Jupiter during Twilgiht

Clear sky and tempertures around 25°C. In stead of waiting till it's dark, I started taking pictures during twilight. All in all, the pictures are quit good and I'm satisfied with this result. Pictures are taking with TAL200K and ASI224MC Barlowx2. SharpCap capture software was usen with some experiments to boost up the number of frames/s  Staking done using AutoStakkert and editing in CS4.

Sky at Night

Open clear sky and according to MeteoBlue moderate to good seeing .. let's wait and see :)

Sun H-Alpha SolarMax3

Todays Sun in H-Alpha with Prominences, Filaments and great granulation. Stacking done using AutoStakkert and final editing with CS4.

ISS Crossing Sun's Disk

Beginning this week I got an automatic email from CalSky mentioning that during the week the ISS will be crossing the Sun's disk of which the centerline was about 800m from my home. The max. distance the ISS is still on the disk, is about 1,3km from the centerline based on my earlier calculations. So I decided to do the set up from my backyard.
Set up used was my refractor TS/TLAPO 80/480 f/6 with ASI224MC and Baader ND5 Solarfilm.
Frames are set 15 per second usng SharpCap capturing software. Capturing started 1 minute before crossing. During capturing I could not see any crossing of the ISS.
I used AutoStakkert to look into each frame in order to find out of the ISS was captured. Only one frame showed the ISS. The ones before and after did not captured the ISS. Not sure why, could be that ISS is considered as bad frames and was kicked out. For that I need to do some more investigation.

So the result is shown below (frame #1646) and the good news... it's on the picture. The bad news... I have greater expectations :)

Sun H-Alpha SolarMax 3

My first try-out using my CMOS camera ASI224MC on SolarMax 3. Some trial and error was done to have the correct double stacking setting and durng the same time camera settings are adjusted.
SharpCap software was used to capture the sun for about 2 minutes and almost 1000 frames. Stacking completed with AutoStakkert and final editing using CS4.
The pictures shows some beautiful prominences and filaments and also the granulation. I'm really satisfied with this picture of the sun and see even more posibilities with this set up.

Saturn TAL200K ASI224MC

Some more results of Saturn around opposition. Picture taken with TAL200K, ASI224MC and barlowx2. Sharpcap is used as capture software and 120s timing was set. Files are RAW16 SER profile and Stacking with AutoStakkert. Final editing in CS4. In below picture color was kept.

Saturn at Opposition

Today, Saturn lies opposite to the Sun. This is the best moment to observe Saturn and Saturn can be seen in the constellation Sagittarius. Not only is Saturn the entire night visible it appears as its brightest and largest. This optimal positioning occurs when Saturn is almost directly opposite the Sun in the sky. At around the same time that Saturn passes opposition, it also makes its closest approach to the Earth.

Below is a picture from two days ago, taken with TAL200K and ASI224MC with barlowx2. 

Saturn with TAL200K ASI224MC

Last night was a cloud free night but with some minor turbulance around midnight. Saturn showed up nicely between Mars in the east and the moon and jupiter in the West.
Picture was taken unsing TAL200K with ASI224MC, barlow x2 and capture software sharpcap. Stacking using AutoStakkert and editing with CS4.

Almost Full Moon

Clear sky with Moon, Jupiter and Venus visible after sunset.

Fireball June 16, UT21h11 - My Tweet in HLN

As mentioned earlier in my blog I observed a very bright fireball last Saturday, June 16, 2018 UT21h11 (local time 23h11).  In the many years as an amateur astronomer, this was my first real fireball observation and I was really impressed.

Credit U. Reichert

The fireball was reported by 201 people on the IMO (International Meteor Organization) and the event is catogorized under the number 2065 -2018 see the link.

Heatmap of observations is shown below and the traject is probably from south-east toward North-West and the meteor ended above the city of Luik (Liege/Lüttich). I'm located north-west of Luik and saw the meteor moving from north west towards south east.

