Some dark-sky shots at the new moon

 New moon occurred on Wednesday 25 June.  These images were obtained that evening. The sky brightness was measured as sqml=21.54 mpsas.  This is not the best for this area, but is still decently dark.  These were all taken with an Olympus E-M1iii + Sigma 56mm f/1.4 lens + Hoya Softon filter.

Antares and the head of Scorpius.  ISO 1600, 60 s.

This region is also known as the Rho Ophiuchi complex, for the spectacular dark and bright nebulae that are revealed in longer exposures. Rho Ophiuchi is the star circled in this image.  Although it is less than 3° from Antares and seems to be within the head section of Scorpius, according to modern constellation boundaries it lies in the constellation Ophiuchus, hence the name.

The tail of Scorpius rising over the flank of Snowshoe Mountain.

 The two bright stars in the lower right quadrant are Lambda and Upsilon Scorpii.  Closer to the center are two bright open clusters, M7 and M6.

The heart of the Milky Way.

 The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is just right of center.  The Small Sagittarius Star Cloud is near the top. The center of our galaxy lies over near the right edge, obscured in visible light by dark clouds of dust and gas.

Sagittarius rising over Snowshoe Mountain.

 The bright star just above the peak of the mountain ridgeline is Nunki, Sigma Sagittarii.  This region also contains the nearby star Ross 154, but I will save that for a later post.

Large prominences on the sun yesterday

 There were some large prominences on the sun yesterday.  The largest extended outward nearly one-fifth of the sun's diameter, or 173,000 mi (278,000 km).

False-color image of the sun in hydrogen-alpha light.  29 July 10:30 am MDT.

Equipment:  Lunt LS50THa double-stacked solar telescope and ASI178mm camera. The full-disk image is blacked out to emphasize the prominences.

Crescent moon, flying star

 The moon has returned to the evening sky. The hours of darkness for Milky Way viewing will be pushed back later and later as the days progress.

2.8-day crescent moon through the clouds.  AT60ED f/6 telescope.

The clouds were mostly gone by 11 pm.  The measured sky brightness overhead was sqml=21.61. This is a very good value by dark-sky standards.  There is still enough airglow, however, to make the silhouette of Bristol Head easily visible.

Big Dipper and Little Dipper over the northern skyline.  Leica 9mm f/1.7, Sparkle-6 filter.

  The colors of the airglow are imperceptible to the eye, but it's presence is detectable by the backlighting of the surrounding landscape.

Milky Way over the southern flank of Snowshoe Mtn.  Leica 9mm f/1.7, Sparkle-6 filter.

 It is not marked in the above photo, but Nova V462 Lupi is still easily visible with  small telescopes near the southern horizon.  It is past peak brightness, but continues to linger around magnitude 6.

Nova V462 Lupi.  Sigma 56mm f/1.4, Softon filter. 25 June.

 

The constellation Cygnus is home to an historically significant double star: 61 Cygni.  At a combined magnitude of 4.8, it has the largest proper motion (movement with respect to background stars) of any naked-eye star.  This motion was studied by Giuseppe Piazzi (who also discovered the first asteroid, Ceres) in 1804 and earned it the nickname "Piazzi's Flying Star".  The distance to 61 Cygni was measured via parallax in 1838 by Friedrich Bessel, making it the first star system to have its distance measured directly.  The current accepted distance is 11.4 ly.  It (the pair) is the 14th closest star system, and the 21st and 22nd closest stars.  It is the fifth closest naked-eye star system, after Alpha Centauri, Sirius, Epsilon Eridani, and Procyon. 

Deneb, the North America Nebula, and 61 Cygni (circled).  Sigma 56mm f/1.4 + Softon.

The 61-Cygni double is easily resolvable in small telescopes as a pair of golden stars.

61 Cygni.  Celestron C8, E-M5iii, ISO 1600, 2.5 s.

Milky Way, Nova V462 Lupi, Barnard's Star

 We were pounded by wind all day yesterday, but late at night it was pleasantly calm.  The sky was also quite dark, with a measured value of sqml=21.69 mpsas.

Some moving bands of green and purple airglow were mixed with the rising Milky Way. 

E-M1iii + Leica 9mm f/1.7 + Sparkle-6 filter.

 

Leica 9mm f/1.7 + Sparkle-6 filter

 

The three vertices of the Summer Triangle are Vega (top), Deneb (left) and Altair (lower right).

 

The position of Nova V462 Lupi is marked with a white circle.

 Nova V462 Lupi appears to have reached maximum brightess at slightly brighter than magnitude 6.  I can see it with some effort using a 10x50 binocular. It is an easy sight in a 60mm f/6 telescope at 18x.

Nova V462 Lupi.  Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3 lens + Metabones Speedbooster + Kase Astroblast filter.

 Compare the above image from last night with the chart for the corresponding region from Sky Safari, which shows no star at that position:

credit: SkySafariAstronomy.com

 Barnard's Star is a red dwarf and the second closest star system after the three-star Alpha Centauri system.  It is 5.96 ly distant and has a visual magnitude of 9.5.  I find it difficult to pick out with 10x50 binoculars, even with this very dark sky.  It is an easy target for a small telescope, however.  It is an interesting fact that the second-closest star system can't be seen without optical aid.  This is true for most of our nearest-neighbor stars, which are dim red dwarfs.

