Tag: Contrails

Sunday (05-January-2025) — New Jersey

Nine-Years Ago Today. Mandatory lifeboat drill aboard the MV World Odyssey. Day 1 of the 2016 Semester at Sea Spring Voyage. (05-Jan-2016, Pacific Ocean)

Silhouettes of Jets Transiting the Sun.

Today, I captured images of jets with condensation trails 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 Stellina automated telescope using solar filters. For much of the day there were high level clouds partially obscuring the sun. I’m not sure why the solar images from the Vespera Classic telescope have a dark green background. The image from the Stellina telescope has a normal black background. There is a difference in the displayed angle of the sun between the Stellina and Vespera telescopes. Compare the position of the sunspots.

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

Jets with contrails passing in front of the sun. Images captured with a Stellina and Vespera Classic telescopes fitted with solar filters. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery

Wednesday (18-December-2024) — New Jersey

Four-Years Ago Today. American Crow feeding on a cold day. (18-Dec-2020, New Jersey).

Silhouettes of Jets Passing in Front of the Sun.

Today, I captured images of 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 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.

The same jet appears in the first two Vespera Classic images showing the distance it traveled in ~1.2 seconds. The third image from the Vespera Pro shows a jet with condensation trails. Even though the exposure time is longer (1400 vs 250 microseconds) the image of the jet is still relatively sharp.

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 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.

Five-Years Ago (26-November-2014) — Florida

Moon, Palm Tree Silhouettes, and Orange Contrail Clouds at Sunset.

Another case of “the best camera is the one with you”. I’d never seen contrails lined up like this before with the added bonus of happening just after sunset. View from the Old Northeast section of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Moon, Palm Tree Silhouettes, and Orange Contrail Clouds at Sunset in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm wide-angle zoom lens (ISO 400, 18 mm, f/6.4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Moon, Palm Tree Silhouettes, and Orange Contrail Clouds at Sunset in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm wide-angle zoom lens (ISO 400, 18 mm, f/6.4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (30-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 08: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

The early dawn sky was full of pink jet contrails when I got out on deck. The contrails would be from all of the red-eye flights crossing the Atlantic ocean from North America to Europe. A sign we were getting close to the end of our first leg at sea. As the sun came up, the contrails changed from pink to yellow.


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Sunday (21-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Colorful Contrails and Clouds at Dawn.

More of the clouds were contrails this morning. It was a lot warmer this morning with most of the snow gone. The deer ran off as soon as I got outside (barely visible below the tree).

Dawn Morning Contrails and Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 8 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Dawn Morning Contrails and Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 8 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

Dawn Morning Clouds, Contrails, and Birds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 7 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Dawn Morning Clouds, Contrails, and Birds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 7 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)