It was a cold but clear night to try out a Vaonis Vespera Observation Station. This is a digital telescope, without an eyepiece for taking images of objects in the sky. The Vespera is controlled via Wi-Fi by the Singularity app. This allowed control the Vespera from inside a warm house. The Vespera automatically focuses the camera, and automatically tracks the selected object while taking a series of images (10 second exposures). The following image is of the Rosette Nebula (NGC2237-44). This is a composite of 309 images. The composite image was post-processed with Capture One Pro and Topaz Photo AI. I have also included a time-lapse video showing the development of the composite image by the Vespera. More images and comments about the Vespera to follow.
NGC2237_44 Rosette Nebula. Composite of 309 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera. Image processed with Capture One Pro and Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Daily Electric Energy Used (87.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (22.4 kWh) from Sense. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 64.6 kWh.
Autumn Day Nature and Working Outside and in the Garage in New Jersey.
Full moon before the lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, a rain storm came through while the eclipse took place.
Full Moon, before the lunar eclipse. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)
Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Common Grackle.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
My Little Planet time-lapse videos for the day. 1) Red Rover. Moving items, switching from the front loader to forks, adding additional support to the pallets being used to support the tractor implements. 2) Tent Box. Starting to install the inner cold weather lining in the tent box. It got dark before I could finish.
Daily Electric Energy Used (41.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (25.7 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Mostly sunny. Deficit of 16.0 kWh.
Fourth consecutive night with dark (relative — this is New Jersey) clear skies. This time Night Sky Star Trails with a Nikon D850 camera with a 10.5 mm f/2.8 DX fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Note a full frame camera with a DX sensor lens, thus some of the sensor is not used. Star Trail composite image created with the jpg “out-of-the-camera” image files using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). A lot fewer jet trails than in previous years. Clouds started coming in during the early morning hours.
Nighttime sky over New Jersey. Composite of images (21:45-04:29) taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Night Sky Composite Images (first one 45 min, others 60 min). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (36.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (50.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny with a few clouds. Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 14.2 kWh.
Autumn is coming. Getting colder outside allowing me to open the windows and turn off the Geothermal HVAC system. Third consecutive night with dark (relative — this is New Jersey) clear skies. Repeat Night Sky Star Trails with a Leica SL2 camera with 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 sec). This time portrait mode. Same number of images (152) as last night before the batteries failed. Do wish there was a way to provide external power to the camera for longer overnight sessions. Star Trail composite image created with the jpg “out-of-the-camera” image files using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).
Star Trails looking south from my backyard patio. Composite of 152 image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 seconds). JPG images processed with PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Daily Electric Energy Used (40.1 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (53.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny with a few clouds. Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 13.2 kWh. Stove left on boiling water for tea… Or an expensive way to humidify the house.
Taking advantage of several nights with clear skies. For comparison to the Star Trail images yesterday, I set up two high-resolution full-frame cameras to capture the night sky from my patio. 1) Leica SL2 camera with 16-36 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 sec). 2) Nikon D810a with 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 11 mm, f/4, 120 sec). The Leica (2 batteries) captured 152 images before running out of power. The outdoor temperature dropped to 36° F. Then Nikon camera (2 batteries) captured 174 images before taking the camera back inside (could have gone on longer). The first two Star Trail composite images were created with the jpg “out-of-the-camera” image files using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). The second two Star Trail composite images were created with the DNG or RAW image files processed with Capture One Pro and then using PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum).
Star Trails looking south from my backyard patio. Composite of 154 image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 seconds). JPG images processed with PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)Star Trails looking Up from my backyard patio. Composite of 172 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 11 mm, f/4, 120 seconds). JPG images processed with PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)Star Trails looking south from my backyard patio. Composite of 154 image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 60 seconds). DNG images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)Star Trails looking Up from my backyard patio. Composite of 172 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 200, 11 mm, f/4, 120 seconds). RAW images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Daily Electric Energy Used (35.8 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (53.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny with a few clouds. Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 17.8 kWh. Notice the hump in the afternoon solar — has to do with the Sycamore tree shading the roof mid-afternoon
Weekly Electric Energy Used (273 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (337 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun this week, and the house open with the Geothermal HVAC system off. A surplus of 64 kWh.
