Category: Astronomy

Views of the sun, moon, and stars

Two-Years Ago (22-March-2016) — Atlantic Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 77: At Sea, Atlantic Ocean.

This was a classroom day (B19) as we traveled northwest off the west coast of Africa (Namibia). We were far enough at sea that we didn’t see land. Images of Dawn, Sunrise, Student Portraits including the Sunrise Breakfast Club, the Statues, and then Students and other Passengers “Viewing, and Holding the Moon”. Individual images from the slide-shows can be viewed here.

Catching Venus at Dawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Catching Venus at Dawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)



Catching the Sun. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)
Catching the Sun. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)


Moon at Dusk over the Atlantic Ocean (Album Cover). Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Moon at Dusk over the Atlantic Ocean (Album Cover). Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (David J Mathre)
Reaching for the Moon. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens. (David J Mathre)
Reaching for the Moon. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens. (David J Mathre)


(David Mathre)
Google Earth Map of  the GPS Track for Day 77. Contact me for the Route Coordinates. (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (22-February-2016) — Burma (Myanmar)

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 48: Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).

Everyone had to be back on the ship by 22:00. We remained docked in Yangon and didn’t depart until the following day which was a class day. The moon was full (or nearly full) so I had the opportunity to take pictures of folks appearing to be looking at or holding the moon. I stood back some distance, and used a telephoto lens so the size of the moon would appear to be relatively large. What I wasn’t able to do was have both the person and the moon to be in focus, so the images are composites. The low light also required that I increase the ISO to 6400 for the images.



Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Wednesday (31-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey — Full Moon.

There has been a lot of media hype over the full moon that would be visible tonight (weather permitting). It is the second full moon in January, so it is a “blue moon”. It is closer to earth at this point in its orbit around the earth so it is a “super moon”. And finally, there will be a lunar eclipse, so a “red” or “blood” moon. Yesterday had been rain, snow, and rain so I wasn’t expecting to even be able to see the moon. As I was going to bed around midnight, I noticed that it was very bright out. I could see the moon directly out my window since it was so high in the sky. So I ended up having to go outside to see it. It was bitterly cold and windy, but the moon was visible. I wasn’t going to stay out very long, and didn’t want to set up a tripod — so the first image was taken hand-held looking almost straight up. I woke up again at 06:00 to see if any of the eclipse would be visible. Here in New Jersey, it would only be visible just before sunrise. The only view I got was one where the moon was going behind the trees. One note that the media forgot to mention, there will not be a full moon in February.

Full (Blue, Super) Moon at Midnight. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/18, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full (Blue, Super) Moon at Midnight. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/18, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full (Blue, Super, Blood) Moon at Midnight. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Full (Blue, Super, Blood) Moon at 06:00. Winter Night Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (17-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 12: Crossing the Pacific Ocean From Hawaii to Japan.

This was the day that magic happened. We lost a day, 16-Jan-16 never happened. Look at the images carefully to find the alien pretending to be a student on the voyage, and when gravity was suspended. Too bad if anyone on the ship had their birthday on the missing day.



Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.



Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Outdoor breakfast after shooting dawn and sunrise on the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/7, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Outdoor breakfast after shooting dawn and sunrise on the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/7, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)



Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

First Quarter Moon from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Nikon One V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Field of View equivalent to an 810 mm lens on a 35 mm sensor camera. (David J Mathre)
First Quarter Moon from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Image taken with a Nikon One V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Field of View equivalent to an 810 mm lens on a 35 mm sensor camera. (David J Mathre)

We crossed the International Date Line (180 degrees) east or west (or half way around the planet) from the zero degree line going through Greenwich, England.  We actually, didn’t cross the line until 13:19 but the Captain of the ship gets to select which day we cross datelines so as not to confuse things in the middle of the day.

Three-Years Ago (15-January-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey — Comet Lovejoy.

It was cold, but very clear out on the night I got some images of Comet Lovejoy. I set up a Nikon D4 camera with a 58 mm f/1.8 lens to take 5 second exposures. Normally, when shooting star trails I go for longer exposures. The comet was visible as a faint, fuzzy blue-green ball. Three different views — still images (with different crops), as star trails, and a time-lapse video


Star Trails and Comet Lovejoy on a cold but clear winter night. The comet is the blue-green fuzzy streek moving from the center to the right of the photograph. Composite of 379 images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 58 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/2, 5 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Star Trails and Comet Lovejoy on a cold but clear winter night. The comet is the blue-green fuzzy streek moving from the center to the right of the photograph. Composite of 379 images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 58 mm f/1.8 lens (ISO 800, 58 mm, f/2, 5 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)