Digital Art. Flock of geese transiting the sun. The geese flying in front of the sun are real, the rest is digital art. (12-Dec-2024)
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.
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.Silhouette of a jet transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
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 10.3. The first image is a composite of 32 images (5 min 20 sec) and the second one is a composite of 128 images (21 min 20 sec). In the second image there is some movement of the comet head.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 32 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 320 sec).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 128 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1280 sec).
Nine-Years Ago Today. Frost covered Common Barberry. Hobler Park, New Jersey. (06-Dec-2015).
Jet Silhouettes Transiting the Sun.
In addition to the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum) I captured two jets transiting the sun using a Vespera Pro telescope fitted 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, 1/4000 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, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
The comet is getting fainter and the tail shorter. The magnitude is now 10.0. The first image is a composite of 31 images (5 min 10 sec) and the second one is a composite of 90 images (15 min). In the second image there is some movement of the comet head. Also, the comet is moving into a region of the sky with part of the milky way in the background (many more faint stars).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 31 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 310 sec).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 90 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 900 sec).
Nine-Years Ago Today. Red fox on the side of the road with a road-killed deer. (01-Dec-2015, New Jersey)
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
The camera in the Stellina telescope stopped working. I’ll be contacting Vaonis support to try and figure out what is wrong. So tonight, I only have the Vespera-Pro telescope capturing images of the comet. The magnitude is now 9.6. The first image is a composite of 31 images (5 min 10 sec) and the second one is a composite of 247 images (41 min 20 sec). In the second image there is some movement of the comet head. Also, the comet is moving into a region of the sky with part of the milky way in the background (many more faint stars).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 31 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 310 sec).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 247 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 2470 sec).
Yesterday the sky was overcast, so no comet images. The comet and tail keep getting smaller and fainter. The estimated magnitude of the comet was +8.2. I am only showing images from the Stellina telescope since the Vespera telescopes are fitted with filters for viewing emission nebulae.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
Full “Beaver” Moon
The full “supermoon” this month was extra bright because it was closer to earth. Once it was above the trees to my east, I used the Stellina telescope to record images for a time-lapse video. While reviewing the images I found several images with silhouettes of birds passing in front of the moon. At this time of the year, birds are migrating south, often at night. Even though it may have been a large bird, it must have been a long way away. The cropped image is about 4x magnification.
Silhouette of a bird flying in front of the “Beaver” full moon. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/2000 sec).Cropped Image. Silhouette of a bird flying in front of the “Beaver” full moon. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/2000 sec).
Birds and planes passing in front of the sun with sunspots
Today it was silhouettes of a turkey vulture, some other birds, and partial silhouettes of a jet and a small plane passing in front of the sun. I’ve also added the time-lapse video if you want to look for other objects passing in front of the sun. There are several sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum) that are constant across the video. When viewing the individual images there are some with small dots (satellites?) and blurs (blowing autumn leaves).
Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a bird. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of two birds. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a jet. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of an airplane. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
The comet is still visible to the telescopes with an estimated magnitude of +6.8. The tail is fainter and shorter than yesterday. 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 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 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).
