One-Year Ago (26-August-2015) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star Trails (and a few Jet Trails) Looking North. Backyard Summer Nature. Composite of 70 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and composite generated using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).

Star Trails (and a few Jet Trails) Looking Upward and a bit north over the top of the house. Backyard Summer Nature. Composite of 70 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and composite generated using Photoshop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Star Trails (and a few Jet Trails) Looking Upward and a bit north over the top of the house. Backyard Summer Nature. Composite of 70 images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/4, 120 sec). . (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (25-August-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Waning Gibbous Moon. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera FT1 adapter, 500 mm f/4 VR lens, and 2.0 TC-E adapter (ISO 160, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). The field of view for this setup is equivalent to 2700 mm on a 35 mm/full frame camera. The other neat thing about this setup is there is no mirror or shutter vibration. The Nikon 1 series of cameras are mirrorless, and have an electronic shutter option. I could barely get all of the moon in the frame.

Waning Gibbous Moon. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera FT1 adapter, 500 mm f/4 VR lens, and 2.0 TC-E adapter (ISO 160, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Waning Gibbous Moon. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera FT1 adapter, 500 mm f/4 VR lens, and 2.0 TC-E adapter (ISO 160, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (24-August-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Into the Vortex. North View Star and Jet Trails with a Bonus of a Meteor Trail. Summer Night in New Jersey. Composite of 442 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum).

Back then, I still had a lot of trees right next to the house, and one partially blocked Polaris, the North Star. Most of the trees are gone either to disease or the “mile a minute” invasive vine. I am now looking into putting some solar panels on the roof.

North View Star Trails. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)
North View Star Trails. Composite of 422 images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (22-August-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star and Jet Trails Looking South. It rained Sunday night, and after the front came through we had very clear skies last night. Composite of 240 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using Photoshop CC (statistics, maximum).

Star and Jet Trails Looking South. Composite of 240 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star and Jet Trails Looking South. Composite of 240 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (19-August-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

After several nights with thunderstorms, the sky was clear.  Star (and jet) trails looking south. Composite of 220 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite processed using Photoshop CC: Statistics, maximum.

Star and Jet Trails Looking South. Composite of image takens with a Nikon D810a camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Star and Jet Trails Looking South. Composite of image takens with a Nikon D810a camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 60 sec). (David J Mathre)