With the sky clear, I set up the Vespera Observation station with a solar filter during the day to observe sunspots. When I reviewed the images, I found one with a silhouette of a bird (Turkey Vulture?) flying in front of the sun. In the past I have capture images of planes, and sometimes satellites transiting the solar disk. While on Semester at Sea voyages, we had an informal contest to capture images of ships at the horizon passing in front of the sun at sunset (or sunrise).
Silhouette of bird flying in front of the Sun. Image taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 1/4000 sec) fitted with a solar filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Once it got dark out, I set up both the Vespera and Stellina observation stations to observe deep sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, star clusters). The Vespera was fitted with a dual band (H-alpha and O-III) filter. The Vespera captured images of NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch’s Broom Nebula; IC 1396: Elephant’s Trunk Nebula; and IC 1795: Fish Head Nebula. The final one didn’t go to completion due to condensation on the lens.
NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch’s Broom Nebula. Composite of 407 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 4070 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)IC 1396 Emission Nebula (Elephant’s Trunk Nebula). Composite of 623 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 6230 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)IC 1795 Emission Nebula (Fish Head Nebula). Composite of 175 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 1750 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. Note: Observation did not run to completion. (David J Mathre)
For the Stellina, I used the “Plan My Night” option to collect images of Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913); NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy); NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30); Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224); Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy); Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205); IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. The system was set to collect images for about an hour for each object. For some reason, the telescope did not automatically close at the end of the collection. I am not sure if the external Anker Power USB power supply ran out. The lens was covered with dew. The Stellina system has a lens heater that is supposed to prevent condensation so may be the reason the power bank ran out. The Vespera system does not have the lens heater option installed.
Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913). Composite of 131 exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 1310 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy). Composite of 220 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2200 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30). Composite of 143 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 1430 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224). Composite of 601 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 6150 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy). Composite of 203 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2030 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205). Composite of 367 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 3670 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. Located near the Andromeda galaxy (bottom right corner). (David J Mathre)IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. Composite of 239 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2390 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Daily Electric Energy Used (46.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.7 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 5.2 kWh.
Montgomery Township typically celebrates Independence Day with fireworks several days before the 4th of July. Last year was the first fireworks display for a couple of years due to Covid-19. I live near a great location that overlooks the high school where the township holds the fireworks celebration. Actually, I have been using this spot for over 30 years to watch the fireworks. I got there just before sunset. The sky was hazy with smoke from the Canadian forest fires. A couple of cars arrived before me, but there was still plenty of space to park and to set up three cameras on tripods. The moon was visible but dimmed somewhat due to the haze. As it got dark a few fireflies were visible, but nowhere near as many as last year. I set the cameras up as follows: Base ISO (50 or 64), f/11, 8 second exposure. The fireworks started just before 21:30. I was a bit slow getting all of the cameras focused and starting the cameras interval timer to automatically take images until the show was over. Unfortunately, with one camera the focus wasn’t quite right. The other two were in focus. Images below.
Images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 90-280 mm f/2.8-4 lens (ISO 50, 280 mm, f/11, 8 sec). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 64, 105 mm, f/11, 8 sec). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Has anyone other than the folks trying to log onto my WordPress account noticed that I haven’t posted anything since February? It seems there have been hundreds of daily brute force attempts to guess my username and password.
As a really cold mass of air moved in the night sky was very clear. Lots of stars visible even though the moon was nearly full. I moved both the Stellina and Vespera telescope/cameras to the back patio and allowed them to equilibrate to the cold temperature (14°F/-10°C). Both systems needed to have their software/firmware upgraded before being initialized. They were then programmed to collect images of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). It appears that the boxier Stellina is more sensitive to wobbling in the wind. The system only accepted 33-50% of the images and even then there was some doubling/streaking of the stars. The Vespera with its curved surfaces is more aerodynamic and did not appear to be impacted by the wind. The software/firmware update improved the quality of the exported composite TIF images. Time-lapse videos were generated from the JPG images showing the movement of the comet relative to the stars. The battery for the Vespera gave up after about 5 hours, even though an external battery was attached due to the extreme cold. The Stellina does not have an internal battery. The external battery lasted a bit longer, allowing me to create a time-lapse video of the moon. You can definitely see when the wind was blowing resulting in some distorted moon images.
Stellina Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). TIF images processed with Topaz AI. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). TIF images processed with Topaz AI. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (100.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (38.5 kWh) from Sense. Sunny but cold. Deficit of 61.5 kWh.
I just arrived back home from a short trip to Florida and the night sky was clear. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is now visible in the early evening sky. Both the Stellina and Vespera telescope/cameras were used to capture images. The telescopes automatically track the motion of the stars in the sky while taking 10 second images. During the time of the observations (15-63 minutes), the comet is moving, creating a tail in the image. This motion can be viewed in the time-lapse video.
Stellina and Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Stellina and Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (79.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.6 kWh) from Sense. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 44.9 kWh.
After two days of cloudy skies, the sky cleared just long enough before dawn to capture images of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). This time with both the Stellina and Vespera telescope/cameras. The comet is high enough above the horizon to the north-east before dawn to be viewed above my house from my patio. I use the Sky Live website to get the location of the comet, and then enter the numbers into the Singularity application. Within minutes, both the Stellina and Vespera had the comet centered and start taking images.
Stellina and Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (79.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (23.1 kWh) from Sense. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 56.8 kWh.
