Orion rising and Cygnus setting

These images were processed somewhat differently than normal.  The intent was to reproduce the visual experience rather than show the faintest stars.  Watching Orion rise over the mountains in a clear dark winter sky is an inspiring sight.

Orion rising over McCall Gulch. 22 Sep, 9:42 pm.  Samyang AF 24mm f/1.8, sparkle-6 filter.

 The brightest "star" in this image is Jupiter, top left center.  At mag -2.8, it is the fourth brightest object in the sky, after the sun, the moon, and Venus.

Here is the same view, but with a different filter (Hoya Softon-A):

Orion and Sirius rising over McCall Gulch.  Leica 15mm f/1.7.  Sparkle-6 filter.

Softon filter.

Cygnus setting over Bristol Head.  Leica 15mm f/1.7, Sparkle-6 filter.

Mars and the Beehive Cluster (M44) rising over Snowshoe Mtn.  75mm f/1.8.

Testing an old lens, just for fun. Comet C/2023 A3 is still there.

A clear night before moonrise provided an opportunity to try out an old lens: a manual-focus Phoenix 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom lens with Olympus OM mount.  This was designed for 35mm format ("full frame") and was purchased new in 2008.  It is not an ideal choice for astrophotography because of the slow aperture, but it seems to perform surprisingly well for daytime photography (with some easily corrected lateral chromatic abberation), so I wanted to see how it would do at night.  "Phoenix" is a marketing brand-name.  According to speculation in old camera-forum posts, the OEM for this lens was probably the Japanese optical company Cosina.

The lens was mounted with an adapter on a Sony A7iii camera.

19mm f/3.5 with Sparkle-6 filter. 6:34 pm MST.

In this image, Venus is the bright star in the lower left corner, setting over the ridgeline of Bristol Head.  The bright stars Altair (left) and Vega (right) are just above center.  Some bands of red and green airglow cross the middle and lower portion of the frame.

If you know where to look, Comet C/2023 A3 is still visible.  The white circle in the next image shows the location.  I was able to see it as a faint smudge with 10x50 binoculars.  It is currently magnitude 8+ and fading.

The white circle marks the location of comet C/2023 A3.

A longer-focal-length lens provides a better view:

Comet and airglow.  Olympus E-M1iii  + 75mm f/1.8 lens.

The comet is in the upper left of the frame.  The star cluster in the center is IC 4756, and the cluster to the lower right is NGC 6633.

view toward the NW.  19mm f/3.5 + sparkle-6 filter.

The measured sky brightness after these images were taken was sqml=20.9 to the north and 21.1 to the south.

More November star trails and solar prominences

 

2 hr.  E-M1iii + Leica 9mm f/1.7

11:17 am

November full moon, rising and setting

 The full moon of November is traditionally called the "Beaver Moon".  This year it is also a so-called "supermoon", because it becomes full when the moon is near perigee (closest to Earth). The term supermoon is largely meaningless and mostly serves for news-media click-bait purposes.  This November full moon has an apparent size of 33.2' (arcmin).  The December full moon, which does not meet the arbitrary "supermoon" definition, will have an apparent size of 32.6', only 1.8% smaller. Meaningless.

Moonrise over Snowshoe Mtn. 15 November, 6:41 pm MST.

6:42 pm

Moonset over Bristol Head.  16 November, 6:34 am MST.

16 November, 7:21 am MST.

Setting over Bristol Head. 7:42 am MST

7:43 am

Moonlight star trails

 

Olympus E-M1iii + Laowa 7.5mm f/2.  2 hr.

Evening star and star trails

 Venus is the Evening Star.  At magnitude -4.1 it is the brightest object in the sky, other than the moon and the sun.

E-M1iii + 45mm f/1.8

Star trails over Bristol Head.  Leica 9mm f/1.7

Bristol Head is lit up by the 11.5-d waxing gibbous moon.  It is almost impossible to take a long exposure without getting lots of airplane tracks (and satellites).

Summer triangle in the moonlight

Bristol Head is lit up by the 10.1-d moon as the Summer Triangle sinks into the west at 9 pm.  A single puff of cloud lingers near the center of the trio.

Sony A7iii + Samyang AF 24mm f/1.8 + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

The stars of the Summer Triangle are Altair (left center), Vega (right center), and Deneb (top center right).

 

The sun is putting on a show

Massive prominences are visible in hydrogen-alpha light.  The following images were obtained with a Lunt LS50THa double-stacked telescope and an ASI178mm camera.

 The first image in each pair was obtained at 10:21 am MST, the second at 11:05 am MST, about 45 minutes apart.

10:21 am, 11 Nov 2024

 

11:05 am, 11 Nov 2024

10:21 am

11:05 am

10:21 am.  rotated 90 deg clockwise.

11:05 am. rotated 95 deg clockwise.

The camera position changed between exposures, requiring some rotational adjustment.

Massive prominences on the sun. The moon and Saturn have a close pass.

The first clear day in quite some time.  A perfect opportunity to see what is happening on the sun.  

The telescopes used:  Lunt LS50THa double-stacked hydrogen-alpha scope, and an AT80EDT with a Lunt solar wedge for white-light imaging.  The camera used with both was a ZWO ASI178mm monochrome camera. 

Both scopes were shooting through the open south-side bedroom window because I didn't want to go outside and shovel snow around the outdoor mount.  

Hydrogen-alpha.  Lunt LS50THa.

Limb prominences

sunspots, white light.  AT80EDT

In the evening of the same day, the 9.3-d moon passed within about 1/3 degree of Saturn. 

The moon and Saturn.  AT80EDT.

Earth's orbital path will cross through the plane of Saturn's rings early next year.  The rings are becoming harder to see as this event approaches.

Venus and the crescent moon

 Monday evening twilight.  The 3.2-d crescent moon and Venus were eye-catching above the southern flank of Bristol Head as the late-afternoon clouds dissipated.

Sony A7iii + Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s.

Olympus E-M1iii + Olympus 75mm f/1.8.

Comet C/2023 A3 and a meteor.  Olympus 75mm f/1.8.

75mm f/1.8

The comet is still there, but getting fainter.  It can be seen with binoculars, but that will become harder as the moon gets brighter.

Time change, early morning

 This morning clocks reverted to Standard Time.  When I stepped out onto the back porch at 5:30 am (MST) to grab some firewood I spooked a deer.  I also noticed that stars were visible in spite of some clouds low to the horizon.

Jupiter currently rules the late evening and early morning sky.  At magnitude -2.7 it is 3.3 times brighter than Sirius.

Orion and Jupiter over Bristol Head.  E-M1iii + Leica 9mm f/1.7 lens.

Evening star, Barnard's Star, our star

 Venus is now the "Evening Star".  It is currently the brightest planet, at magnitude -4.

Venus, 31 Oct.  Olympus 50mm f/2 ED

Barnard's Star (circled).  01 Nov, 7:50pm MDT. Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s.

Barnard's Star is 6 ly distant and has the largest proper motion (movement relative to the more distant background stars) of any known star (10.3 arcsec/year).  It is getting some attention because of the close pass by comet C/2023 A3.  Barnard's Star is more than twice as old as our sun, and will live much longer, over a trillion years.

Our star, the Sun. 01 Nov.  AT102ED f/7 + Lunt solar wedge.

The sun is near the peak of the current solar cycle, with many active sunspots.