P3D SHOCKING 3-D PROOF Part II

[shab@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Through a recent leak from an underpaid staff member of Stereo World, I was
able to obtain part of a shocking article, with a promise for more to
follow...I am waiting now impatiently to receive the remainder of this
article...and
learn the whole truth...

Taking great risks, the adventurous staff member leaked the second portion
of this shocking article, asking for complete anonymity and discretion...
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While several aspects of our lead view for this article made the tabloid
treatment on the preceding page irresistible, our "alien" is in fact
amateur astronomer Bryan White of Jacksonville, Florida, and the hovering
space ship is part of an observation deck atop Clingmans Dome, North
Carolina. But Hale-Bopp is quite real, and its visit in 1997 inspired Mr.
White to take over 1,000 stereos of the comet and local foregrounds from
unique vantage points across the U.S. Along with some samples of his work,
here is his own story of how he was ready to actively combine his interests
in comets, astronomy and stereography at the same time Hale-Bopp was
becoming the most observed comet in history.
        
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A HALE-BOPP STEREO ODYSSEY
by Bryan R. White

My interest in astronomy was originally sparked by a comet in 1957, when my
father decided to purchase an 80 acre farm out in the countryside of
Michigan. That first summer I walked outside one evening soon after sunset
and saw an object in the sky just above the tree line. I ran inside and
asked my dad to identify it. He was amazed to see the bright, naked-eye
comet, Mrkos. This comet had been discovered just the night before when at
perihelion (closest point to the sun), which is very unusual, and had not
yet been disclosed to the public. Typically, comets are identified long
before this, but Mrkos snuck around the back side of the sun and swung into
view when it was at its brightest.
>From then on I became very interested in astronomy. I took astronomy as an
elective while attending the University of Michigan's Business School.
After the midterm exam the professor asked if I wanted to change my major
to astronomy, but it was my last year and I was ready to graduate and start
my life. Changing to Astronomy would have meant another two to three years
of school.
I used Halley's Comet as an excuse to buy my first telescope, a Celestron
C-8. This is basically a 2,000mm F10. To take pictures of Halley's, I
learned the technique of "piggybacking". This is simply mounting a camera
with anything from a wide angle to a telephoto lens on top of the C-8. The
telescope's drive mechanism is used to counteract the rotation of the earth
and can be used to guide on a star to maintain good polar alignment during
long exposures using the telephoto lens. I was surprised and thrilled at
some of the resulting pictures, but my favorites were when the comet was in
the picture with the landscape, i.e. trees, buildings, etc. It gave the
comet image a sense of scale and would take me back to the "moment" since I
doubt I will be around the next time Halley's makes an appearance.
During the 1996 Winter Star Party held every year in the Florida Keys, and
one of the largest gatherings of amateur astronomers, an announcement was
made of the discovery of a major new comet, Hyakutake. This turned out to
be another "Great Comet" with up to a 90 degree tail. The major topic up to
this point was Hale-Bopp, which had been discovered the previous August.
During the week, you have some quality thinking time and I started thinking
of my grandfather's old stereoscope. I wondered first, how did they do it?
I surmised they used two cameras and mounted the two pictures. Then I
thought of trying this technique while taking pictures of Comet Hyakutake
when I traveled to North Carolina. The pictures were great and literally
took me back to the moment.
For the Hale-Bopp stereos illustrated here, I used two Olympus OM2's and
pairs of 28mm or 50mm lenses. [Shots using 135mm lenses fill more of the
frame with the comet, but include less foreground.] My film of choice is
Kodak Royal Gold 1000. I can take an astro picture unguided on just a
standard tripod for up to a thirty second exposure. This was typically a
good exposure time when the moon was used to illuminate the surroundings.
Otherwise, I used the piggyback method. My exposure time piggybacking
usually doesn't exceed two minutes. Longer than this starts to blur the
trees, etc. Two minutes, using 1000 speed film and fast lenses does a
pretty good job on the star field.
My current viewer of choice is the over/under View Magic from Dennis Brown
at Dimension Press, Box 83, Harvard, MA 01451. It allows me to mount
standard 4 x 6 prints in a convenient manner for excellent viewing.

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