Category: Astronomy

Views of the sun, moon, and stars

Thursday (03-December-2015) — New Jersey

House Renovation: Outside Views

I set up the Mindrain Astro motion control head to take 360 degree images of my backyard. The house renovation project is in progress. The roof has been replaced, and the new siding is in progress. The deck is gone and the patio just started. The Astro was programmed to trigger a Fuji X-T1 camera with a Zeiss 12 mm f/2.8  lens periodically as it rotated the camera in a complete circle. The images were then processed into the following time-lapsed videos. Later in the evening I tried night sky sequence (but only rotating the camera 120 degrees.

Four-Years Ago (06-November-2011) — New Jersey

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

The old deck had not been demolished yet, and I was able to set up a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens looking north over the house. The first image is a composite of 158 images from the early morning hours. The second image is a composite of 190 images before midnight. Note the pesky alien stepping in to have its selfie taken.

Early morning star trails looking north. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 158 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early morning star trails looking north. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 158 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Evening/night star trails looking north. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 190 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Evening/night star trails looking north. Autumn night sky in New Jersey. Composite of 190 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)

Nine-Years Ago (06-November-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Night Sky in New Jersey.

Sometimes the clouds come in and you can’t do star trail images.

Moon behind a cloud layer blocking the night sky. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec). (David J Mathre)
Moon behind a cloud layer blocking the night sky. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec). (David J Mathre)