Different newspapers reported the observation as well ... some highlights.
Even  my tweet,  posted on 23h13 was picked up by the local newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws" .... nice :)

See also video taken during concert of Foo Fighters during Pink Pop in the Netherlands.

Solargraphs Dec'17-June'18

In December 2017 I installed four pinhole camera's for capturing the sun's orbit. The end result is a Solargraph.
This year I experimented to have some foregrounds projected with the Solargraph. It was a partial succes and this is my story  :

1) My House
Pinhole camera installad about 10m from my house; south oriented. Sun's orbit is well captured aswell as the shape of my house.

2) Langdorp Windmill
Pinhole camera installed 25m of windmill, East oriented. Seems the Solargraph was not fully captured. Also the windmill is hardly visible.

3) Zichem Maagdentoren

Pinholecamera installed with view on the Maagdentoren about 75m away and located in the South-East Direction. The camera was installed in a public area and only the last month it was heavenly damaged by people who want to rip it off. The Solargraph is fully visible aswell as the Tower. The reflections in below the solargraph are possible due to reflection in the water by the Demer River.

My fourth pinhole camera is still to be delivered as it was put on another location.
Conclusion : all my camera's (50Cl) can capture the entire sun's orbit. Putting a camera in a public area is still risky; it's not my first time I lost a camera or a camera got damaged. Getting a landscape as a foreground of the Solargraph is possible but need more exercise.

Start Astronomical Summer

Today at exactly 12h07 the Astronomical Summer will start on the Northern Hemisphere.

Sunrise in Berceanos Del Real Camino - Spain(Credit Pascal Hilkens)

Setting Jupiter June 16, 2018

Settings Jupiter (June 16, 2018).
ASI224MC on TAL200K with Barlow x2. Capturing for 60s with SharpCap 2.8. Files are AVI in RGB and stacking done with AutoStakkert; editing using CS4 specifics Sharpening, Constrast -50 and Brightnest +10. Finally Jupiter central alligned .

Halo around Sun

Bright Halo around the Sun this morning above #Averbode. Compilation of different pictures and editing & stacked using CS4.

Exciting evening - Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Fireball, Meteor, Iridium

The evening of June 16, 2018 was very exciting. Clouds dissapeared slowly and the Moon and Venus showed up after Sunset. Low at the North West horizon both Venus and the Moon were easy to spot and very bright. Picture taken using 18-200lens on Nikon D7500.

During set up of my TAL200K a very bright fireball lighted up the sky. Around UT21h11 a white fireball crossed the sky in the direction of the South to South East. At the end the fireball fell into different green pieces. Wow what an event. 

The fireball was reported via the Meteor website and has the reporting number #143001. I reported the fireball also on Twitter and immediately feedback came from others who saw the fireball in the Netherlands (Brabant).

I made some pictures of Jupiter with TAL200K and ASI224MC. I used barlow x2 and about 20 captures were taken of each 1 minute. Seeing was variable with some very bad and some good results. Capturing was done using SharpCap2.8; stacking completed with AutoStakkert and editing using CS4.

The Great Red Spot (GRS) is recognizable and bright enough to capture on the pictures.

After midnight at UT22h14 pictures taken from a Iridium Flare (Iridium 80) and a couple of minutes later a slow meteor crossed the sky in the direction from south east to north west.

Halo boven #Averbode

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Heldere #Halo boven #Averbode.
Currently a Halo around the Sun can be observed @Averbode

Zonnekijkdag op 1 Juli

Altijd al eens de zon willen zien doorheen een telescoop? Kom dan eens kijken tijdens de zonnekijkdag op zondag 1 Juli.  Op een veilige manier en met de nodige zonnefilters kun je dat de zon van kortbij bekijken. Noteer de datum alvast in je agenda.
Helios Averbode zal die dag aanwezig zijn vanaf 14h aan het Moment van de Abdij van Averbode.

