Tag: Star Trails

Monday (02-December-2013) — New Jersey

Late Autumn Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Star Trails and Time-lapse Video using the new Nikon Df camera and the 58 mm f/1.4G lens that came with the camera.

Star Trails. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey. Composite of images from 19:29-22:12 taken with a Nikon Df camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, and composite created with Photoshop CC Pro (scripts, statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)
Star Trails. Backyard Night Sky Over New Jersey. Composite of images from 19:29-22:12 taken with a Nikon Df camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 100, 58 mm, f/2, 30 sec). Images processed with Capture One Pro, and composite created with Photoshop CC Pro (scripts, statistics, maximum) (David J Mathre)


Saturday (30-November-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Autumn Sky Over New Jersey.

Into the Vortex. Early Morning Backyard Star Trails (and one meteor trail). Composite of 300 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/4, 59 sec) over a 5 hour period combined using startrails.exe.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Into the Vortex. Early Morning Backyard Startrails. Composite of 300 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/4, 59 sec) combined using startrails.exe. (David J Mathre)

Saturday (15-December-2012) — New Jersey

Late Fall Night Sky Anomaly. Super-Nova or Geminid Meteor Coming at Me?

The sky was clear Thursday night. I had three cameras out to capture Geminid meteor trails. Friday night the sky was also clear, so stayed up again to capture any late Geminid meteor trails. After being up two nights in a row, I really needed to catch up on some sleep. When I started to review the images today, I found an anomaly in the star trail image between 2-3 AM Friday morning. The images for this composite were taken on a Nikon D4 with a 14-24 f/2.8 lens. I have trouble with condensation on this lens and this night was no different and because it was cold frost formed on the center on the lens. The result is that light getting to the center of the image is significantly attenuated. I didn’t expect to see anything in the center area because of the frost — but there was one bright star. The unusual star is actually brighter than Sirius. I went back and reviewed the individual images, and found that this “star” only appeared at 02:19 AM — not before and not after. I checked the images from the other two cameras. The D800 with a 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens covered the same space, and indeed it also captured the same anomaly. I didn’t see any news about a super-nova, so did I capture an image of a Geminid meteor coming right at me? Good thing that they burn up in the atmosphere!!

Late Fall 02:00 to 03:00 AM Sky Star Trail (with anomaly) in New Jersey. Composite of 60 Images taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec) using Star Trails. (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:00 to 03:00 AM Sky Star Trail (with anomaly) in New Jersey. Composite of 60 Images taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec) using Star Trails. (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:18 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:18 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:19 AM Sky (with anomaly) in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:19 AM Sky (with anomaly) in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:20 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:20 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8G lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:18 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:18 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:19 AM Sky (with anomaly) in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:19 AM Sky (with anomaly) in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:20 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)
Late Fall 02:20 AM Sky in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 59 sec). (David J Mathre)

Sunday (18-November-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Night Sky in New Jersey: Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails.

While processing through the images from the other night, I found three (maybe four) Leonid meteor trails in a star trail composite of 35 one minute exposures. The camera was facing south from my deck, and the sky was just starting to get light.

The Drobo disk array upgrade and data backups are finally complete (after almost three weeks). I can now start processing more images from my Fall 2012 Semester at Sea voyage, and the three-week trip to New Mexico and west Texas (including a week with the ANPAT 12 trip).

Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)
Late Fall Night Star Trails and Leonid Meteor Trails over New Jersey. Composite of 35 Images taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 16 mm, f/2.8, 1 min). (David J. Mathre)