Tag: Moon

Wednesday (15-January-2025) — New Jersey

Nine-Years Ago Today. Statue catching the Rainbow on the aft deck of the MV World Odyssey while crossing the Pacific Ocean. (15-Jan-2016, Semester at Sea)

Silhouette of Jets Transiting the Sun.

Today, while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum) I captured images of a jets transiting the sun. This was with a Vespera Classic automated telescope fitted with a solar filter.

Slideshow of Jets Passing in Front of the Sun. Individual images are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Cold Winter Night Sky.

The forecast for the night was for the night sky to be clear, then intermittent clouds, then clear before morning. The waning gibbous moon is reducing in brightness but still very bright (97% illuminated). I programed the “Plan my Night” sequences on the Vespera telescopes to start soon after dark with several objects away from the moon and will see what I get depending on the clouds. During part of the night, I have the telescopes looking at the moon. I also set up the 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. You can see the night starting out clear, then clouds, a brief clearing, then clouds again, and finally clearing before dawn. The telescopes automatically close before the sun rises. The time-lapse video is best viewed in the dark and expanded to full scale. Images captured by the telescopes to follow.

Monday (13-January-2025) — New Jersey

Nine-Years Ago Today. Visible sunspots as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean from the Deck of the MV Odyssey. (13-Jan-2016, Semester at Sea).

Mars Occultation and Wolf Full Moon

The sky was clear, and the Wolf Full Moon rose above the trees to the east in time for the Vespera automated telescopes to be able to view Mars going behind the moon. First a time-lapse video of the Vespera telescopes observing the night sky. It stayed mostly cloud free the entire night observation session. For some of the telescopes I programed the “Plan My Night” script to observe Mars and the others to observe the Moon during the occultation event. This is because the Moon is so much brighter than Mars different image acquisition times are needed in order to see the object without it being overexposed.

Time-lapse Video. Vespera Overnight Observation Session. Mars Occultation and Wolf Full Moon. Best viewed full screen and in a dark room.

The first slideshow is sequence showing the start of the Mars occultation using a Vespera Pro telescope programed to observe and track the Moon. Mars is the tiny disk on the lower left side of the moon. You can see Mars approach and then disappear behind the Moon. The Vespera telescope only records monochrome images when observing the Moon, so Mars is not red.

Slideshow of Mars going behind the Moon. Individual images can be found in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

The second slideshow is sequence showing the Mars occultation using a Vespera Pro telescope programed to observe and track Mars. Mars is the small red disk below the Moon. You can see Mars approach and then disappear behind the Moon. For the other planets Vespera telescope records a color (RGB) images so Mars is red. The image of the moon is overblown, so I reduced the saturation levels.

Slideshow of Mars going behind the Moon. Individual images can be found in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

The third slideshow is sequence showing the end of the Mars occultation using a Vespera Pro telescope programed to observe and track the Moon. Mars is the tiny disk on the lower left side of the moon. You can see Mars approach and then disappear behind the Moon. The Vespera telescope only records monochrome images when observing the Moon, so Mars is not red.

Slideshow of Mars returning from behind the Moon. Individual images can be found in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Sunday (12-January-2025) — New Jersey

Nine-Years Ago Today. Feral Rooster at Kualoa Regional Park on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. (12-Jan-2016, Semester at Sea)

Silhouettes of Jets and Birds Passing in Front of the Sun.

Today while viewing the sunspots (currently at or near the solar maximum) with a Stellina and Vespera Classic automated telescope, I captured images of jets and birds passing in front of the sun.

Individual images in the slideshow are available in my Photoshelter Gallery.

What I Hope to See Tomorrow — Mars Occultation.

A simulation view created by the Stellarium application of the Mars Occultation by the full Moon tomorrow evening. The difficulty will be the significant difference in the light levels between the full Moon and the planet Mars. The forecast for tomorrow night at the time of the occultation is for a Clear Sky.

Thursday (09-January-2025) — New Jersey

Nine-Years Ago Today. Brown Booby hitching a ride on the MV World Odyssey as we cross the Pacific Ocean. (09-Jan-2016, Semester at Sea Spring Voyage)

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.

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.
Sun with sunspots with the silhouette of a jet transiting. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/4000 sec) fitted with a solar filter.

Cold Winter Night Sky.

The forecast for the night was mostly clear. The waxing gibbous moon is getting brighter (79% 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, and almost no clouds. Best viewed in the dark and expanded to full scale. Images captured by the telescopes to follow.

Wednesday (08-January-2025) — New Jersey

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
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.