Location of Barnard's Star is marked with a white circle.  Leica 9mm + Sparkle-6 filter.

 

Barnard's Star (circled).  Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3 + Metabones Speedbooster.

Summer-Solstice Milky Way

 The sky was exceptionally dark last night, with measured values ranging between 21.75 and 21.82 mpsas.  Near midnight there wasn't even a whisper of a breeze.  The conditions were perfect for sitting in a lounge chair and scanning the Milky Way with binoculars.

Milky Way rising over Snowshoe Mountain.

 

 Both images: Sony A7iii + Laowa 15mm f/2 + Sparkle-6 filter.

The measured sky brightness on the previous night (19 June) was a more typical 21.55 mpsas. There is a lot more airglow visible in the images from that night.

 

19 June.  Milky Way and green airglow.

19 June. Softon filter.

Conjunction of Regulus and Mars

On the evening of 17 June, Mars and Regulus (Alpha Leonis) were separated by less than 0.8° as they set over Bristol Head. 

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

 

Olympus E-M1iii + 40-150mm ED f/4.0

 

A new star in the sky: nova V462 Lupi

 A nova has erupted in the southern constellation Lupus.  This new star, designated V462 Lupi, is currently around magnitude 6.  Technically, this is at the threshold for naked-eye visibility at a dark-sky site, but because the star is low in the sky (about 12° above the horizon in Creede), optical aid is likely required.  I was able to see it easily with a 10x50 binocular.  

The nova was discovered on 12 June at magnitude 8.7 by the automated sky survey ASAS-SN.

Nova V462 Lupi marked with a white circle.  Samyang AF 24mm f/1.8 lens, softon filter.

Sigma 56mm f/1.4, softon filter.

Olympus 75mm f/1.8, softon filter.

 

This has nothing to do with the nova, other than being a photogenic sight nearby in the sky:

Antares and the head of Scorpius.  Sigma 56mm, softon.

The Milky Way returns

There is now about an hour and a half of darkness between the end of Astronomical Twilight (10:25 pm) and moonrise, which last night occurred just after midnight.   That interval will keep increasing as the moon wanes.

Milky Way rising over Snowshoe Mountain.  Samyang AF 24mm f/1.8 + Sparkle-6 filter.

 

Spica and Corvus on the left.  Leo on the right.

Looking Northwest.

I was hoping to see some auroral activity, but those green and purple bands are just normal airglow, which the camera is good at detecting.  Such colors are invisible to the unaided eye. In spite of the airglow, the sky was nicely dark with a reading of sqml=21.61 mpsas.  Transparency was also good, with seven or more stars easily visible in the Little Dipper, which is in the upper right quadrant of the above photo.

Regulus (blue) and Mars (Red-ish) setting over Bristol Head.

 As of last night Mars and Regulus (Alpha Leonis) are both of equal brightness at magnitude 1.4. Mars is separated from Regulus by slightly more than 1°.  The above photo and the next one below were obtained with an Olympus E-M1iii camera, manual-focus Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens, and Hoya Softon-A filter.

The Lagoon Nebula rising over Snowshoe Mountain.

 

Waiting for the Strawberry Moon

The full moon of June is traditionally called the "Strawberry Moon".  Official moonrise on Tuesday was 8:32 pm MDT, but the moon travels such a low arc through the sky at this time of year that it was over two hours later before it finally showed itself from behind the southern flank of Snowshoe Mountain.  The late-evening clouds were thick, so prospects looked sketchy, but it all worked out.  Moon photos were taken with a 60mm f/6 refractor and E-M5iii camera.

The cloud-capped La Garitas at sunset.

 

waiting, ...

Antares, through broken clouds.  ISO 1600, 1 sec.

Finally, there it is.  More than two hours past moonrise.

The Strawberry Moon, 10 June.

One more, Sony A7iii + Minolta MD Tele Rokkor 300mm f/5.6, ISO 3200, 1/400 s, hand held:

 

Mountain sunsets. Yes, please.

 When star-gazing is not in the forecast, cloud-gazing is the next best thing.  But, you have to remember to look outside.

 

Star trails by moonlight

Star-trail photography works well when the moon is bright because the surrounding landscape is lit up.  This is a one-hour live-composite photo with an Olympus E-M1iii + Laowa 7.5mm f/2 lens:

 In addition to the usual mélange of airplanes, satellites, and passing clouds, at least two meteors were captured.  This is the brightest:

 

More June Moon

There was still a lot of blue in the sky when I photographed the 10.1-d moon yesterday during early twilight.  Celestron C8, Sony A7iii, ISO 200, 1/200 s:

binned x 2

 The northern region:

 The dark oval crater left of center is Plato.  Mare Frigoris is the narrow smooth area just above Plato.  This is the location where the private Japanese spacecraft "Resilience" was attempting (but failed) to make a soft landing.

The southern region: