Thirteen-Years Ago Today. Kermit & Mirror Ball Selfie. Marie Selby Gardens, Sarasota. (26-Dec-2011, Florida)
Silhouettes of Jets with Condensation Trail Transiting the Sun.
Today, I captured images of two jets with contrails transiting the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I was viewing the sun with a Stellina and a Vespera Pro automated telescope using solar filters. Additional images of just the contrail silhouettes are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Silhouette of a jet with condensation trail transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5) 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.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.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
The comet is getting fainter and the tail much shorter. Now that the Stellina telescope is back, I have images from both the Stellina, and Vespera Pro telescopes. I am only showing the longer (21 min 40 sec) composite images. The comet is barely visible in the Stellina image. You may need to look closely; the comet is in the center of the frame. The magnitude is now 11.2. The shorter (5 min 20 sec and 10 min 40 sec) composite images are available in my PhotoShelter gallery.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 64 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 640 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).
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.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.
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).
While reviewing the solar images with several sunspots, I noticed what appears to be a pair of satellites transiting the solar disk over a 4 second period. I have a composite image and the individual images of the transit. I also found images with silhouettes of birds (Turkey Vultures?) and one with an unidentified object (military jet?). I’ve also added the time-lapse video if you want to look for other objects passing in front of the sun.
Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a satellite transit. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter. Composite of 4 images processed using Photoshop (Scripts, Statistics, Minimum).Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a satellite transit. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter. Image 1 of 4. Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a satellite transit. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter. Image 2 of 4.Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a satellite transit. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter. Image 3 of 4.Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a satellite transit. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter. Image 4 of 4.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 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 an unidentified object. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.Sun with Sunspots. Time-lapse video (480p, 30p)
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).
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).
