Friday (11-October-2024) — New Jersey

Northern Lights Display Visible in New Jersey

On Wednesday, Sunspot AR3848 sent a powerful solar flare directly toward earth. Based on the intensity and length of the coronal mass ejections (CME), NOAA and NASA forecasted that it could cause a severe G-4 class geomagnetic storm, with the possibility of auroras being visible further south than usual. The CME arrived on Thursday generating multiple alerts.

I went outside a little after 7 PM to possibly set up a camera to capture the Northern Lights. I don’t have a good view of the horizon to the north and hoped to see something above the trees. I wasn’t expecting anything this early as it was just dark out. To my amazement the sky looking north was bright red, and when I looked to the east and then south saw the typical aurora green. The display was everywhere, even straight up. It was much brighter than I expected, easily visible to the eye, not just with a digital camera. I wasn’t sure which direction to point the camera. I ended up setting up several cameras with wide angle lenses pointing different directions, including one with a fisheye lens with a 180° view pointing straight up. Each camera was set to take images every 30 seconds (30 second exposure, f/8, ISO 1600). Even though I missed some of the initial brightest display, I left the cameras out for several more hours. They did come back several times. I used the images to create the following time lapse videos.

View Looking North

Camera 1: Northeast (82° Field of View). 19:19-20:21

View Looking East

Camera 2: East (92° Field of View). 19:30-03:00

 

View Looking Up

Camera 3: Up (180° Field of View). 19:48-22:36

View Looking NorthWest

Camera 4: Northwest (104° Field of View). 20:00-01:36

View Looking North

Camera 1: Northeast (75° Field of View). 20:24-03:00

View Looking North

Camera 5: North (114° Field of View). 22:05-04:49

View Looking NorthEast

Camera 6: Northeast (84° Field of View). 22:17-01:09

Individual Images

Thursday (27-June-2024) — New Jersey

Independence Day Fireworks

Montgomery Township typically celebrates Independence Day with fireworks several days before the 4th of July. There was some grumbling that the fireworks overlapped the debate. The fireworks were scheduled a long time before the debate. I live near a great location that overlooks the high school where the township holds the Independence Day celebration. It is away from the crowds. I got there just before sunset. One car arrived before me but there was still plenty of space to set up the tripods and cameras. Last year, one camera wasn’t in focus so I spent more time get all of the cameras set up, framed and focused. Confirmed that they all memory cards and full batteries. Also, since the cameras were all on tripods, I made sure that the “vibration reduction/stabilization” was turned off. As it got dark a few fireflies were visible. I set the cameras up as follows: Base ISO (50, 64, or 160), f/11, 8 second exposure. The fireworks started just before 21:25. It took a little bit of time to confirm the framing, focus, and to start the interval timers.

Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Solar Energy Monitor

I use a Sense Home Energy Monitor to record my daily electric energy used (78.7 kWh) and daily solar electric energy produced (71.1 kWh). Mostly sunny and hot with a Water Furnace geothermal system cooling the house. Deficit of 7.6 kWh for the day.

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Friday (15-September-2023) — New Jersey

Backyard Day and Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

With the sky clear, I set up the Vespera Observation station with a solar filter during the day to observe sunspots. When I reviewed the images, I found one with a silhouette of a bird (Turkey Vulture?) flying in front of the sun. In the past I have capture images of planes, and sometimes satellites transiting the solar disk. While on Semester at Sea voyages, we had an informal contest to capture images of ships at the horizon passing in front of the sun at sunset (or sunrise).

Silhouette of bird flying in front of the Sun. (David J Mathre)
Silhouette of bird flying in front of the Sun. Image taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 1/4000 sec) fitted with a solar filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

Once it got dark out, I set up both the Vespera and Stellina observation stations to observe deep sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, star clusters). The Vespera was fitted with a dual band (H-alpha and O-III) filter. The Vespera captured images of NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch’s Broom Nebula; IC 1396: Elephant’s Trunk Nebula; and IC 1795: Fish Head Nebula. The final one didn’t go to completion due to condensation on the lens.

NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch's Broom Nebula. (David J Mathre)
NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch’s Broom Nebula. Composite of 407 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 4070 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

IC 1396 Emission Nebula (Elephant's Trunk Nebula). (David J Mathre)
IC 1396 Emission Nebula (Elephant’s Trunk Nebula). Composite of 623 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 6230 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

IC 1795 Emission Nebula (Fish Head Nebula). (David J Mathre)
IC 1795 Emission Nebula (Fish Head Nebula). Composite of 175 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 1750 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. Note: Observation did not run to completion. (David J Mathre)

For the Stellina, I used the “Plan My Night” option to collect images of Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913); NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy); NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30); Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224); Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy); Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205); IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. The system was set to collect images for about an hour for each object. For some reason, the telescope did not automatically close at the end of the collection. I am not sure if the external Anker Power USB power supply ran out. The lens was covered with dew. The Stellina system has a lens heater that is supposed to prevent condensation so may be the reason the power bank ran out. The Vespera system does not have the lens heater option installed.

Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913). (David J Mathre)
Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913). Composite of 131 exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 1310 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy). (David J Mathre)
NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy). Composite of 220 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2200 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30). (David J Mathre)
NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30). Composite of 143 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 1430 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224). (David J Mathre)
Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224). Composite of 601 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 6150 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy). (David J Mathre)
Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy). Composite of 203 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2030 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205). (David J Mathre)
Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205). Composite of 367 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 3670 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. Located near the Andromeda galaxy (bottom right corner). (David J Mathre)

IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. (David J Mathre)
IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. Composite of 239 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2390 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (46.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.7 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 5.2 kWh.

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Saturday (04-February-2023) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in my backyard: White-breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Junco, European Starling, Black-capped Chickadee.


Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (128.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (40.5 kWh) from Sense. Cold outside, resistance heating required. Deficit of 87.70 kWh.

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Saturday (24-December-2022) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime in New Jersey.

It was cold and breezy in the morning, but the sky was clear. So I decided to try out the Vespera Astro-camera with a solar filter to view the sun. I followed the instruction on the Singularity app and within 10 minutes was getting solar disk images with several sunspots. Unlike the nighttime observations where multiple images are used to make a composite image, the camera is taking individual images. It continues to track the position of the sun for as long as images are being recorded. I made a short time-lapse video shown below. One of the images captures the silhouette of a jet passing in front of the sun.

Jet Silhouette. (David J Mathre)
Silhouette of a Jet passing the Sun. Image taken with a Vespera Astro-camera. (David J Mathre)

The sky was clear again in the evening. I set the camera up just after astronomical twilight. I replaced the solar filter that I used earlier in the day with a dual band filter. The filter transmits wavelengths of light from the Hydrogen Alpha (H-alpha) and Oxygen III (O-III) emission bands seen in nebula. The filter has a sensor that lets the camera know that it has been installed. Presumably to adjust the sensor acquisition parameters. The filter appears to really improve the detail and contrast of the nebula images. During the night I used the Vespera to obtain images of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), North America Nebula (M45), Crab Nebula (M1), Jellyfish Nebula (IC 433), Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237), Orion Nebula (M42), De Mairan’s Nebula (M43), Thor’s Helmet Nebula (NGC 2359).


Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I also set up a camera for a star trail image looking south. The same general direction that is open for the deep sky Vespera astro-camera from my patio. Unfortunately, the raw file format (*.3FR) from the Hasselblad camera is not recognized by Capture One Pro. So this star trail image is a composite of the jpg images processed by Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC.

Star Trails. (David J Mathre)
Star and Jet Trails looking South. Composite of 67 images taken with a Hasselblad X2D camera and 30 mm f/3.5 lens (ISO 64, 30 mm, f/8, 323 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (169.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (29.4 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Deficit of 139.8 kWh. This is most electricity used in one day since I started monitoring. Mainly because the GeoThermal HVAC needed the resistance heaters to boost the amount of heating needed to keep the indoor temperature at 66°F. The outdoor temperatures are supposed to get warmer over the next few days.

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