David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Ten-Years Ago Today. Ocean Tramp anchored at the harbor in Ushuaia, Argentina. (19-Dec-2014)
Today, I captured an image of a flock of geese transiting the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I assume the geese are flying south before the snow predicted for tomorrow. I was viewing the sun with a Vespera Classic automated telescope using a solar filter. The exposure time for solar observations with the Vespera Classic telescope is 250 microseconds (1/4000 sec)
Four-Years Ago Today. American Crow feeding on a cold day. (18-Dec-2020, New Jersey).
Today, I captured images of jets transiting the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I was observing the sun with a Vespera Classic and a Vespera Pro telescope fitted with a solar filter. The exposure time for solar observations with the Vespera Classic telescope is 250 microseconds (1/4000 sec) and with the Vespera Pro telescope is 1400 microseconds (1/714 sec). The Vespera Classic takes 51-52 solar images per minute and the Vespera Pro takes 8-9 solar images per minute.
The same jet appears in the first two Vespera Classic images showing the distance it traveled in ~1.2 seconds. The third image from the Vespera Pro shows a jet with condensation trails. Even though the exposure time is longer (1400 vs 250 microseconds) the image of the jet is still relatively sharp.
Fifteen-Years Ago Today. Nakalele Point Blowhole, Maui Hawaii. (17-Dec-2009)
Today, I captured an image of a jet passing in front of the sun while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum). I was viewing the sun with a Vespera Passengers telescope fitted with a solar filter. The exposure time for solar observations with the Vespera Passengers telescope is 300 microseconds (1/3333 sec). The Vespera Passengers takes ~30 solar images per minute. Over an hour that amounts to 0.54 seconds (or 0.015% of the time). I am not sure why the background of the image is blue. Previous observations the background was black and the sun orange. I will be contacting Vaonis support about the strange colors.
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 10.7. 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.
Nine-Years Ago Today. Frost covered Common Barberry. Hobler Park, New Jersey. (06-Dec-2015).
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.
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).
Six-Years Ago Today. Northern Red Cardinal. (04-Dec-2018, New Jersey).
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.
