Category: On This Day

Monday (23-December-2024) — New Jersey

Sixteen-Years Ago Today. Osprey in flight with a fish. Fort DeSoto Park. (23-Dec-2008, Florida).

Stellina has Returned from a round trip to France.

The Vaonis Stellina automated telescope arrived back today after a trip to France to repair the camera sensor. The instrument was still under warranty so the only cost was a getting shipping fly case so the telescope would be protected while in transit. I dropped the package off at a local UPS store on the 11th and it arrived back today. The sun was shining so I set it up on a tripod and tested it with a solar observation. Clouds are forecasted for tonight, so I will need to wait to check it out at night. Hopefully, the comet will still be visible.

Sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5)
Sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5)

Silhouettes of Jets and Geese Transiting the Sun.

Today, I captured images of a flock of geese and several jets transiting the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I was viewing the sun with a Vespera Classic and Vespera Pro automated telescope using solar filters. One of the jets had a trailing condensation trail that continued in front of the sun for 12 additional images (~15 seconds)

Flock of geese transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Flock of geese transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Silhouette of a jet transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Silhouette of a jet transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a jet. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1/714 sec) with a solar filter.
Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a jet. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1/714 sec) with a solar filter.

Jet with condensation trail passing in front of the sun. Images captured with a Vespera Classic telescope fitted with a solar filter. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery

Sunday (22-December-2024) — New Jersey

Ten-Years Ago Today. Poppies and Lupines at Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley. (22-Dec-2014, Falkland Islands)

Silhouettes of an Airplane and Jets Passing in Front of the Sun.

Today, I captured images of an airplane and several jets transiting the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I was observing the sun with a Vespera Classic and a Vespera Pro telescope each fitted with a solar filter. The exposure time for solar observations with the Vespera Classic telescope is 250 microseconds (1/4000 sec) and with the Vespera Pro telescope is 1400 microseconds (1/714 sec). The Vespera Classic takes 51-52 solar images per minute and the Vespera Pro takes 8-9 solar images per minute.

Images taken with a Vespera Classic or Vespera-Pro telescope. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)

The comet is getting fainter and the tail much shorter. You may need to look closely; the comet is in the center of the frame. The magnitude is now 10.9. The slideshow displays the 32nd, 64th and 96th stacked composite image (5 min 20 sec, 10 min 40 sec, 16 min). In the last two images there is some movement of the comet head. 

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Images taken with a Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, composites of 10 sec exposures). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery

Saturday (21-December-2024) — New Jersey

Ten-Years Ago Today. Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) on New Island. (21-Dec-2014, Falkland Islands)

Winter Solstice Walkabout after the Snowstorm.

The snow ended and the sky cleared soon after sunrise. I set up the telescopes to observe the sun then went for a walkabout around the yard. The snow was a light powder that I was able to easily clear the driveway with a leaf blower. The tractor and the snow blower are ready but weren’t needed this time.

Images taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lens. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)

The comet is getting fainter and the tail much shorter. You may need to look closely; the comet is in the center of the frame. The magnitude is now 10.9. The slideshow displays the 32nd, 64th, 128th, and 256th stacked composite image (5 min 20 sec, 10 min 40 sec, 21 min 20 sec, 42 min 40 sec). In the last two images there is some movement of the comet head. 

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Images taken with a Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, composites of 10 sec exposures). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery

Thursday (19-December-2024) — New Jersey

Ten-Years Ago Today. Ocean Tramp anchored at the harbor in Ushuaia, Argentina. (19-Dec-2014)

Flock of Geese Passing the Sun.

Today, I captured an image of a flock of geese transiting the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I assume the geese are flying south before the snow predicted for tomorrow. I was viewing the sun with a Vespera Classic automated telescope using a solar filter. The exposure time for solar observations with the Vespera Classic telescope is 250 microseconds (1/4000 sec) 

Flock of geese transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Flock of geese transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.

Monday (16-December-2024) — New Jersey

Fifteen-Years Ago Today. Surfer Girl at Hookipa Beach Park. (16-Dec-2009, Maui)

Image of the Day.

For the image of the day, I select an image from the past taken on this day of the year. I now have over a million digital images going back to 2006 when I got my first DSLR camera, a Nikon D200 for a cross-country road trip. I have a few other digital images from a Polaroid PDC 700 point and shoot from before 2006.

The “Surfer Girl” image was taken while in Hawaii for a Pacific Chemistry scientific meeting. I had the morning off and went for a drive along the coast. I stopped at Ho’okipa Beach Park and went to a section overlooking the beach. It was windy and there were some big waves. I could see some folks surfing the waves at a distance of 300-400 feet. For the trip, my travel camera was a Nikon D3x with a 70-300 mm zoom lens. At that time the 24-megapixel sensor was state of the art — great for landscapes or portraits with a steady tripod. But it was slow, not really suited for fast moving sports. Maybe 2 shots/second burst rate that quickly filled the buffer. I took a number of shots of the surfers out on the big waves.

It wasn’t till I downloaded the images later that evening that I realized I captured this great shot out of a 15-shot sequence taken over 8 seconds. Having a 24-megapixel image allowed me crop and zoom in on the surfer. I posted a cropped image on my photoblog and on Google+. A print of the image won an award at a Photography Show in Florida. I posted it on my photoblog and on Google+. Later, I found out it ended up in some surfer sites and it had been used in time-share and condo rental advertisements. Probably, my most stolen image.

Below, I show the original image sequence along with reprocessed versions of the sequence with currently available tools. DxO Pure Raw (Camera/Lens correction), Capture One Pro (Levels and High-Dynamic Range), and Topaz AI (sharpening).

Original RAW Image Sequence (2009, NEF)
Image Sequence Processed with Capture One (2024, TIF)
Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw (2024, TIF)
Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw and Capture One (2024, TIF)
Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw, Capture One, and Topaz AI (2o24, TIFF)
Image Sequence Processed with DxO Pure Raw, Capture One, and Topaz AI (2o24, JPEG)