Yet Another Lunar Halo

I can't get enough of these things.

And despite the folklore, there were no storms the next day.

Leonard In The Sky ...

... with astronomy friends.

This past Sunday, I woke up in the middle of the night, got dressed, grabbed my gear, and went out in to cold. And it was cold. I drove down Route 206 to Atsion Field. There I met a fellow astronomy club member Joe, who had arrived sufficiently earlier to set up his scope and find the comet. Later another club member, Steve, would join us. It was very nice to be out with like minded folks under the stars.

We were there to see Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1), to be specific. The first comet found in 2021.

I had set up everything the evening prior. And was ready to go. 

The best laid plans ...

This is the first shot after I achieved focus. Note the pinpoint(-ish) stars. (Bigificaiton is suggested for all the images in this post.)

Finally, I found it (the green fuzzy bit). But the stars ...

No longer points. Nope, a bit on blobish side.  Grrr ...

It seems that I mounted the camera "backwards" on the ballhead. And thus the knob for the ballhead was hitting the mounting plate release lever. As Joe can attest, it took awhile for me to figure this out. Somewhere along the way I tweaked the focus. Of course, it looked fine on the small screen of the camera.

Note the location of the comet relative to the stars. In the time we observed it moved a noticeable amount. Very cool to see.

If you look closely at this image, you'll see a meteor trail or satellite track just to the left of the comet. It is very faint in the image. We saw several meteors in the two plus hours we were there. And one rather bright satellite as we were preparing to depart.

We observed until it got too cold (my hands were actually in pain, as I had to take my gloves off to futz with the mount) and the Sun began to intrude on the night.

☄️  💫  ⭐️  💫  ☄️

This comet was discovered on January 3, 2021. And it was expected to be the 'best' comet of 2021. And it was. Although for small values of best. It may become a naked eye object, barely, before it disappears in the glow of the sun. It will then become an evening object. albeit low in the sky, for northern hemisphere observes, once it reappears.

I had not been thinking of this comet until the last meeting of my astronomy club, when Joe mentioned plans to go out Sunday morning. I'm glad he did. 

Look, Up In The Sky ...

... There be stars! (You may need to bigafy the images.)

Usually when there is a pesky full moon the stars are hidden by its brilliance.

But tonight, the Earth conspired to hide the moon, and the stars were there for all to see!

🌕  ⭐️  🌕  ⭐️  🌕

Last week my friend Jerry asked what I was doing for the upcoming Lunar Eclipse. "Probably sleeping" I said. At that time the forecast called for rain. 

And even when I went to bed Thursday night, the forecast was still calling for cloudy skies. The forecast was wrong.

So Patty and I woke up just before 4 am Friday morning. But I had screwed up the time. I had read 4:03 am as 4:30 am. And thus I was scrambling to get set up and get some pics as I had missed the point of maximum eclipse. 

I did see it. I did not photograph it. The two shots above were taken around 4:15 am. The first an exposure of .25 sec, the second of 2 sec. Taken from my deck. We watched a bit more and then went back inside to sleep some more. I was tired when I woke up and I'm still tired now.

But I was worth it.

Eclipse

There was an Annular Solar Eclipse today, although I was not on the path of annularity. So for me, it would be a partial eclipse. If I got to see it at all.

The eclipse would be in progress at sunrise. And this was the view around dawn in the direction the sun would be rising. Not a promising sight.

But the clouds were kinda cool looking in the morning light.

And in addition to the clouds ...

... we had fog to deal with.

It was a pretty morning. But I didn't get up at 4:00 am for a pretty morning.

Luckily for us, the sun was rising in a notch in the clouds. We could only hope it would rise faster than the clouds were moving.

The 'beam of light' above the rising sun is a solar pillar, a side effect of the clouds.

It did.

And we were happy.

Eventually it rose about the clouds, although the eclipse was also nearing its end.

It would have been nice to see the sun as it rose, the 'horns' facing up. But I as I didn't think we'd see it at all I'm quite happy with what we did see.

Including this sundog. Another side effect of the clouds.

Look Up In The Sky

And sometimes you'll see clouds. Only clouds.

Although there is lots of clear sky in the image below.

But behind that ribbon of clouds, just below center, are the planets Jupiter and Saturn. One day after their Great Conjunction. Which was completely clouded out for me.

That ribbon of clouds traveled across the sky along its length. Keeping the planets hidden.

Except for that one hole toward the right. A chance to see and photograph these solar system giants.

And in that moment, I kicked the tripod. And the moment passed. The photo op missed.

And now I'll have to wait 800 years for my next chance.

Watch this blog.

And keep looking up.

Look Up In The Sky

And you'll see cool things.

Ok, so maybe you won't really see this, although you'll see some of it.

The three bright stars forming a diagonal line across the upper part of the image are Orion's Belt. At the bottom is the Orion Nebula. Both the Belt and Nebula are visible to the naked eye.

Some of the other bits, including the Flame, Running Man, and Horsehead Nebulas require a telescope, or as here, a camera.

