Category: Astronomy

Views of the sun, moon, and stars

Four-Years Ago (29-November-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails Looking West.

Night sky view from the back of the house. This was the first time I did star trail series looking west. The first composite is from 336 images taken between 18:30-23:59 (PM), and the second composite is from 375 images taken between 00:40-05:40 (AM). All taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). There is significant distortion due to the wide-angle lens. I should look at reprocessing the data using the DxO image processing program to remove the distortion.

Star trails looking west (18:20-23:59 PM). Composite of 336 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking west (18:20-23:59 PM). Composite of 336 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking west (00:40-05:40 AM). Composite of 375 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking west (00:40-05:40 AM). Composite of 375 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (16-November-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Star and Leonid Meteor Trails.

The sky was clear so I put a couple of cameras out with wide-angle lenses to try to capture some Leonid meteor trails.

Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)


One-Year Ago (13-November-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails looking North.

Night sky view from the back of the house. Light from the moon lit up the chimney and the newly installed solar panels on the roof.  Also some light clouds moved in during the shoot. The north star isn’t exactly due north. Composite of 130 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec).

Startrails looking north (light clouds). The north star isn't exactly due north. Composite of 130 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)
A Startrails looking north (light clouds). The north star isn’t exactly due north. Composite of 130 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (13-November-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey : Star trails looking North.

Images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). I’ve also included a slide show of shorter star trails and a time-lapsed video created with the individual images.

Star trails looking north from my backyard. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 250 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking north from my backyard. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 250 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

 


 

One-Year Ago (12-November-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey: Afternoon Trolls and Nighttime Star Trails.

Nisse out on a Mushroom jamboree. I have never seen this many Trolls out during the day before. Then star trails looking north.

Nisse out on a Mushroom jamboree. I have never seen this many out during the day before. Autumn nature in my backyard. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 250 mm, f/5, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Nisse out on a Mushroom jamboree. I have never seen this many out during the day before. Autumn nature in my backyard. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 250 mm, f/5, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking north. The north star isn't exactly due north. Composite of 110 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star trails looking north. The north star isn’t exactly due north. Composite of 110 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)