Streetlight pillars

20.12.2009

The snowguns nearby were all turned off so the ice crystals in air had to be all natural air born.
The display started around 18:00 and lasted til 21:00
---
Kõik läheduses asuvad lumekahurid on ammu talvekorteritesse viidud, seega sambaid tekitanud jääkristallid pidid kõik olema naturaalsed, õhus kasvanud.
Kokku kestis vaatemäng vahelduva eduga 18:00 kuni 21:00






Here trying to make some lamp halos. The crystal quality on ground level was poor so only pillars were observed.
---
Siin proovin tehisvalgusega halosid teha. Kuna kristallide kvaliteet maapinna kohal oli nigel, siis sai ainult valgussambaid vaadeldud.


Here's a link to another blogger. She got the same pillars at the same time chasing lamp-halos with me.
---
Siin on viide ühele teisele blogijale. Üheskoos käisime halosid jahtimas, üheskoos sai ka pildistatud.

Halo stuff

18.12.2009

43 frames reveals nothing new. Parhelias, 22° halo and a pillar.
---
43 kaadrit ei paljasta midagi uut peale 22° halo ja valgussamba.

Mushroom halo

18.12.2009

Getting ready for the diamond dust

Getting ready for the snowgun season. One searchlight, 25ah battery power, dslr cam + fisheye lens and a tripod. A total of 15 kilos to carry around. If I had a microscope to sample the ice crystals I would carry that as well. I keep my fingers crossed and hope that despite current economical situation the majority of the ski centers in Estonia that have the guns start snowgunning as soon as the temperatures allow it.

Edit 15.12: Looks like most of the guns are operating now...now just waiting favorable weather conditions.

Edit 17.12 Medium wind speed and humidity around 75-82%. Not good for diamond dust.
At the same time Finnish guys have been lucky: Marko Mikkilä 14.12 display, Jukka Ruoskanen 14.12 dislay. J.Ruoskanen has been very lucky: first 18° and 35° halos in diamond dust with artificial light source. So it's first time we see odd radii halos from snowguns. According to M.Riikonen it's obvious that snow guns can make pyramidial crystals but generally it's difficult to get an odd radii diamond dust because very low temperatures are needed for major pyramidial crystal development.

Edit: 19.12 After five days of consecutive snowgunning the guns have been stopped in most of the ski centers. The snowgun season is over.