Sunspots - David Mathre Photography

Monday (23-December-2024) — New Jersey

Sixteen-Years Ago Today. Osprey in flight with a fish. Fort DeSoto Park. (23-Dec-2008, Florida).

Stellina has Returned from a round trip to France.

The Vaonis Stellina automated telescope arrived back today after a trip to France to repair the camera sensor. The instrument was still under warranty so the only cost was a getting shipping fly case so the telescope would be protected while in transit. I dropped the package off at a local UPS store on the 11th and it arrived back today. The sun was shining so I set it up on a tripod and tested it with a solar observation. Clouds are forecasted for tonight, so I will need to wait to check it out at night. Hopefully, the comet will still be visible.

Sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5)

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. One of the jets had a trailing condensation trail that continued in front of the sun for 12 additional images (~15 seconds)

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.

Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a jet. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1/714 sec) with a solar filter.

Jet with condensation trail passing in front of the sun. Images captured with a Vespera Classic telescope fitted with a solar filter. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery

Thursday (19-December-2024) — New Jersey

Ten-Years Ago Today. Ocean Tramp anchored at the harbor in Ushuaia, Argentina. (19-Dec-2014)

Flock of Geese Passing the Sun.

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)

Wednesday (18-December-2024) — New Jersey

Four-Years Ago Today. American Crow feeding on a cold day. (18-Dec-2020, New Jersey).

Silhouettes of Jets Passing in Front of the Sun.

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.

Tuesday (17-December-2024) — New Jersey

Fifteen-Years Ago Today. Nakalele Point Blowhole, Maui Hawaii. (17-Dec-2009)

Silhouettes of a Jet Passing in Front of the Sun.

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.

Silhouette of a jet transiting the sun with sunspots. Image taken with a Vaonis Vespera Passengers Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 1/3333 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 10.7. 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.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of128 10 sec images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 1280 sec).

Friday (06-December-2024) — New Jersey

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.

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).