Today's "The Toon-Box"
Posted by Wesley on
MetOp-A satellite flare
Posted by Wesley on
MetOp-A satellite streaks on the left
Launched in 2006, MetOp-A is the first European operational meteorological satellite, which is in a polar orbit. It currently serves as the backup of the MetOp-B that was launched in 2012. They also exhibit flares, although relatively less frequent and dimmer compared to the Iridium fleet.
This photo is a first for me in many aspects. It's the first time I did a long-exposure capture of a satellite flare. Previous ones were done in burst shots, then later animated and/or composited. It's also the first time that I used SX50 HS to capture a flare. iPhone 5S is better at burst shots, but not long exposure. Finally, this is the first non-Iridium flare that I caught in a photo.
The satellite moved downward in the northern sky, below the bright Polaris visible on the left side of the photo. If you click on the photo for a larger version, you can see most of the constellation Ursa Minor / Little Dipper covering the top part.
Considering the light pollution, this observation suggests that the satellite needs to be at least -1.0 magnitude at maximum, and be more than 30 degrees above horizon to make a noticeable streak in the photo. I guess that explains why I couldn't catch Tiangong-1 space station on photo several months ago.
Device: Canon SX50 HS
Settings: 45mm - ISO 200 - 15s - f/4.0
Filters: None
Time: 2014-04-08 21:26:38 KST
Location: Suwon, Korea
Max Magnitude: -2.2
Defined tags for this entry: astronomy, Canon SX50 HS, constellation, MetOp-A, satellite, star, Ursa Minor
Today's "The Toon-Box"
Posted by Wesley on
Today's "The Toon-Box"
Posted by Wesley on
Defined tags for this entry: haircut, Hayun Chung
Recreating Elsa's crown from "Frozen"
Posted by Wesley on
Hayun wears the completed Elsa's crown
It's safe to say at this point that Disney's feature-length animation "Frozen" is a big success. Even my daughters have become big fans - watching both the subtitled and dubbed versions, reading the story book, memorizing the theme song "Let It Go", and so on. So when I was looking around for something to print in 3D, a version of Elsa's tiara crown immediataly caught my eyes. Although short-lived, this was one of the most memorable items in the movie.
Unlike most of the 3D-printed objects I made so far, the printing was only the first step for making the crown. It would have to be worn on the head, needing more work. To find out how it went, read on.