Category: Skyscape

Views of the sky. Sunrise, sunset, clouds, and weather

Tuesday (29-October-2024) — New Jersey

Sun with Sunspots

The sky was partly cloudy during the day. The Stellina telescope was fitted with a solar filter to observe the sun and sunspots. After the system locks onto the sun, it takes about 40 images a minute. I believe each exposure is 1/4000 second. In the past I have captured silhouettes of birds or planes passing in front of the sun. 15-September-2023 Since we are in a solar maximum period there are lots of sunspots. In the time-lapse video clouds and jet contrails pass in front of the sun.

Sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec).
Sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec).

By evening, the sky clouded over so no observations of the comet tonight. We really need some rain.

Monday (28-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) over New Jersey

Another clear night. It has been very dry this fall with few clouds. All five telescopes were out tonight. First viewing the comet. Note several of the images have faint jet or satellite trails crossing the comet. I am guessing that they are satellite trails. The jpg images were processed to increase the brightness (Capture One Pro) and reduce the noise (Topaz AI).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Passengers Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Passengers Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera II Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec) using a CLS (city light suppression) filter.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera II Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec) using a CLS (city light suppression) filter.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).

After the comet dropped below the tree line, the telescopes were set to continue or start multi-night mosaic observations of the Veil Nebulae (NGC 6960 and NGC 6992), the Heart and Fish Head Nebulae (IC 1805 and IC 1795), and the Horse Head and Flame Nebulae (IC 434 and NGC 2024). Three of the telescopes Vespera Classic, Vespera Passenger, and Vespera Pro) were fitted with a dual narrowband interference Hα/OIII (hydrogen alpha/oxygen III) filter. The CLS filter remained on the Vespera II telescope, and no filter was used on the Stellina telescope.

Sunday (27-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) over New Jersey

Another clear night. It has been very dry this fall with few clouds. All five telescopes were out tonight. First viewing the comet. The Vespera II telescope was fitted with a CLS (city light suppression) filter causing the tint to the image. The length of the comet tail can be estimated based on the field of view for the telescope’s digital sensors. Stellina (1.0° x 0.7°), Vespera Classic (1.6° x 0.9°), Vespera Passengers (2.4° x 1.8°), Vespera II (2.5° x 1.4°), and Vespera Pro (1.6° x 1.6°). The jpg images were processed to increase the brightness (Capture One Pro) and reduce the noise (Topaz AI).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Passengers Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Passengers Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera II Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec) using a CLS (city light suppression) filter.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera II Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec) using a CLS (city light suppression) filter.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).

After the comet dropped below the tree line, the telescopes were set to continue or start multi-night mosaic observations of the Veil Nebulae (NGC 6960 and NGC 6992), the Heart and Fish Head Nebulae (IC 1805 and IC 1795), and the Horse Head and Flame Nebulae (IC 434 and NGC 2024). Three of the telescopes Vespera Classic, Vespera Passenger, and Vespera Pro) were fitted with a dual narrowband interference Hα/OIII (hydrogen alpha/oxygen III) filter. The CLS filter remained on the Vespera II telescope, and no filter was used on the Stellina telescope.

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

Star Trails and Northern Lights Over New Jersey. Composite of 304 images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 8 mm, f/8, 30 sec).

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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