Comet C2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS

comet C2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS
10/12/2024 7:24 PM Local

Went out to anza saturday to catch the comet.  as the beautiful pink of sunset faded, i was worried it was going to be a bust, but at 7 pm (40 minutes after sunset) i caught a faint glimpse.  it continued to improve over the next 20 minutes then gradually faded as it set.  i could see a vertical streak visually, only slightly better with averted vision.  7x50 binoculars showed a bright nucleus with a large slightly fan shaped tail, close to the photo above.  15x50 IS binoculars gave a bit better view of the core, but the field felt too small.

Animation:

large animation

click on full size if you have the band width:

Image details:

10/12/24 19:24-19:34 local

Orange County Astronomers site

Anza, CA
nikon D850
F-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

2.5 sec @ f/4.5 ISO 1600 55 mm

will try stacking, but i'm not optimistic that it will work with the changing background sky

Edit:

corrected comet name from C/2024 to C/2023

super moon, tiny eclipse 9/17/24

Here’s a partially eclipsed supermoon rising on the evening of 9/17/24.  I happen to have 8 PM dinner reservations at beachcombers, so I headed down to a section of crystal cove with a nice view to the east a bit early to catch it.   

Partially eclipsed supermoon
9/17/24 7:17 PM

As a bonus, i caught a green flash at sunset (confirmed by 4 others), first i've ever seen from California.  sadly no pics.  I will note that as the sun was setting it seemed to be melting into the water at the bottom, suggesting the highly refractive conditions necessary for a green flash.  

a few more shots:

Partially eclipsed supermoon
9/17/24 7:19 PM

Partially eclipsed supermoon
9/17/24 7:19 PM

attempted a few composites combining long and short exposures:

Partially eclipsed supermoon
composite of long and short exposures
9/17/24 7:22 PM

Partially eclipsed supermoon
composite of long and short exposures
complete with crystal cove sign
9/17/24 7:24 PM

imaging details (most people should stop here):
Crystal Cove State Park Vista Point

9/17/24 7:17 to 7:24 PM

nikon D850
F-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

hand held, balanced on tripod--forgot connector :)

exposure details in order:

1/10 sec @f/9 ISO 1250 300 mm
1/25 sec @f/9 ISO 1250 300 mm

1/125 sec @f/9 ISO 1250 300 mm

for the composites, i tried to portray the visual experience by combining long and short exposures in photoshop, showing a bit of the night scape and the bright glow surrounding the moon while preserving the detail of the lunar surface.  I also stamped out some pesky street lights.  

1/2 sec @f/9 ISO 1250 155 mm

1/2 sec @f/9 ISO 1250 55 mm

30 sec video capture 1/1000 sec ISO 3200 30 fps @ 300 mm
stacked in autostakkert,
sharpened in registax

Last weekend's loop de loop 9/1/2024 20:06 UTC

Last weekend (Sept 1st 2024) there was a large coronal mass ejection / flare off of the rim of the sun, followed by post flare loops that lasted for hours.  missed the flare, but caught the loops.  

Solar Prominence 2024 09 01 20:06 UTC

10 minute animation

Solar Prominence 2024 09 01
19:59 - 20:10 UTC

A few minutes on the little guy

Solar Prominence 2024 09 01

Image details:
Eastbluff, CA
2024 09 01
19:59 - 20:10 UTC

M class flare peaked at M5.57 south of AR3811 followed by persistent loops

Ha 
Lunt 60 PT B1200 
manual guiding with alt-azm mount
zwo ASI 290MM
20 second captures
FPS (avg.)=183
Shutter=2.163ms
Gain=351 (58%)
best 25% frames
autostakkert, registax, photoshop
aligned and manually de-rotated in photoshop

here's an autoalign in photoshop without derotation

Solar Prominence 2024 09 01
19:59 - 20:10 UTC

after tedious manual derotation/alignment

Solar Prominence 2024 09 01
19:59 - 20:10 UTC
manual alignment and de-rotation

Loop the loop

Delta Equulei is 60 light years away

 Equuleus (Latin for little horse) is a faint constellation near pegasus (hence the horse theme) rising in the east these nights.  

Constellation Equuleus
"little horse"
horse's head only

Delta Equulei, is the second brightest star in this constellation.  at magnitude 4.47, you'd need dark skies and/or binoculars to see it.

This star is 60 light years away.  

According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the speed of light is the same for all observers.  consider a spaceship moving away from the sun at half the speed of light.  light from the sun speeds by us at the speed of light and then speeds by the ship at the speed of light.  shouldn't it be half the speed of light relative to the ship? 

Speed = distance/time. so the solution is that time slows down on the ship relative to us, keeping the speed of light constant.  

Consider a photon leaving Delta Equulei 60 years ago.  Some of us have experienced 60 years waiting for its arrival tonight.  But the photon, traveling at the speed of light experienced no time at all.  

Something to think about on this day as time flies by.  

imaging details:
nikon D850
poor seeing 
F-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR @ 55 mm F/4.5
20 sec, ISO 400
skywatcher star adventurer tracking mount

Eastbluff, CA

September, 2024

spikes added in processing

apologies for the recurrent theme

Solar maximum, AR 3780

 The sun was littered with sunspots this weekend leading some to claim we've reached the maximum of Solar Cycle 25.  

Sun full disk 8/9/2024 00:05 UTC
Ha Filter "detuned" to continuum.

