiwan is very regulated during the Gregorian Calendar's New Year and has a climate that's always damp and humid which helps create an evironment rather perfect for launching fireworks.

 photo 4

 photo 3

Note the creative pinwheel, Christmas Tree, spirals, colors and other remarkable shapes and displays, with impeccable calculated timing, spread, position, color, duration, intensity, contrast, and backed by a literal textbook of mathematics in motion producing great fireworks stature so precise that no one could have expected such spectacular results this year!

 photo 5

 photo 6

These are definitely good luck photos as my clock was 20 minutes early due to a run down battery. When I turned on the TV, fortunately I saw there was a countdown with only 24 seconds left to the New Years beginning.

 photo 7

 photo 8

I had to run and hurry to start up the camera. Unfortunately I had yet to take a movie with the new camera and could not find the setting. However, the still images still turned out great, imo, even though I had to brave the cold, standing outside on the deck in only PJs.

 Photo 9: A burst of green color

 photo 10

This deck has served as a platform for taking a few astronomical photos of star fields and selected objects (see previous blogs), and the brick building side was a good steady base when I remembered to use it.

Photo 2 shows the shape of a big Christmas Tree.

Photo 3 is one of the most spectacular with intermixed colors and shapes, which are glowing and scintillating beyond belief.

Photo 4  is a mind meld of real time spinning motion from bottom to top of 101, with a special rotating messages display (seen towards the top). This may also periodically show advertising sponsor messages and graphics. It took special processing to bring out the delicate contrast of these characters that were located behind the blazing fire and brimstone!

Photo 5 demonstrates the pinpoint accuracy of the charge placement.

Photo 6 shows a simultaneous multi-color display of spectacular proportions with parallel launching arches.

Photo 7 To see this spinning around, like a dazzling toy top in real time, is magnificent.

Photo 8 is the proprietor of many discretely placed fireworks charges all along 101 from bottom to top.

Photo 9 is an example of erupting color - a green mix predominance unlike anything seen before at Taipei 101.

Photo 10 is a final shot showing the 101 building as it appears to glow hot beneath the rising smoke after the fireworks had ended.

 Photo 10: Taipei 101 looks hot & molten after fireworks!

Venus Meets 101

SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF VENUS AT TAIPEI 101

THE CONTINUING  SAGA OF THE VENUS JUPITER ALDEBARAN CONJUNCTION AT 101

Photo 1 - Panorama

Photo 2 - Wide View

Friday July 27th 2012 

Photo 3 - Zoom

Photo 1 The panoramic view in photo 1 was shot in the early morning of July 27th, 2012 at 3:22:06 am, with a Canon Powershot S95 at 1 second exposure (2 EV) with a 28mm f/2 lens and ISO 1,600 shows a rich field of celestial sky objects - from top: the Pleiades star cluster, the planet Jupiter, the Hyades star cluster, Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull, Capella in the constellation Auriga. Note the position of very bright Venus to the immediate right of Taipei 101. Click on the photo to see the full panorama. 

Photo 2 The next photo shows a wide view shot in portrait format obtained earlier at 3:20:12 am. These first two images were at 1080 x 1920 1.2MB and screen shot for reduction.


Photo 3 The zoom is highly detailed at f/4... and perhaps the most dramatic with Jupiter, Aldebaran, and Venus poised immediately next to Taipei 101 (at the right side aboub 3/4th of the way towards the top).