Lichtende nachtwolken of Noctilucent Clouds

Lichtende nachtwolken of Noctilucent Clouds (Latijn: nachtelijke schijn) zijn wolken die zich op een hoogte van ongeveer 80km bevinden. Ze zijn enkel zichtbaar op breedtegraden tussen 50° en 70° in de periode van eind mei tot begin juli. Het is namelijk dan dat de zon niet te diep onder de horizon daalt waardoor het zonlicht als het ware van onderuit op deze hoge wolken vallen en naar het 

oppervlak weerkaatsen. 

Kijk daarom rond het tijdstip van de astronomische zomer en na zonsondergang (of voor zonsopgang) in de richting van de noordelijke horizon en zoek naar wit-blauwe draderige wolken. Hun vorm is niet statisch en verandert voortdurend wegens de sterke luchtstromen (tot wel 750 km/h) op deze hoogtes.


Het ontstaan van deze wolken is nog niet helemaal verklaard maar om wolken te kunnen vormen zijn er een aantal voorwaarden waaraan te voldoen is. De belangrijkste voorwaarden zijn de aanwezigheid van condensatiekernen en de aanwezigheid waterdamp. Men gaat er tegenwoordig van uit dat zeer fijne microstofdeeltjes als condensatiekern fungeren. Men veronderstelt dat deze microstofdeeltjes afkomstig zijn van meteoren en/of stof van vulkaanuitbarstingen. Vervolgens zet zich dan een laagje ijs af op deze stofdeeltjes, ijs dat gevormd wordt door bevroren waterdamp. Het ijs dat het stofdeeltje omhult is uiteindelijk verantwoordelijk voor het weerkaatsen van het zonlicht.

Een aantal feiten onderbouwen bovenstaande theorieën. Zo zijn de eerste gekende observaties van lichtende nachtwolken pas van 1885, 2 jaren na de uitbarsting van de Krakatau welke grote hoeveelheden stof in de atmosfeer heeft kunnen brengen. Ook na de inslagen van meteorieten waren er meer meldingen van lichtende nachtwolken zowel bij de Toengoeska als de Chelyabinsk explosie. Meer recent heeft men ook kunnen vaststellen dat lichtende nachtwolken ontstaan net na lanceringen van zowel Space Shuttles als van een Falcon-9. Deze lanceringen brengen grote hoeveelheden waterdamp in de hogere atmosfeer met zich mee.

Zijn lichtende nachtwolken een indicator voor een wijzigend klpmaat? Verschillende studies zouden dit aantonen. De aanwezigheid van broeikasgassen zouden de hogere luchtlagen meer doen afkoelen waardoor we meer lichtende nachtwolken vaststellen. Verder zouden de verhoogde broeikas methaanwaardes de oorzaak zijn voor het vrijmaken van meer waterdamp en dus meer lichtende nachtwolken. In beide voorbeelden zijn lichtende nachtwolken misschien de kanarie van onze mijnen van weleer.

 

Sun H-Alfa June 16

Sun in H-Alfa with some bright prominences and active region in white. Editing done using CS4.

Active region Sun

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Yesterday some minor sunspots were visible but today they almost invisible. However the active region is still visible in H-alfa. Both white shapes with dark filaments are visible on the suns disk. A couple of bright prominences are aswell visible.

Solargraph Time to Prepare your Pinhole Camera

It's time to plan for your Solargraph. June 21 and December 21 are perfect dates to install your pin hole camera capturing the sun's orbit during a period of  6 months.

See link  for both English and Dutch instructions how to make a Pinhole camera for Solargraphs

Some personal results :

Mars Dust Storm

View by Opportunity on the Sky of Mars getting more dusty - Credit NASA

Mars is currently the brightest object in the morning sky but on the planet itself a perfect storm for science is happening. It all started on May 30 and currently the storm is covering a quarter of planet. It's unclear if this storm will grow out to a global storm but what we do know is that an entire family of satellites and rovers are oberving the storm activity very close.

