Late-night stargazing before the moon takes over

 At 11 pm, about an hour after moonset, there were still patches of clouds in the southeast and a large cloud obscuring most of the Milky Way center, but the rest of the sky was clear.  Sky brightness was a disappointing sqml=21.3, possibly an effect of "lunar twilight", with the 5.5-day moon only 10° below the horizon.

The following images were taken with an Olympus E-M1iii camera, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens, and a Hoya Softon filter.

The Big Dipper sinking into the Bristol Head ridgeline.

Cassiopeia

 

Cepheus

Hercules

Saturn and Neptune (circled), below the Circlet of Pisces.

credit: SkySafariAstronomy.com

A closer look at Neptune and Saturn:

 

Saturn and Neptune (circled).

Neptune is at magnitude 7.8 and should be visible with moderately sized (7x50) binoculars.

Fomalhaut rising over the southern flank of Snowshoe Mtn.  Asteroid (06) Hebe is circled.

Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini) is the 18th brightest star.  Asteroid (06) Hebe was the sixth asteroid discovered, in 1847.  Currently at magnitude 7.6, it should be visible with binoculars and an easy target for small telescopes.  This asteroid is believed to be the source of about 40% of the meteors that strike earth!

Here is a closer look:

 

The Moon is back. Waiting for it to set.

 Cloudy weather has interfered with Milky Way viewing most of this month, and now the moon is back in the evening sky.  The clouds were beginning to disperse while the 4.6-day moon hung low over Bristol Head this evening. 

Celestron C8 + Sony A7iii.

 

A long exposure (15 s) to capture Earthshine.

 

Setting behind the Bristol Head ridgeline.

 An hour after moonset the sky was mostly clear.  The measured sky brightness was sqml=21.35, which is ok but not great.  Some clouds lingered near the north and south horizons.

The following images were taken with a Sony A7iii, Laowa 15mm f/2 lens, and Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

The southern Milky Way.

 

The Big Dipper hangs low over the Bristol Head ridgeline.

The northern Milky Way.

 

Waiting for a clear sky

 At 9 pm on Sunday night the sky was still clouded over.  However, an excellent forecasting tool for stargazers, Astrospheric, predicted that there would be an hour or so of clear sky beginning around 11 pm.  I waited.  The prediction was correct.

The following images were obtained with an Olympus E-M1iii camera, Olympus 45mm f/1.8 and Laowa 7.5mm f/2 lenses, and an Olympus E-M5iii camera with a Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens.  A Hoya Softon filter was used with the 45mm lens, and a Hoya Sparkle-6 filter with the 7.5mm lens.  The 135mm lens was unfiltered.

 

The northern Milky Way rises through clouds and green airglow above the distant La Garita mountains.  Laowa 7.5mm.

In the image above, the W-shaped asterism of Cassiopeia is centered.  To its right is the fuzzy oblong shape of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).  To its left, halfway to the edge, is the North Star, Polaris.  Above it, along the left edge of the Milky Way is the constellation Cepheus and the distinctive red "Garnet Star".

Cassiopeia.  Olympus 45mm.

 

Mu Cephei, the "Garnet Star".  Rokinon 135mm.

The Andromeda Galaxy, M31.  Rokinon 135mm.

The measured sky brightness was sqml=21.5, but the humidity was high and I suspect some patches of thin cloud were acting as a natural diffusion filter for the 135mm images, hence the blue glow around the bright star (Nu Andromedae) in the above image.

Saturn rising above Snowshoe Mountain.  Olympus 45mm.

 

Neptune is currently about 1.5 deg from Saturn. Rokinon 135mm.

Two of Saturn's moons were captured: Titan (T) and Iapetus (I)

Delphinus (upper left), and Altair (right).  Olympus 45mm.

One of the points of light in the image above is the asteroid (2) Pallas.  Pallas was the second asteroid discovered, in 1802, and was at one time considered to be a new planet.  That was before the true nature of asteroids was understood.

 

Delphinus and Pallas (circled).

Sagittarius.  Olympus 45mm.

Shooting through clouds

 Sometimes you have to settle for what you get, rather than what you want.  The clouds on Monday night were taking a long time to clear out, so I just went with it.  The clouds add some extra drama in contrast to the normal clear-sky shots.  Sky brightness was sqml=21.5 when free of clouds.

