A clear night with a dark-ish sky is a good thing

Posted by Photonstopper on July 18, 2020
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Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) floats in a clear summer’s night sky, reflected in lake waters.

Comet madness continued Friday night, July 17, as the region was finally blessed with clear skies. I ventured to a county park which extends after-hours access to my astronomy club, set up my gear, and waited for darkness and the emergence of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Twilight seemed to take forever to fade but finally I spotted the comet, and at a decent elevation above the horizon.

I shot many images, experimenting with stacking, using my 400mm telephoto, etc. but the shot I was hoping for and that I finally got was the comet above a glowing horizon, reflecting in the still waters of the park’s lake. Attempts at depicting the expansive and complex tails of the comet gave largely unsatisfying results; in part because our clear night sky wasn’t quite clear, or dark, enough to allow best imaging of the delicate details.

 

A portion of the Milky Way, above constellation Sagittarius. The bright “star” to the left is planet Jupiter.

When the comet finally faded in the west, I made a number of shots of the beautiful night sky itself. We rarely see the Milky Way these days. I grew up in a small town and, at that time, I could step out into the back yard, look up, and see the beautiful star trails of our home galaxy. It was a pleasure to see the Milky Way and get a half-way decent photo of it. I’ve included a labeled copy of the image below, in case you’re interested.

 

Annotated Milky Way image labeling some major features.

Comet moves to the night shift

Posted by Photonstopper on July 16, 2020
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Purity and Pollution. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) floats serenely above clouds illuminated by ground-level light pollution.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was, for us in North America, a predawn object requiring exceptional dedication for observing. See a previous post. In the second week of July, the comet had moved enough in its orbit to become visible in the evening sky — from late twilight to about 11 p.m. Unfortunately, cloudy nights have been the rule lately so opportunities have been few.

On Wednesday night, July 15, the sky forecast was a bit shaky but it turned out the sky cleared enough to allow C/2020 F3 to be seen. I raced off to an observing site some 25 minutes away from home, popular with sunset watchers and, occasionally, comet spotters. Arriving at the site I found the place mobbed, the parking lot nearly full, by scores of would-be comet viewers. Unfortunately, the comet was pretty much at the low end of naked-eye visibility. Light pollution reduced contrast between comet and background sky to make the object nearly invisible. It’s likely most of those in attendance never saw the comet.

Binoculars quickly revealed “NEOWISE,” and a reference exposure I made of the area I expected to find the comet showed I was on target. I shot a number of photos but had problems with focus using the 400mm telephoto; I’m not happy with my “closeups.” As with my predawn photo experience, I found a wider view was much more interesting anyway and that’s what I’ve posted here.

Entitled “Purity and Pollution,” this picture (a single exposure of 8 seconds) shows a pristine wonder of the night sky floating serenely amongst the stars, clouds glowing brightly below illuminated by artificial light pollution. If we were only more careful with our artificial light, we’d save gobs of energy and gain back our starry skies as a bonus!

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) will be gracing our skies for the next week or so and I hope to have more than one opportunity to record the event before it is gone. The next apparition of this comet is expected in about 6,800 years.

First Light and First Efforts

Posted by Photonstopper on July 10, 2020
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Planet Jupiter and three of the four Galilean Moons are shown here, as imaged in the early morning hours of July 5, 2020. First Light for a new astronomical camera. And early efforts on new approaches to astrophotography for me.

I purchased a modest dedicated astronomical camera (ZWO-ASI178MC) recently, mostly for eventual autoguiding of my telescope during long-exposure imaging. The ZWO is described as a “planetary camera” so I thought why not? With Jupiter and Saturn near opposition and in good viewing position, let’s get first light tests using those beauties?

The penumbral eclipse of July 4- 5, 2020 was barely noticeable, even via telescope. The Full Moon, however, was impressive. Photo by James Guilford.

July 4 – 5 was the night of the very weak penumbral lunar eclipse and everything was set up in my yard for that. I had also made significant progress getting the new computerized telescope mount functional. Using SkyWatcher’s Wi-Fi module and my iPhone, helped immensely, providing precise GPS location and time information to the mount. Finder scope alignment helped, too!

So after finishing with the Full Moon and removing the DSLR camera from the telescope, I installed the little ZWO.

