Nine-Years Ago Today. Crepuscular rays from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Semester at Sea. (08-Jan-2016, Pacific Ocean)
Silhouette of a Jet Transiting the Sun.
Today, while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum) I captured an image of a jet transiting the sun. This was with a Stellina automated telescope fitted with a solar filter.
Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a jet. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5) with a solar filter.
Time-lapse video of tree getting in the way of the sun. Images taken with a Stellina automated telescope fitted with a solar filter.
Cold Winter Night Sky.
The forecast for the night was mostly clear. The waxing gibbous moon is getting brighter (69% illuminated). For the first of the night, I programed the “Plan my Night” sequence on the Vespera telescopes to first observe the moon, then later as the moon moves to the west picked some deep sky observation targets in parts of the sky away from the moon. I also set up a Nikon D9 camera with a 8-15 mm fisheye lens to take a sequence of images of the night sky with the full Vespera family of telescopes in the foreground. These images were then used to create the following time-lapse video. The moon is the bright object. You can watch the Orion constellation travel across the sky. Lots of jet trails, a few passing clouds, and a couple of meteors. Best viewed in the dark and expanded to full scale. Images captured by the telescopes to follow.
Time-lapse video of the Vespera family of telescopes viewing the winter night sky over New Jersey.
Fourteen-Years Ago Today. Early Morning View of Fitzroy from El Pilaf Hosteria in El Chalten. (01-Jan-2011, Argentina)
Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey.
During the day I got several alerts from the Space Weather Prediction Center indicating that there might be chance for an aurora. There are many sunspots visible during the current Solar Maximum that I have been showing over the last month. I set up several cameras just in case we get a display like we did on 11-October-2024. Unfortunately, I didn’t see evidence of an aurora. In the star trail composite images, I did see lots of jet trails, and a few of the Quadrantids meteors.
Full 360° Night Sky View
For the full sky (360°) view, I used a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens pointed straight up (8 mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 30 sec). The first three images are long composites 19:00-22:35 (some clouds before 20:00), 20:00-22:35 (clouds gone), and 22:38-00:30. There are a set of 30-minute composites in the slide show. And finally, a time-lapse video created using the individual 30 second exposure images. The sky is initially clear, then some passing clouds, and then clear until the camera intervalometer stopped (I must have missed a setting).
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. 19:00-22:35Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. 20:00-22:35Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. 22:38-00:30
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite 30-minute images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (8 mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 30 sec). The individual images are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Time-lapse video of the 30 second exposures (2K video, 10 images/second)
Night Sky View Looking North
For the view looking north, I used a Hasselblad 907x camera with a 21 mm f/4 lens (ISO 1600, f/8, 32 sec). The star trail images were created using Photoshop (scripts, statistics, maximum). The first three images are long composites 17:45-06:22 (some clouds), the second 19:00-01:59 (no clouds), and the third a high resolution (11656 x 8742) version (no clouds). Next there is a slide show with 30-minute composites for the full night. And finally, a time-lapse video created using the individual 30 second exposure images. The sky is initially clear, then some passing clouds, clear for several hours, more clouds, then clear going into the next morning. View the high resolution (2K) video expanded to full screen in a dark room. Lots of jet trails (no drones) and a few Quadrantids meteors.
Winter Star Trails Looking North Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens. [17:45-06:22 (some clouds)].Winter Star Trails Looking North Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens. [19:00-01:59 (no clouds) 2048 x 1556].Winter Star Trails Looking North Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens. [19:00-01:59 (no clouds) 11656 x 8742].
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Looking North. Composite 30-minute images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera with a 21 mm f/4 lens (ISO 1600, f/8, 32 sec). The individual images are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Time-lapse video of the 30 second exposures (2K video, 10 images/second)
Five-Years Ago Today. Indoor Hydroponic Snapdragon Flower. (15-December-2019, New Jersey).
Lights at Night Over New Jersey.
The trolls were keeping watch for drones overnight. The sky was partly cloudy, and it was cold out. Conditions were not good for the telescopes being out for the night. The composite image was taken through a back door window looking south. If you click on the image, you can access a larger (11656 x 6556 pixel) view. Over a four-hour period, there were lots of jet trails, maybe three Geminid meteor trails, and some car lights. No drones were observed.
Trolls Searching for Drones. Composite of 838 images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens (ISO 400, f/11, 16 sec exposures). Images processed with Photoshop (scripts, statistics, maximum) and Capture One.
The sky looked relatively clear again, so I put two cameras out to record the night sky. This time I remembered to set the ISO on the D850 camera correctly. I managed to see a couple of small meteor trails (Taurids?).
Star Trails looking South (19:25-03:15). Composite of images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 19 mm, f/5.6, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails looking Up (19:28-02:29). Composite of images taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 800, 10 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec) (David J Mathre)
Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.
Backyard Winter Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails North and South.
Star and jet trails looking north from my deck. Composite of 368 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2, 59 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum), followed by Silver Efex Pro to convert the image to B&W. (David J Mathre)
Star, moon, and jet trails looking south from my deck. Composite of 361 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro (including conversion to B&W), and the composite created using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
