Nine-Years Ago Today. Crepuscular rays from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Semester at Sea. (08-Jan-2016, Pacific Ocean)
Silhouette of a Jet Transiting the Sun.
Today, while looking at the sunspots (we are at or near the solar maximum) I captured an image of a jet transiting the sun. This was with a Stellina automated telescope fitted with a solar filter.
Sun with sunspots and the silhouette of a jet. Image taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5) with a solar filter.
Time-lapse video of tree getting in the way of the sun. Images taken with a Stellina automated telescope fitted with a solar filter.
Cold Winter Night Sky.
The forecast for the night was mostly clear. The waxing gibbous moon is getting brighter (69% illuminated). For the first of the night, I programed the “Plan my Night” sequence on the Vespera telescopes to first observe the moon, then later as the moon moves to the west picked some deep sky observation targets in parts of the sky away from the moon. I also set up a Nikon D9 camera with a 8-15 mm fisheye lens to take a sequence of images of the night sky with the full Vespera family of telescopes in the foreground. These images were then used to create the following time-lapse video. The moon is the bright object. You can watch the Orion constellation travel across the sky. Lots of jet trails, a few passing clouds, and a couple of meteors. Best viewed in the dark and expanded to full scale. Images captured by the telescopes to follow.
Time-lapse video of the Vespera family of telescopes viewing the winter night sky over New Jersey.
Nine-Years Ago Today. Sunset from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. Semester at Sea. (07-Jan-2016, Pacific Ocean)
Animal Tracks in the Snow
We had a couple of inches of snow yesterday. This morning, I went on a walkabout looking for animal tracks in the snow. I found bird, cat, fox, and rabbit tracks. I was especially interested in finding where the gaps in the deer fence were. In the past some of the larger critters (raccoons and possums) have enlarged these holes to the point where the deer finally got through. In those spots I needed to install a bottom section of plastic-coated wire fence to close the gaps. First a video of where a neighborhood cat gets under the front gate. She has used this as a way to escape being chased by a fox.
Cat tracks in the snow where it gets under the front gate. Image taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lensCat tracks in the snow. Image taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lensRabbit tracks in the snow. Image taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lensFox tracks in the snow attempting to cross the pond. Image taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lensField mouse tunnel/tracks in the snow. Image taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 38 mm f/2.5 lens
Animal Tracks in the Snow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Animal tracks in the snow used to identify holes in the fence. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Night Sky, Moon, Star Trails, Jet Trails, and Meteor Trails over New Jersey
The night sky started cloud free. I wanted to have the telescopes out but wasn’t really sure how long the sky would remain clear. I set up a Nikon Z9 camera with a 8-15 mm fisheye lens pointed SSE to monitor the sky. Settings for the camera were 15 mm, ISO 800, f/11, and 120 second exposures using the intervalometer with a 4 second delay between exposures. Composites were created using PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum). First image, the sky was relatively clear for the Vespera Pro telescopes to observe the moon. Second image, an 8-minute segment with a meteor trail. Third image, the sky was relatively clear for the Vespera Pro telescopes to observe M42, the Orion nebula. Fourth image, the full night showing lots of clouds passing. I’ve also included a slideshow with 28-minute star trail segments for the night. At the end there is time-lapse video of the night sky.
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens.Winter Night Sky Star Trails (with a meteor trail) Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens.Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens.Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens.
Star trails slideshow. Individual images are available in my PhotoShelter gallery.
Nine-Years Ago Today. Semester at Sea passenger working on a watercolor painting on the deck of the MV World Odyssey. (06-Jan-2016, Pacific Ocean)
Trolls out for the Snow
We didn’t get much snow. Mostly the winter weather was further south, frustrating January 6th protestors in Washington, D.C. In the following time-lapse video, let me know how many birds you can identify, and how many deer you can see in the far background. The deer are outside of the deer fence.
Fourteen-Years Ago Today. Early Morning View of Fitzroy from El Pilaf Hosteria in El Chalten. (01-Jan-2011, Argentina)
Winter Night Sky Over New Jersey.
During the day I got several alerts from the Space Weather Prediction Center indicating that there might be chance for an aurora. There are many sunspots visible during the current Solar Maximum that I have been showing over the last month. I set up several cameras just in case we get a display like we did on 11-October-2024. Unfortunately, I didn’t see evidence of an aurora. In the star trail composite images, I did see lots of jet trails, and a few of the Quadrantids meteors.
Full 360° Night Sky View
For the full sky (360°) view, I used a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens pointed straight up (8 mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 30 sec). The first three images are long composites 19:00-22:35 (some clouds before 20:00), 20:00-22:35 (clouds gone), and 22:38-00:30. There are a set of 30-minute composites in the slide show. And finally, a time-lapse video created using the individual 30 second exposure images. The sky is initially clear, then some passing clouds, and then clear until the camera intervalometer stopped (I must have missed a setting).
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. 19:00-22:35Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. 20:00-22:35Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens. 22:38-00:30
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Over New Jersey. Composite 30-minute images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (8 mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 30 sec). The individual images are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Time-lapse video of the 30 second exposures (2K video, 10 images/second)
Night Sky View Looking North
For the view looking north, I used a Hasselblad 907x camera with a 21 mm f/4 lens (ISO 1600, f/8, 32 sec). The star trail images were created using Photoshop (scripts, statistics, maximum). The first three images are long composites 17:45-06:22 (some clouds), the second 19:00-01:59 (no clouds), and the third a high resolution (11656 x 8742) version (no clouds). Next there is a slide show with 30-minute composites for the full night. And finally, a time-lapse video created using the individual 30 second exposure images. The sky is initially clear, then some passing clouds, clear for several hours, more clouds, then clear going into the next morning. View the high resolution (2K) video expanded to full screen in a dark room. Lots of jet trails (no drones) and a few Quadrantids meteors.
Winter Star Trails Looking North Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens. [17:45-06:22 (some clouds)].Winter Star Trails Looking North Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens. [19:00-01:59 (no clouds) 2048 x 1556].Winter Star Trails Looking North Over New Jersey. Composite of images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 21 mm f/4 lens. [19:00-01:59 (no clouds) 11656 x 8742].
Winter Night Sky Star Trails Looking North. Composite 30-minute images taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera with a 21 mm f/4 lens (ISO 1600, f/8, 32 sec). The individual images are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Time-lapse video of the 30 second exposures (2K video, 10 images/second)
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).
