Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 Fading

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 is certainly fading. Magnitude of the comet is beyond 5.0. 

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Saturn

Picture of Saturn yesterday evening with bad seeing. No really a sharp picture. Setting ZWO224MC on TAL200K f/8.5 with ADC and Barlowx2. Stacking with AutoStakkert! and final editing using CS4.

Jupiter and yellow filter

Picture of Jupiter yesterday evening. Seeing was bad, so pictures are not sharp. 

Setting : ASI224MC camera on TAL200K f/8.5 together with ADC and Barlowx2. I used this time also a yellow filter to boost up the contrast. Each picture is the result of 60s AVI movie which was stacked using AutoStakkert!. Final editing using CS4.

60.000 Visitors

Awesome... reaching 60.000 visitors of my astroblog. Thank you all :)

I'm boarding Mars 2020 Perseverance

Yes, tomorrow July 30, I will be leaving Earth at 13h local time (UT11h) and will be travelling to Mars. My journey starts at Cape Canaveral in Floride platform SLC41 and I will be landing on Mars, Jezero Crater, Feb 18, 2021. The rocket used is a ULA Atlas V rocket. 

Last March I was visiting Cape Canaveral and SLC41 with Atlas V under construction for launching Mars2020 Perseverance. 

 

Compilation of Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

I made a video of my best pictures of Comet Neowise C/2020 F3. The video is made using Movie Maker. All pictures are made with Nikon D7500 and taken this month July on different locations: Donk, Zichem (Demer River) and Averbode.  Pictures are a combination of both single shot and stacked ones. The stacked pictures are realised with tracking on an AZEQ6 mount. Royalty free Music was added from www.bensound.com.

For the video see this link from Google Drive. 

Proud: New personal Facebook record with Saturn

My most recent picture of Saturn was posted on Facebook Sterrenkunde Forum VVS and got about 76 likes. My previous personal record was 61 with comet Neowise C/2020 F3. 

Jupiter and Saturn

Pictures of Jupiter and Saturn combined. Both pictures taken using TAL200K f/8.5 with ASI224MC, Barlow x2 and ADC.

Jupiter with TAL200K ASI224MC and ADC

Jupiter reached opposition last week in the night of July 13 and 14. Due to last weeksfocus on Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 it took me untill yesterday to take some pictures of Jupiter. Some clouds in the north but the southern sky was cloudfree with a good seeing. The GRS (Great Red Spot) showed up central around UT0h but I started to take some pictures 1h before. 

Setting : Camera ASI224MC on TAL 200K f/8.5 and Barlow x2 and ADC. I reduced the area of interest and shooting 1min avi film. Stacking was done using Autostakkert!. Final editing with CS4.

Saturn 2 days after opposition

On July 21, 2020 Saturn has reached opposition, meaning earth is exactly between the Sun and Saturn. Perfect conditions to observe Saturn.

Yesterday I took time to make pictures of Saturn. I used my ASI224MC camera on TAL200K f8.5. Setting: use of ADC and Barlow x2. Capture software SharpCap 3.2 was use to captures images. Stacking with AutoStakkert! and final editing using CS4.

The result is really amazing with a clear view on A, B and C rings aswell as the Cassini Division and Encke Divsion.

Timelapse Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

A 30s timelapse capturing 2h of Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 in the evening sky of July 22, 2020.

NGC7000 Wide Field

A widefield of  NGC7000 was  taken using Nikon D7500 and Tamron 10-24mm. Astrometry was used to identify all objects within the field of view. Editing was done using CS4.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 with ion Tail

Yesterday I was able to make a couple of pictures of Comet NeowiseC/2020 F3. Using my Nikon D7500 and setting :  130mm F/5.6, ISO1250  12x60s exposure time. Raw data converted to DNG and stacked using DeepSkyStacker. Final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 Nightscape

Great nightscape with Comet Neowise C/2020 F3. 

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 with TLAPO80/480 and blue filter

The comet was photographed using my Nikon D7500 and TLAPO80/480 f/6 toghether with a blue filter. DigiCamControl software was used to control my Nikon Camera in order to take exposures beyond 30s.
Setting : ISO640 and 9x60s exposure time. Raw data converted to DNG and stacking using DeepSkyStacker. Editing using CS4.

