Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Some favourable alignment in the heavens (I expect), and Zeiss India’s excellent customer service, had me in possession the Zeiss Victory Harpia 85mm, their absolute premium offering in their range of spotting scopes, for a few days recently. My expectations were high, given Zeiss’s reputation for making stellar optics for natureContinue reading “Zeiss Victory Harpia 85, a brilliant spotting scope with smidgens of imperfection: Equipment Reviews”
Tag Archives: Astronomy
Spiti Valley, including Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, September 2019: A trip report
Author: Ravi Kailas Breathtaking (a touch of altitude sickness induced pun intended), the apt adjective for my visit to the high altitude, the trans-Himalayan cold desert region of Spiti, in September last year. As is typical on my trips, the focus was on the region\’s wildlife and I had great hopes for plenty of HimalayanContinue reading “Spiti Valley, including Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, September 2019: A trip report”
GSO Star Tracker Telescope, a (‘minimalist’) night-sky gazing set-up: An Overview
Author: Ravi Kailas The rather imposing size of the set-up, belies the simplicity of the Dobsonian telescope design For observing the night sky, I primarily use a GSO Star Tracker, a 8\” Dobsonian telescope (a type of telescope, which despite its bulk, is the best value for money for light gathering ability), manufactured by GSOContinue reading “GSO Star Tracker Telescope, a (‘minimalist’) night-sky gazing set-up: An Overview”
Comet Neowise from a Chennai terrace part 2
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) After making a post on my first sighting of Comet Neowise, on Thursday, 23rd July, the sky was clear enough (relatively speaking, but not before a typically dramatic (see video below), July evening cloud build-up in the western sky, threatening a black-out) for another attempt at imaging the comet, on Friday,Continue reading “Comet Neowise from a Chennai terrace part 2”
Comet Neowise from a Chennai terrace
Author: Ravi Kailas The barely discernible Comet Neowise in the only image I managed to capture, before the clouds took over An unusually (relatively speaking) clear July sky over Chennai (13N 80 E) yesterday evening (21/07/2020), prompted me to drag my behemoth 8″ Dobsonian telescope onto the terrace, to enjoy the spectacles that the summerContinue reading “Comet Neowise from a Chennai terrace”
Binoculars for nature-watchers: an introductory guide
Authors: Ravi Kailas & Ganesh KR (ficustours@gmail.com) The sheer pleasure of observing nature through a pair of fine binoculars is pretty near unparalleled, a feeling akin to the extension of your own vision, only more vivid and magnified several fold, placing you in the midst of the occupants of the distant scene. Binoculars have been indispensableContinue reading “Binoculars for nature-watchers: an introductory guide”
Astrophotography – Imaging the Deep Sky splendours (Part 2)
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) This is a follow-up to the basics post (which might be of interest if you are just starting out on this pursuit and looking to experiment with the gamut of subjects). In this post I will elaborate on my work flow to photographing the faint deep sky subjects (Nebulae, Milky Way regions, Galaxies,Continue reading “Astrophotography – Imaging the Deep Sky splendours (Part 2)”
Astrophotography (from one amateur to others) Part 1 – The Basics
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) The Genesis Among the privileges of visiting natural areas is the potential to gaze at dark night skies and the countless pinpoints of light that fill it. On good nights, this can be a truly mesmerising experience, that touches the depths of your soul! While I have been smitten by these celestialContinue reading “Astrophotography (from one amateur to others) Part 1 – The Basics”
Ficus Wildlife and Natural History Tours 