Milky Way Bortle Class 3 - Chatillon sur Indre

Chatillon sur Indre, is located in the département de l'Indre (region Centre-Val de Loire). We stayed four days at the "La Domaine de la Poignardiere".

The first day was almost entirely cloud free and I took my chance to take some pictures of the milky way. The moon was low above the horizon and the domaine was luminated which resulted in a minor light pollution. No other lights from the surrounding (towns) were visible. According World Map 2015 Light Pollution Map the area is bortle class 3:

SQM 21.81 mag./arc sec2
Brightness 0.203 mcd/m2
Artif. bright.32.0 μcd/m2

Setting : Nikon D7500 10mm ISO3200 30-60s exposure tim

Mount : Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i

Unfortunately, the other 3 days the sky was covered with high and medium clouds.

Apollo and ISS Mission Control Centers

Visiting Nasa's Space Center in Houston with a tour at the Apollo Mission Control Center and ISS Mission Control Center

At the Apollo Mission Control Center - Replay of Apollo 11 landing

Live at the ISS Mission Control Center

Compilation of Sun using Sol'Ex

 

Compilation of images taken on July 20, 2024; using Sol'Ex version 1 on TLAPO60/360 with ND16 and ASI290MM.

Visit NASA Space Center Houston - Shuttle OV-095

 

Last april I visited NASA's Space Center in Houston. With my VIP ticket I could visit some really cool area's :

* Crew Systems Laboratory
* Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
* Apollo Mission Control Center
* ISS Mission Control
* George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park Tour with one of the 3 remaining  Saturn V rocket.
 

At the SAIL OV-095 "Shuttle"

OV meaning Orbiter Vehicle; number started with a "0" never flew, started with a "1" did flew. OV 095 was a shuttle to understand how to build one and to test both hardware and flight software. A fantastic experience standing insite of the first ever structure of a space shuttle. 

Orginal Space Walk Glove ($50.000)

Original Shuttle Carrier NASA905

Falcon 9 First Stage

Image of the Sun using Sol'Ex July 20, 2024 H-Alpha, He D3, Mg b1, H-Beta, Ca K, Ca H

Imaging the sun as we had a clear sky in the morning. Unfortunately, I lost time due to software updates of my PC.

Setting : TLAPO 60/360 with Sol'Ex version 1 and ASI290MM
Filter : ND16 Solar Filter

Software : SharpCap 4, Inti 6.1, JSolex 2.6, IMPPG  and CS4

Sol'ex Images July 7, 2024

No clouds this morning, so perfect time to image the sun using my Sol'ex. Pictures taken in H-Alpha, Na D1, Na D2, He D3(processed), Mg b1, Mg b2 , Ca-H and Ca-K.

Setting :

- TLAPO60/360 with Sol'ex v1 and ASI290MM

- Hoya 16 filter

- Capture software :  SharpCap 4.1 and SSD

- Editing : Inti 6.1, JSolex 2.6 and CS4

Zonnekijkdag 7 juli 2024

 

Volgende zondag, 7 juli is het zonnekijkdag. Zie ook https://www.vvs.be/subsite/veilig-naar-de-zon-kijken/ontdek-onze-zon

Helios Averbode zal aanwezig zijn vanaf 13h00 aan het Moment van de Abdij van Averbode. We zullen aanwezig zijn met verschillende telescopen om de zon op een veilige manier waar te nemen. Heb je andere sterrenkundige vragen, dan zullen we deze met veel plezier beantwoorden.