The ion tail is seen left from the white dust tail. The ion tail and the dust tail are "split" somewhat further away from the comet as seen on the picture. 

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 Dust and Ion tail

Yesterday Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 was much brighter then the day before. High clouds the day before could be the cause but I'm not sure. 

The comet was photographed using my Nikon D7500 with Nikkor lens 18/200mm. Tracking was done on AZ/EQ6 which made it possible to take long exposures. DigiCamControl software was used to control my Nikon Camera in order to take exposures beyond 30s. 

Setting : ISO400 and 15x60s exposure time. Raw data converted to DNG and stacking using DeepSkyStacker. Editing using CS4 and DeNoise AI.

Halo around the Sun

A faint 360' halo around the Sun this morning.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 with Blue Filter

A clear sky was not predicted so I was surprised to a clear sky around 23h00 local time. The comet could be seen with the naked eye but very faint. Less bright then 4 days ago. I had also the impression the tail is getting wider. 

Beside my Nikkor lens 18-200 I used this time my TLAPO 80/480 F6. I experimented using a blue filter to capture the gastail. Not sure if I succeeded but the picture shows a diffuse barrier left from the dusttail.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 : Colorcoding Nucleus

Earlier this week I made some pictures of the naked eye comet Neowise C/2020 F3. The nucleus of the comet is estimated to be 5km in diameter. I tried to visualise the nucleus by colorcoding the comet based on brightness of each pixel. The result is a colored picture with the nucleus being black and surrounded by less bright pixels using colors grey, purple, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan and blue.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

A couple of more picture from Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 from last monday July 13, 2020.

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A couple of more picture from Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 from last monday July 13, 2020.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

On the evening of July 13, 2020 UT22h17 the sky almost clear so I could observe the Comet Neowise. Picture was taken near the Demer River with Nikon D7500 and Nikkor 18-200mm.Picture was edited use CS4 and DeNoise AI.

Supernova SN2020nlb in M85 met COAST telescope

Using telescope COAST C14 in Tenerife it was possible to capture the new discovered supernova SN2020nlb in galaxy M85. Comparing with surrounding stars, the nova is brighter then magnitude 13.

Picture is edited using ASIfitsview, CS4 and DeNoise AI. 

Supernova SN2020jfo in M61 with COAST telescope after 51days

How is it with Supernova SN2020jfo in galaxy M61? I took some pictures of this supernova earlier this year in May. To compare I made some pictures again on July 11 using the COAST telescope in Tenerife. And yes, the supernova is still visible after 51 days as can be seen on the picture below. 

The picture was edited using ASIfitsview, photoshop CS4 and DeNoise AI.

COAST telescope July 10

TAL200K telescope May 20

Comet Neowise C/2020F3 stacked

Stacking of 15 pictures, each 3s exposore time. Picture taken on July 11 with Nikon D7500.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

Some more pictures of bright comet Neowise C/2020 F3. The insert is taken with Nikon D7500 135mm f/5. Picture taken in Donk with at the horizon the church of Linkhout. 

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Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

Picture of Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 from this morning UT1h30.

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3

Getting up at 2h o'clock in the morning, loading the car and picking up my Helios collegue Walter. It's still cloudy and we find a spot with a perfect view towards the north-eastern horizon. Around 3h15m the clouds dissapear and the comet Neowise C/2020 F3 is shining above the horizon. The comet with tail is visible with the naked eye and magnitude 1.

Pictures are taken with Nikon D7500 and Nikkor GIIED lens 18-200mm.

Noctilucent Cloud Storm July 5 Timelapse

I made a timelaps of the Noctilucent Cloud storm on July 5th, 2020.  The timelapse shows a period of about 15 minutes. Link to the timelapse movie.

Noctilucent clouds July5th, 2020

Another picture of the NLC storm on July 5th, 2020. Very bright and dynamic NLC with bands, whirls, waves,.....  a beautiful sky show :)

Noctilucent Clouds July 5, 2020

Around 23h local time (UT21h) the sky was filled with noctilucent clouds (NLC). At some point the clouds were seen 40° above the horizon. 

This cloud group was seen in Poland, north of the UK, Belgium (Antwerp, Gent, Mechelen) and even in Hungary (Budapest).

I was able to make a lot of pictures and saw the structure changing over time. 

Bright NLC

Currently very bright NLC above #Averbode. The NLC reach about 40' above the horizon.