Planet Saturn shown here, as imaged in the early morning hours of July 5, 2020. First Light for a new astronomical camera. And early efforts on new approaches to astrophotography for me.

The camera worked well and I was quickly able to record images of Jupiter and Saturn. As a bonus, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot happened to be on the Earth-facing side of the planet. As for Saturn, I could see the image swimming on the computer screen so I didn’t expect much and didn’t get much. You can tell it’s Saturn and even begin to see some atmospheric banding.

Backyard telescope setup for the July 2020 penumbral lunar eclipse and later planetary imaging. This is an iPhone photo shot by the light of the Full Moon.

I still have much to learn about operating the camera control software and post-processing. As crude as the resulting images are, for first efforts the results are encouraging.

 

A celestial get-together

Posted by Photonstopper on July 10, 2020
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The night of July 5, 2020 brought Earth’s Moon, and planets Jupiter and Saturn together in the night sky in what is known as a conjunction. The bodies

Conjunction of Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn the night of July 5, 2020. Jupiter is the bright “star” above the Moon and just below the clouds, Saturn is the tiny dot next to the cloud to the far left of the Moon. Photo by James Guilford.

didn’t appear all that close together, but because Jupiter is at opposition — its nearest orbital position to Earth — it was particularly bright. Much dimmer Saturn was off at an angle from the Moon forming a sort of triangle, if one drew lines between them. Humans love to connect the dots. At any rate, I went out to the countryside to photograph the gathering, first to a favorite storm viewing site. I shot an assortment of images, watching the motion of a few clouds around the Moon and planets. The clouds, I thought, added to the scene. From my first stop, I headed farther west hoping to capture an imagined scene with Moon and planets reflected in the waters of a small lake. By the time I arrived at the second stop, what I thought would be my prime location, slow-moving clouds had rolled. I stayed on location for quite some time, listening to bullfrogs and shooing mosquitoes, while watching the clouds. After some time I called it quits, packed up the gear, and headed home. I am, however, very pleased with the “consolation prize” seen above.

A predawn comet

Posted by Photonstopper on July 10, 2020
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Comet C/2020 F3 floats in the predawn twilight sky over Lake Erie. Photo by James Guilford.

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) presented special challenges for observing and imaging as it showed up very low to the horizon rising ahead of Sun — not much more than 10º before morning twilight wiped it out. July’s weather around the apparition grudgingly cooperated with relatively clear night skies tarnished by atmospheric haze and bright Moon to light it.

Not having any clear views of the eastern horizon from home or nearby parks, at 3:00 AM, July 9 I set out for the Lake Erie shoreline. It took me about an hour to reach the deserted park where I unloaded my gear from the car and made the brief hike down to a convenient fishing pier. With dark lake waters quietly lapping the base of the pier, I surveyed the barely visible gray horizon. The mood was quiet and a bit spooky. But I had a mission.

Star chart showing the location of C/2020 F3 with named stars labeled. Credit: SkySafari

I saw no trace of the comet and only a few stars overhead. I’d cut my sleep short, made a long journey to get there, so I set up my equipment and hoped for the best. Using a star chart, I estimated (guessed) the location of my target. I set the camera for an test exposure and, at 4:18 AM, tripped the shutter.

At first I thought I’d missed it but, holy smokes! There it was! Faint but in the frame!

The location exposure for Comet C/2020 F3 was, astonishingly, right on target! This image, without enhancement, shows the comet (within the circle) and a few stars above. At that time (4:18 AM) and only 4º above the horizon, it was invisible to the eye even with the use of binoculars.

The position of the comet, close to the Sun and beginning its retreat, meant it would not be long before morning twilight would drown out the delicate view. So I shot image after image, groups of images to “stack,” and waited for my preferred and ideal view: the comet glowing over the lake with the colors of early dawn.

A tight crop of C/2020 F3 as predawn colors begin to tint the horizon. Here, at 4:49 AM, the comet is only 7º above the horizon — but nearly as high as it would climb before dawn. Photo by James Guilford.

I switched from 400mm telephoto to 105mm maximum as twilight began to appear and brighten. Eventually I was able to record the scene I had imagined (top of this page). Not long after, dawn’s early light grew brighter than the comet and it was gone.

On the left is C/2020 F3 processed for a pleasing view. On the right the image has been brightened to show as much of the coma/tail as the camera recorded. The expansive dust trail is detectable here but not the comet’s ion tail. Photo by James Guilford.

I never did see Comet C/2020 F3 with unaided eye. I viewed it several times through my binoculars but especially enjoyed the experience of seeking and capturing images.

The comet returns as an evening/dusk object in about a week. I’m sure I’ll be out after it then, too!

As viewed from Northern Ohio this was not a spectacular cometary apparition, but then how many comets do we see in one lifetime?

 

A bright spot after the storm

Posted by Photonstopper on June 11, 2020
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As a storm rolls away and sun breaks through, a double rainbow appears over Medina, Ohio’s old Town Hall and Engine House on Public Square. Dark streaks, anticrepuscular rays, cross the bright rainbow arc.

Returning from a storm interception last night (June 10) and watching the sky from a red traffic signal, I saw a brilliant rainbow glowing against the dark background of clouds. The receding severe thunderstorm was rolling off to the east and the late evening sun was shining through clearing skies in the west. I hoped I could reach Medina’s Public Square before the rainbow faded, since there was the possibility of shooting landmark buildings with a rainbow above. I parked and trotted with my camera across the Square’s green and in light rain, with occasional cloud-crawling lightning overhead, I found my spot. That late sunshine was lighting the bright red top of the city’s old Town Hall and Engine House, dark sky in the background, and — yes! — that brilliant rainbow with a companion arc making the picture. I stood there for a while, shooting the rapidly changing lighting and rainbow intensity and when the sun went away, so did I. I’m very pleased with the resulting picture, which The Medina Gazette published today (at unfortunately low resolution), and I hope it brought a smile to many people who saw it.

“Shelfie” season

Posted by Photonstopper on May 15, 2020
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May 10 shelf cloud. Photo by James Guilford

May 10 Shelf Cloud as it clears a tree line to my west. This one was silent until it arrived with 34+ mph winds of very cold air.

 

It’s “shelfie” season: the time of year when springtime convective weather generates strong thunderstorms and picture-worthy shelf clouds. The popular term for shelf cloud photos, playing upon the term used for smart phone self-portraits or selfies, is shelfie.

May 10 was the first opportunity. I took up position and awaited the storm’s arrival in the parking lot of a public park. As the storm approached I could see only the separated top of the shelf above the treeline; that gave it the appearance of a wall of cloud (not a wall cloud) looming in the distance. The feature came closer and finally made visual separation from the trees and I knew I wasn’t about to be swept away!

 

Looking like a wall of clouds, the separated top of the approaching shelf cloud is visible above a tree line.

The storm was silent, no thunder, until it drew closer and I could hear the roar of wind in the treetops. A 34 mph peak wind was plenty strong, however, and ushered in a steep temperature drop. I was glad to have a jacket with me.

 

May 14 Shelf Cloud. You can see the rain curtain in the distance. When the view of the far woods turned white, I knew it was time to get into the car or get very wet!

Another photo-op presented itself with a squall line of severe thunderstorms on May 14. I thought I’d given myself enough time to reach a selected observation point in a city park in Lorain County but as I drove I realized I wouldn’t make it in time. So I bailed to a rural road and found a likely spot: a farmer’s access drive from the road to an wide-open field. I parked, got out of my car, and there it was! There was thunder and lightning with this one so I had some concern; nearby objects were better targets than me so I told myself I was okay. The shelf rolled over my location quickly. Intense rain arrived with 43 mph winds. And then it stopped. The rain and wind simply stopped. That was a very intense, concentrated line that moved along very quickly. A strange experience.

 

After the Storm. The rain abruptly ended, the wind calmed, and the sky to the west became bright. A strange experience.

Pre-flight stretch

Posted by Photonstopper on May 6, 2020
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Pre-flight Stretch. A Great Blue Heron stretches one of its impressive wings as it prepares to visit our pond on a fishing sortie.

A Great Blue Heron has occasionally been seen perching on a branch of a nearby dead tree. Yesterday I spotted the bird in time to grab my camera and, as discreetly as possible, shoot photos of it. I watched as it sat, then preened a bit, stretched, then took flight down to the edge of our pond. Frogs, fish, and other prey attract the random heron, and our neighborhood Red Shouldered Hawk.