A brief look at the sun with a new telescope: Seestar S50

 Saturday morning (10 Aug) as the sun rose over Snowshoe Mountain there was a brief window in time where the the clouds held back enough to provide a clear view to the east.  This provided an opportunity to test a brand new astrophotography telescope/camera, the ZWO Seestar S50.  

The Seestar is a robotic "smart" telescope (or, single-lens camera) that is controlled via an app on a phone or tablet.  You power on the device, connect via the app and use a menu to choose a target.  The device uses GPS and an internal compass to figure out where it is and where to point.  I was skeptical,  but with only a couple button presses it searched for and found the sun and locked on.  Impressive.

The Seestar uses a 50-mm diameter f/5 triplet objective.  In camera nomenclature this is a 250mm f/5 lens.  The imaging sensor is a Sony IMX462, with 2.9 µm pixels and a recording format of 1920 x 1080 pixels (5.57 x 3.13 mm).

first picture

2x digital zoom

Seestar S50 in action with solar filter installed

For comparison, here is an image taken with a much larger telescope, the Astro-Tech AT102ED f/7 refractor (fl = 714 mm).

E-M5iii. ISO 200, 1/5000 s, pushed two stops.

Large sunspot group currently visible.

AT102ED, after the clouds moved in.

Looking for the Northern Lights, finding airglow and a colorful sky

The new moon occurred on the morning of Sunday 04 Aug.  Milky Way viewing will get progressively harder as the moon waxes in the evening sky.  There are reports of auroras visible from some locations in Colorado.  In spite of substantial variable cloud cover, it seemed worth the effort to take some images Sunday evening to see what turned up .  The sky was noticeably brighter than average, with sqml=21.2 mpsas. 

All images taken with a Sony A7iii + FE 20mm f/1.8G lens, ISO 1600, 30 s.

Arcturus amid waves of airglow.  Sparkle-6x filter.

 The constellation Corona Borealis is in the center of the above image.  Astronomers world-wide are watching this constellation for the expected outburst of the recurrent nova T CrB.

The Milky Way with clouds and layers of airglow.  Sparkle-6x filter.

Airglow in the northern sky.  Sparkle-6x filter.

The Summer Triangle crossed with green and purple airglow.  Sparkle-6x filter.

The Milky Way and an active sun

There were some forecasts of auroral activity for the night of Monday 29 July, but nothing was visible to the unaided eye.  The sky was noticeably brighter, however, and a metered reading gave sqml=21.33 mpsas, about 45% brighter than the previous evening.  The camera revealed some strong green airglow.

The following images were obtained with a Sony A7iii camera and a 20mm FE f/1.8 G lens, ISO 1600, 30 s.

Milky Way over the southern end of Snowshoe Mountain. Hoya Softon filter.

 

Hoya Sparkle-6x filter

No filter.

These images have been color balanced to compensate for the strong green background, but it is still easy to see bands of green and purple at lower elevations. The third unfiltered image also illustrates how difficult it is to see constellation patterns without the use of a diffusion filter to enhance the brighter stars.

 In the northwest, bands of green and purple airglow were picked up by the camera:

Arcturus and the Big Dipper over the Bristol Head ridgeline. Softon filter.

Some images of the active sun were obtained the next morning:

The sun in Hydrogen-Alpha light (false color).

 

The sun in white light.

The Hydrogen-alpha image was obtained with a double-stacked Lunt LS50THa solar telescope and a ZWO ASI178mm camera.

Lunt LS50THa solar telescope.

 The white-light image was obtained with an Astro-Tech AT102ED refractor and a Lunt solar wedge.

AT102ED refractor set up for solar observing.

Dark sky, bright Milky Way

 The 10-pm sky on 28 July was darker than average with a measured value of sqml=21.73 mpsas.   These images were obtained with a Sony A7iii camera and a Rokinon AF 35mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, 30 s.

Milky Way core. Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

Hoya Softon-A filter.

Softon filter.

There are current predictions of aurora visibility at middle latitudes.  Nothing was visible last night to the unaided eye.  The Bristol Head ridgeline was silhouetted against some kind of background glow, but it could be just normal airglow.

Big Dipper over Bristol Head.  Softon filter.

 

The Milky Way returns

 It was always there, just hidden until now by the bright moon, storm clouds, and wildfire haze.  Last night (27 July) was mostly clear with only a few clouds drifting by near the horizon.  The measured sky brightness at 10 pm was sqml=21.55, which is respectably dark.

The following images were obtained with an Olympus E-M5iii camera and 17mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, 60 s.

The core of the Milky Way looms over the southern flank of Snowshow Mountain:

no filter

A diffusion filter helps to emphasize the relative brightness of individual stars and better reveals the constellation patterns:

Hoya Softon filter

A slightly different composition includes the glow of interior lights from neighborhood cabins and some distant clouds on the horizon lit up by heat lightning.

Hoya Sparkle-6 filter

Morning sun, 27 July

Some solar flares have been causing shortwave radio blackouts.  The following images show the responsible sunspot groups.  These images were taken early (8:40 am MDT).  The sky was later covered by storm clouds for much of the day.

The telescope was an Astro-Tech AT102ED f/7 refractor with a Lunt solar wedge.  The camera was an Olympus E-M5iii with a ND-0.6 filter, ISO 200, 1/1250 s.

 

Drifting clouds and rising Buck Moon

The full moon of July is traditionally known as the "Buck Moon".  This year the full moon occurred on the morning of 21 July.  That evening some drifting clouds gave hints about  where the moon would rise over the shoulder of Snowshoe Mountain.

All photos were obtained with an Olympus E-P5 and Canon FD 300mm f/4L lens.