Twelve Years Ago. Late Fall 02:00 to 03:00 AM Sky Star Trail (with stationary anomaly) in New Jersey. (14-Dec-2012)
Silhouettes of Objects Passing in Front of the Sun.
Today, I captured images of a jet with a condensation trail and a bird 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 telescope fitted with a solar filter. The exposure time for solar observations with the Vespera Classic telescope is 250 microseconds (1/4000 sec). The Vespera Classic takes ~51 solar images per minute. Over an hour that amounts to 0.765 seconds (or 0.02% of the time).
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 bird passing in front of the sun. 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. You may need to look closely, the comet is in the center of the frame. The magnitude is now 10.5. 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).
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).
Nine-Years Ago Today. Frost covered Common Barberry. Hobler Park, New Jersey. (06-Dec-2015).
Jet Silhouettes Transiting the Sun.
In addition to the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum) I captured two jets transiting the sun using a Vespera Pro telescope fitted 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, 1/4000 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, 1/4000 sec) with a solar filter.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
The comet is getting fainter and the tail shorter. The magnitude is now 10.0. The first image is a composite of 31 images (5 min 10 sec) and the second one is a composite of 90 images (15 min). In the second image there is some movement of the comet head. Also, the comet is moving into a region of the sky with part of the milky way in the background (many more faint stars).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 31 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 310 sec).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 90 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 900 sec).
Six-Years Ago Today. Northern Red Cardinal. (04-Dec-2018, New Jersey).
Sunspot Activity
The solar disk was observed with a Vespera Pro telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1400 microseconds) using a Solar filter. The sun is near the solar maximum period of the 11-year solar sunspot cycle. The image is cropped to 1204 x 1204 pixels with the apparent diameter of the sun a little less than 0.54°. Processing the image using Topaz AI (noise reduction or sharpening) or AutoStakkert4 (image stacking) did not improve the image.
Sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1400 microseconds exposure) and Solar Filter.
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).