View by Curiosity Credit NASA 

See more on the Mars Weather Website

Spotless Sun in H-Alpha with Solarmax 3

Again a spotless day but the Sun disk is full of action when looking in H-Alpha (Hydrogen Alpha emission line of 656,28 nm). This morning the sky was very transparent and free of clouds. So ideal to rehearse with the Solarmax 3 70/400 <0.05 nm. Visual observation with 8-24mm zoom show different filaments and prominences. Trying the different setting of the scope show some granulation but more practise is needed.
Great to see that both filaments as prominences are visible in one field view. This was not possible with the PST 40 as I needed to move the sundisk around to see the details.

Furthermore I try to take some pictures afocal using the 8-24mm zoom. Best result was achieved with 14mm and camera setting 1/200s and ISO 1600-2000. The picture was edited using CS4. The picture shows the different filaments aswell as the prominences.

Sun in H-Alpha with Solarmax 3

First sunlight with my SolarMax 3. Some small disturbings due to high clouds but what a great view. Even though the sundisk is spotless, different details are visible. A drawing was made and confirmed with data from the Gong netwerk.
My picture is a trial and more training is needed.

Explaining The Heliosphere

The Heliosphere defines one type of boundary of our solar system.

We know the solar wind has a pressure and close to the Sun, the solar wind can easily push the interstellar medium away from the Sun. But further away from the Sun, the pressure from the interstellar medium is strong enough to slow down and eventually stop the flow of solar wind from traveling into its surroundings. The entire area or bubble inside the boundary of the solar system is called the Heliosphere. Scientists believe that the closest parts of the Heliosphere are 90 times farther away than the distance between the Earth and Sun. That's three times as far as Pluto.

Ingredients of the Heliosphere are knows as the Bow Shock, Heliopause, Heliosheat and Terminatin Shock.

Bow Shock
The Bow Shock is formed in front of the Heliosphere, as the Sun moves through the interstellar medium. This can be compared what happens at the prow of a boat. Depending of the speed of the Sun traveling into our galaxy it's either a Bow Shock or Bow Wave.

Heliopause
The area where the solar wind's strenght is no longer great enough to push back the interstellar medium is called the Heliopause. It's is often considered to be the outer border of the solar system.

Termination shock
The area where the speed of the solar wind becomes slower than the speed of sound is called the Termination Shock. 

Heliosheath
The zone between the Termination Shock and the Heliopause is called the Heliosheath.

50 Days to go for the Lunar eclipse

On July 27th, 2018 a Lunar Eclipse can be observed in Belgium and big parts of Europe.

Solar Astrophysics

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The Sun is a facinating object to observe. But how functions our nearest star and what's happening in and outside of the Sun. Hopefully I will find many answers in this new book from Peter Foukal with the title "Solar Astrophysics" .
Once read, I will post a summary of the book.

Jupiter TAL200K ASI224MC

Clear sky yesterday evening but after 23h30 local time start of bad seeing. As from that moment it was impossible to make good pictures of Jupiter. Some time before I was able to make some picutres knowing it was not really dark. Pictures are taken with ASI224MC on TAL200K. Setting of 100ms exposure time for 180s and a Barlow x2 was used. With the Barlow x2 Jupiter became much bigger in the picture making it more easer to sharpen the image. Stacking with AutoStakkert and editing using CS4.

Sunset with Weatherstation

Beautiful sunset with in the front my Weatherstation WMR200.

Noctilucent Clouds, just a matter of time

Both Radar in Germany aswell in the UK give a signal for potential NLC. So keep your eyes open as it just a matter of time to observe NLC :)

Radar Kuhlungsborn (Germany) 
Radar Aberystwyth (UK, Wales)

Ceres near Epsilon Leo

On the evening of June 3, Ceres will be very "close" to Epsilon Lea, a star in the head of constellation Leo.

Weather Summary May 2018

The mean temperature in May 2018 was the highest compared with the last 4 years. Rainfall on the other hand was the lowest compared with previous 4 years.