⭐️    🪐    🌕    🪐    ⭐️

I took this image in February 2012 at the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys. And during a recent online meeting of my Astronomy Club, while looking for a different image to present, I stumbled upon this image and made a note to reprocess it. And so I did,

I hope you like it.

Keep looking up!

Look Up In The Sky

And you'll see cool things, like this Lunar Halo.

Even cooler, I spotted it while I was outside listening for owls, and there were three (and maybe four) Barred Owls calling. 

Keep listening!

Night Lights

The reason we went to Fossil Creek back in June was to see was to see blinking lights in the night. Fireflies. Specifically Photinus carolinus, the Synchronous Firefly.

The first night we set up just outside our cabin. And before the clouds, and the rain, came in I managed this shot.

Fireflies in the field, stars in the sky.

The Comet

Another image of  Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), this time a stack of twenty images taken at Warren Grove, just outside the gate of the bombing range.

It wasn't a great night, with clouds on the horizon, but I'm quite happy with the result. The ion tail is subtle but obvious.

The Comet

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), or just NEOWISE for short, named for the space telescope that found it (Near Earth Objects Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer).

We, my friend Bernie and I, first spotted it around 9:40 pm, from our observing location in Whitesbog.

Spotting it was one thing, easy with binoculars. Getting it in the field of view of the camera ...

... a bit more difficult. That's my first image above. Close ...

We were fighting the twilight, clouds, light pollution from the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and the aircraft flying from that base. But we both managed a few good shots. We hope to try again this weekend at a darker spot.

☄  ☄  ☄  ☄  ☄

Before enjoying the comet we enjoyed Jupiter rising in almost the opposite direction.

It was bright enough to autofocus on.

This close up crop shows the focus was pretty good. Bigafy to see all four Galilean Moons.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Patty and I, and our friend Marie, traveled to Tionesta, PA for the weekend.

And when we arrived at the Black Caddis Ranch I got out of the car and looked up.

A harbinger of things to come, as we arrived on Friday and it rained all day Saturday.

But we were there for what came out after dark. And it didn't rain Friday or Saturday evenings.

Which as a good thing.

More to come ...

Light. Clouds. Colors.

And trees.

The full Moon rises over our yard, lights up the clouds, and silhouettes the trees.

There is a lot going on here. The colors around the Moon, the corona and aureole, are the result of scattering and diffraction of light through the cloud droplets.

Add ice crystals and we get a hint of the 22° halo above the Moon.

I never get tired of looking at the sky.

As always, keep looking up.

There Was A Little Black Dot on the Sun Monday ...

... the Same Black Dot I Saw This Day ... *

This past Monday the orbital mechanics were such that the planet Mercury, the planet Earth, and the star Sun lined up with Mercury in the middle. And thus observers here on Earth, using suitable eye protection, could watch as Mercury transited across the face of the Sun.

Unlike the previous event, I observed this transit alone and from my yard.

The transit started at approximately 7:30 AM local time, but as our place is in the woods I needed to wait until the Sun cleared the trees. And I was also battling high thin clouds which acted a bit like a haze filter. But I saw it and was able to photograph it, although I'm a bit disappointed with the resulting images, Mercury is not tack sharp.

I first used a white light filter, essentially a neutral density filter that allows safe viewing of the Sun, on my 600 mm lens. I could not see Mercury in the viewfinder or on the view screen, even at 10x magnification. Unlike the prior transit, there were no sunspots to focus on, as we are at solar minimum. You'll need to bigafy the image and even then Mercury is a small black dot in the center of the yellow disk.

I then switched to my dedicated H𝛼 scope. And while I could see Mercury when looking directly through the scope, once more I could not see it when using the camera. You'll again need to bigafy and Mercury is below and right of center, in line with the "4 o'clock" position.

It was a rather frustrating day and at the time I did not think I managed any usable images. So I was glad when I looked again at the images on my computer. And I've plenty of time to practice before the next one in 2032.

🌞  🌞  🌞  🌞  🌞

* With apologies to the Police.

M49

This past weekend, Patty, myself, and four friends, went to Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, Pennsylvania. For a bit of stargazing.

One of the participants was our friend Marie, who, as noted before on this very blog, is working on her N for N list.* And one of the items on the list was to go observing at Cherry Springs.

The plan had been to go last summer and, as I'm the astronomy geek in our circle of friends, I was to provide the telescopes and serve as celestial tour guide. But my back issues put the kibosh on that plan.

I'm better now (yay!) and we had earlier in the year tried to go observing on Assateague Island. But rain spoiled those plans (boo!).

So if at first, (and second), try, try again. And, continuing the cliche theme, the third time's the charm.

As these pictures of the Milky Way show, charm it was. We had two very good nights of observing.

And Marie was able to checkoff the 49th item from her list.

🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂

* Marie had a milestone birthday last year, the 'Big N'. And the "N for N" list is N things to do in her Nth year. As this is #49 on that list it kinda gives away N. But Marie says that's ok.