Sun mosaic 8/9/2024 WL reduced to 33pct

One of these groupings was responsible for another major geomagnetic storm sunday night with aroras visible as far south as texas and arizona (it was cloudy here or my camera would have been out).  

Here's a close up of the largest group, AR 3780 a few days later.  The earth is about the size of the dark circle to the left.  

AR 3780
8/10/2024 23:08 UTC

More shots:

Sun full disk 8/9/2024 00:05 UTC
Ha Filter "detuned" to continuum
colorized

sun continuum v Ha
8/9/2024
00:00.1 UTC
80 pct

Sun full disk Ha exclusion
(central portion inverted)
8/9/2024
 00:00.1 UTC 

Image details:

Ha 

Lunt 60 PT B1200 

manual guiding with alt-azm mount

zwo ASI 174MM

20 second captures

best 20 pct

8/9/2024 00:00.1 to 00:05 UTC

disk:

FPS (avg.)=130

ROI=1936x1216

Shutter=0.032ms

Gain=351 (87%)

Histogram=78%

proms:

FPS (avg.)=106

ROI=1936x1216

Shutter=0.582ms

Gain=351 (87%)

Histogram=100%

detuned surface:

FPS (avg.)=106

ROI=1936x1216

Shutter=0.032ms

Gain=302 (75%)

Histogram=80%

Mosaic

celestron 11" Edge HD, no barlow

ZWO ASI174MM

Baader film, IR/UV block filter, baader solar continuum filter

8/8/2024 23:46-23:49 UTC

20 second captures

best 20 pct

FPS (avg.)=103

Shutter=0.473ms

Gain=380 (95%)

Histogram=89%

close up

celestron 11" Edge HD, no barlow

ZWO ASI290MM

Baader film, 850 nm IR pass filter

8/10/2024 23:08 UTC

ROI=800x800

Shutter=0.056ms

Gain=311 (51%)

Histogramm=91%

East Bluff, CA

generally poor seeing :(

worse on the 8th-9th

4/8/24 solar eclipse travelogue, Russellville Arkansas

a thin cloud across the sun during totality didn't really interfere with the visual experience (photos another story).  i could easily see the black disk surrounded by a glowing ring of light, and colored prominences.  that being said, someone about 100 miles north along the track reported clear skies for totality :(

Thin cloud passing right in front of eclipsed sun. 
Russellville, Arkansas 4/8/2024
also note Venus (right) and Jupiter (left)

The first thing i did in planning for the 2024 eclipse was to find the location with the best chance of clear skies...

Bad news.  Based on historical data, the chance for clear skies was less than 50% across the entire US eclipse path, with the chance being best in the south and worse further north.  Furthermore, the weather patterns were such that large swathes of the path would be taken out all at once, so not easy to drive to clear skies.  

after hours combing through this website run by eclipsophile  meteorologist Jay Anderson, i came up with Kerrville Texas as the best location, with Russellville Arkansas as a back up, and Cleveland as a third (a friend from Cleveland talked me out of this one).  I booked refundable flights and rooms for both, making the final decision two days before the eclipse when weather models can be fairly accurate.  At that point the chance of heavy clouds was near 100% for southern texas and very low for arkansas. ironically maine, which a priori had the worst chance of clear skies wound up being the best:

weather satellite view of the eclipse shadow from 
pivotal weather.com

russellville seemed a pretty popular destination for the west coast

many people watched the eclipse from in front of the hotel where they were renting out parking spaces next to a lawn.  playing up to the event, the hotel gave out schwag bags including sun chips, capri sun, star burst, and eclipse gum...i had my own bud lite.  from there, they viewed the eclipse over the holiday inn--a great ad, but not the most scenic.  

after scouting a few locations in the area, i went back to my hotel and spotted a nice green pasture with a few cows right out back (seemed very Arkansas): 

eclipse scouting, holiday inn, Russellville AR

Will the cows moo at the moon covered sun?

more details:

samsung galaxy S22 ultra

detailed interactive eclipse path:

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html

also links to optimal exposure times

eclipse weather:

https://eclipsophile.com/2024tse/

weather in arkansas typically better slightly north of center line, hence russellville

last minute weather:

pivotal weather

5/15/24 surreal sunset in front of clouds?!

Driving home the other night i caught something odd out of the corner of my eye at sunset:  the horizon was bright orange with the setting sun lighting up a thin cloud.  below that a thick bank of dark clouds went down to the horizon.  in front of that was the grapefruit pink disk of the setting sun.  

WAIT, IN FRONT OF THE CLOUDS?!

I pulled over and snapped these pics with my phone (click for larger size):

captured these images at back bay park overlook, as amazed by the sight as by the fact that joggers and cyclists passed by paying no attention. 

a woman wearing a white baseball cap power-walked by with her eyes down at her phone. i gestured to the horizon and said "have you seen it?"

she looked up at me like i was a lunatic (guilty), looked back down at her phone, and kept walking :(

simple explanation is that the sun is shining through the clouds. 
i have a feeling there's a bit more going on: the top of the grey cloud bank looks just too dark and thick to let the sun through, but lower down, at the level of the sun it seems to lighten a bit. 
i'm thinking the refracted sun is passing through a lighter layer of clouds/fog lower down.

image details:
5/15/24 7:42 pm local
backbay park overlook (easbluff and jamboree), newport beach, ca
samsung galaxy S22 ultra