All images were taken with an Olympus E-M1iii + Laowa 7.5mm f/2 lens + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

Southerly view

 

Arcturus and the Big Dipper hanging low over Bristol Head

Milky Way overhead

The southern Milky Way revealed

Saturn rising over Snowshoe Mountain

Saturn is accompanied by Neptune (circled)

Neptune is the most distant "official" planet — Pluto is now classified as a "dwarf planet".  At magnitude 7.8, it should be visible in reasonably-sized (e.g., 7x50) binoculars. This is the shortest-focal-length (7.5 mm) lens that I have used to capture an image of Neptune.

August star fields

Clear moonless nights have been rare so far this month. Last night over half the sky was still covered by clouds during early twilight. Later in the evening it was clear and calm with a measured sky brightness of sqml=21.49.  

Arcturus is the brightest star in the western sky in the late evening, hanging low over Bristol Head. Above Arcturus is the constellation Corona Borealis. This semi-circle of stars is the location of the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis, also known as T CrB or the "Blaze Star". Based on its behavior prior to previous outbursts in 1866 and 1946, this nova is expected to erupt "any time now" (roughly, every 80 years). Current predictions are for November of this year or June of 2026.  In its normal state the star requires a small telescope to be seen. When it erupts it will likely be similar in brightness to Alphecca, the brightest star in Corona Borealis. 

The following images were obtained with an Olympus E-M1iii + Sigma 56mm f/1.4 lens + Hoya Softon filter.

Corona Borealis.  T CrB is circled. 

 

The constellation Cepheus lies on the edge of the northern Milky Way and is the location of a star of cosmological importance: Delta Cephei.  This star was one of the first identified of the class of variable stars now known as "Cepheids".  The pulsation periods of these stars are directly related to their intrinsic brightness, and the distance to this type of star can thus be inferred simply by measuring its period.  Observations of these stars provided the first measurements of the distance to other galaxies and helped establish our knowledge of the scale of the universe.

Delta Cephei is circled.

 The orange star top center in this image is Mu Cephei, also known as the "Garnet Star".  It is one of the largest and most luminous stars in our galaxy.

 Another significant Cepheid variable is Eta Aquilae.  It was first recognized as a variable star about the same time as Delta Cephei.  Both of these stars are nearly the same distance from us at about 900 ly.

Eta Aquilae is circled.  Altair (Alpha Aquilae) is the bright star top left.

The Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (top center).  The Lagoon Nebula (M8), bottom.

The heart of the Milky Way.

The tail of Scorpius, with star clusters M7 and M6 near center image.

Sturgeon Moon

 A traditional name for the full moon of August is "Sturgeon Moon".  The exact time of the full moon was 1:56 am MDT on Saturday 09 August.  These photos were taken on the same date, but 20 hours later with the moon still 99% illuminated.  Equipment: AT60ED f/6 refractor + Olympus E-M5iii.

There was thick wildfire smoke on Saturday, and this colored the rising moon Saturday night.  There are several nearby (within 60 miles or so) wildfires, but Canadian smoke is apparently also a factor. 

Color-balanced to mitigate the smoke tinge: 

 Daylight color balance ("true color", sort of):

 

The moon through distant trees

The moon was not so much rising as it was sliding along the distant (about 1 mi) ridgetop.  The full Sturgeon Moon occurs on Saturday.  The current moon age is 12.6 days.

 

 

Smoky moon

 We are currently experiencing an influx of wildfire smoke, most likely from the Middle Mesa fire just south of the Colorado border near Navajo Reservoir. That fire is about 60 miles distant.  The campfire-like smell was obvious during a mountain-bike ride this morning, although the air clarity was still pretty good.  It became thicker and more obvious later in the day.  The rising moon this evening was colored a deep golden hue by the smoky haze.

 

Quarter-plus moon last night

After a very windy afternoon the evening was calm, with just a few clouds floating by.  The moon was just past first quarter, at 8.8 days.  

Celestron C8 + Sony A7iii.

 

Clavius is the crater at bottom left with the dark floor and two interior craters.