VLA

Green Bank Observatory was not the first radio observatory I've visited.

It was this one.

The Very Large Array, which in this picture looks rather small. Hinting at the immensity of the universe.

Unlike the Green Bank Observatory, this one had no restrictions on digital cameras. Cellphones needed to be turned off, although you could turn one on, in airplane mode, snap a picture, and then turn it off. I surmise these scopes are listening at different wavelengths.

No bus tour here, a walking tour instead. And we, that's Patty in her gray coat, were able to walk right up to one of the dishes in the array.

Another difference was that there was no 'radio quiet zone' here. Of course, this is pretty much the Middle of Nowhere, NM so there isn't the need for a quiet zone. At least not yet. And the array is situated in a large valley, the surrounding mountains blocking out much of the radio noise.

The worst source of interference is caused by a source I'm listening to as I type this, satellite radio. The dishes cannot be pointed within ten degrees of one of the satellites as the signal will overwhelm any astronomical source.

📡  📡  📡  📡  📡

We visited the VLA in December 2011. This was our first Christmas trip together. Our main destination was Bosque del Apache NWR,  to see the large flocks of overwintering birds. Maybe I'll blog about that someday ...

The Universe Is Whispering To Us

In July we went to Mothapalooza (something else I need to blog about ... someday I'll catch up with all my pictures). We also visited a number of other places along the way (more pictures to go through).

Including the Green Bank Observatory, in West Virginia.

A bit of serendipity, as this was not on the itinerary.

This was, although not for me:

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

The Via Ferrata at Nelson Rocks. Yeah, no.

Eleni, Rachel, Patty

Our friend Eleni, Eleni's friend Rachel, and Patty in their nice orange helmets, spent the morning engaged in activities no sane person would ever consider.

I. along with our friend Marie, took advantage of the proximity and visited the radio observatory.

The observatory is located in the National Radio Quiet Zone, which limits the use of radio transmitters in the area.

We took a tour to see the scopes up close. Cellphones needed to be off. The motor vehicles allowed in to the scope area were older models, preferably diesel engines, and no fancy electronics. Bicycles were ok. And there are hiking trails though the area.

This truck is full of high tech equipment used to find sources of radio interference in the surrounding area, and work with the owners to remediate the issue. Faulty electric blankets, malfunctioning microwave ovens, WiFi base stations, to name but a few. My favorite was flying squirrels with radio collars.

Another limitation is on digital cameras. Seems the telescopes are so sensitive that even the small bit of radio frequency (RF) noise given off can ruin an observing session.

Thus, unless you have a film camera, all images are at a distance. Alas, I was not aware of this restriction until we were on the tour bus heading out to view the scopes. Has I known I could have purchased one of the disposable film cameras in the gift shop. Oh well.

Fortunately I had a Canon SX 70 HS with me. A camera with a whooping 65x optical zoom, the 35 mm equivalent of a 1365 mm lens. Wowza!

In Uganda (more pictures to process!) several of the participants had so called 'bridge' cameras. Lightweight with superzoom capabilities. The most popular was the Sony HX line. Having a lightweight camera for the Iceland hike (still more pictures to get to, I'll never catch up) was very appealing. But while I'm very happy with my Sony RX 100 II, I opted instead for the Canon for two reasons. The Sony camera was last updated in 2014. And it did not allow for shooting in RAW mode (I'm not good enough to shoot JPEGs). There are tradeoffs. The camera has a small sensor size, and the image quality is not as good as a DSLR. But is another tool in my bag.

I was able to take pictures around the visitors center, of the historical radio telescopes there.

Marie, in the shade of the tree, ponders life, the universe, and everything. And Grote Reber's home made radio telescope. This is not a facsimile, it is the actual telescope, transported from Wheaton, IL to Green Bank where it was reassembled and painted for display. No longer a functional instrument it is a fascinating bit of astronomical history.

Reber had learned of Karl Jansky's pioneering work in radio astronomy at Bell Labs, which inspired him to build his receiver in his back yard. A replica of Jansky's much more primitive receiver is shown above. Jansky was investigating radio noise and discovered that something at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, now known to be a supermassive black hole, was emitting radio waves.

Also on display is the horn antenna used by Harold Ewen and Edward Purcell at Harvard University. With this they were the first to detect the 21 cm radiation from neutral hydrogen.

But the star of the show was the Green Bank Telescope, the worlds largest movable structure. It is massive. And very good at detecting the whispers.

To give an idea of the size, the red light at the top of the secondary holder is six feet tall. The dish could hold two football fields, with room for bleachers.

📡  📡  📡  📡  📡

Sadly, this facility, which was once the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO, which has since added other facilities) was slated to lose all NSF funding starting in 2016.  Thus a private consortium took it over and rechristened it the Green Bank Observatory. It is yet to be seen if these new sources of funding will be enough to maintain the facility long term. I hope so.

Maybe if we used the money wasted on Trumps golf outings ...