Jupiter and Saturn getting closer

 

Sunspot AR2786 with naked eye

This evening during sunset , sunspot AR2786 could be seen with the naked eye. I made also some pictures with my Nikon D7500 and Nikkor lens 18-200 while the sun was setting. This is the first time i could capture sunspots with my regular lens instead of my telescopes.

No Photokina at Cologne anymore!

A press release was send yesterday by Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse that Photokina at Cologne location will be suspended for the time being. It look likes that the world class imaging, video and photography fair after 70 years ends here.

The reason for this descission is made due to the further massive decline in markets for imaging products and "Unfortunately, at present the framework conditions in the industry do not provide a viable basis for the leading international trade fair for photography, video and imaging,".

NOAA18 22112020 UT10h11 Websdr

 

NOAA 18 Weather Image from November 22, 2020, UT10h11. Data from ESA Websdr but without telemetry data. Own composition using WXtoIMG, ATPDecoder, CS4 and final editing using DeNoise AI.

Mars with dust storm?

The surface of Mars is changing due to a large dust storm. Below picture from last evening UT20h07. Seeing was not good but still the storm is visible. The picture was taken using ZWO ASI224MC on TAL200K f/8.5, ADC and barlowx2. Raw 16 Ser format images stacked using AutoStackert!. Final editing with CS4.

M33 Triangulum Galaxy with COAST

The Triangulum Galaxy M33 is the most distant object which can be seen with the naked eye (during a perfect dark sky conditions); the galaxy is located in constellation Triangulum and about 2.73 million ly away from Earth. Together with Andromeda galaxy (2.54 million ly) and our MilkyWay, the Triangulum galaxy is the third biggest galaxy of the Local Group.

The picture was taken with COAST telescope (a C14 f/ 10 with Fli Proline KAF0900 camera) on Tenerife. The picture is a combination of H-Alpha, OIII, SII and mono (180s). Stacking was done using APP and final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI.

Storm over Belgium - NOAA 18 Image UT9h57

Currently a storm is chasing over Belgium ... see my rework NOAA 18 picture from this morning.

NOAA 18 UT 9h57 Weather Image Europe

Today's weather image from NOAA18 UT9h57. Allignment wasn't a succes except above our region :)

Open star cluster NGC654 with a Supergiant

Open star cluster NGC654 is located in constellation Cassiopeia nd about 7800ly away from Earth. The bright star seen south of the cluster is a supergiant classified as F5Ia.

Setting: Nikon D7500, TAL200K f/8.5, ISO6400 and 10x60s exposure time. Cameracontrol using DigiCamControl and stellarium connected to mount. Stacking with APP and final editing using CS4 and DeNoise AI.

My first succes downloading NOAA weather Image

Today I was able to succesfully downloading a weather image from one of the three NOAA satellites. The image was taken from NOAA 18 using ESA ESTEC Websdr. The soundwave was processed using WXtoIMG and the result was edited using CS4 and DeNoise AI.

SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61 still visible after 170days

I requested a new picture of M61 with the COAST C14 telescope on Tenerife. Comparing this pictures with previous pictures of SN2020jfo in May (my picture with TAL200k) and those one made with COAST in July, it seems to me the supernova is still visible. This time the M61 picture was much better then the previous one earlier this month, so comparing was much easier. See also my previous blog.

Sunspot AR2781 and Helioviewer

With support of Helioviewer I was able to define P and B0 of the Sun :

P is the position angle of the north end of the axis of rotation, measured positive when east of the north point of the disk and 
Bo is the heliographic latitude of the centre of the sun disk.

Sunspot AR2781 ND3.8, Solar Continuum & IR Cut filter

Around midtime the clouds disappeared making it possible the take some pictures of the complex sunspot AR2781. The group is smaller then earlier thus week but still a huge complex sunspot group.


The picture is combination of two pictures :
Nikon D7500 - TAL200K f/8.5 ND3.8 IR & Cut filter
Nikon D7500 - TAL200K f/8.5 ND3.8 Solar Continuum & IR Cut filter

Open Star Cluster NGC663

NGC663, an open star cluster, is located in constellation Cassiopeia and about 2600 ly away from Earth. Setting : Nikon D7500, TAL200K, ISO6400 and 10x60s exposure time. Stacking with APP and final editing using CS4 and DeNoise AI.

Planetary Nebula NGC246

Planetary Nebula NGC246 (Caldwell 56) is located in constellation Cetus and about 1600 ly away from Earth. This pictures was partialy taken with obstructing trees. The planetary cloud is therefor very faint. Someday I will retry this object.

Setting : Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, ISO6400 and 9x60s exposure time. Cameracontrol with DigiCamcontrol and stacking using APP. Final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI.

NGC584 586 596

 

The pictures show 4 galaxies, 3 NGC and 1 PGC Galaxy. The PGC 1028168 is magnitude 15.2 and thus very faint. All galaxies are located in constellation Cetus. The NGC galaxies are about 60 to 100 million ly away from Eart.

Setting : Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, ISO6400, 31x60s. Camera control with DigiCamControl and Stellarium connected to my mount. Stacking using APP and final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI.

Light Blue Snowball NGC7662

Planetary Nebula, NGC7662 (Light Blue Snowball, Caldwell C22), is located in constellation Andromeda and about 2000 light years from Earth.

Setting : Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, ISO6400, 20x60s. Camera control with DigiCamControl and Stellarium connected to the mount. Stacking using APP and final editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI.

Supernova SN2020jfo in M61 after 170 days with COAST

Mid May I made pictures of Supernova SN2020jfo in Galaxy M61. On July 11th, I did the same using the COAST telescope on Tenerife (after 51days); at that moment the supernova was still good visible. I did wonder if this was still the case. The conditions to make pictures of M61 are not good during the summermonths so I had to wait untill end of October. Recently on November7th, I received my picture of M61 taken with the COAST telescope (C14 F10, 120s Clear Filter). I guess, when looking carefully, I see a little faint blur on the location of SN2020jfo.

ET Cluster NGC457

NGC 457 (ET Cluster, Owl Cluster, Dragonfly Cluster, Caldwell C13, Mel 7, Cr12) is an open star cluster located in constellation Cassiopeia and about 7900 lightyears away from Earth.

Setting : Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5, ISO6400, 11x60s exposure time. Camera control with DigiCamControl and Stellarium connected to the Mount. Stacking using APP, editing with CS4 and DeNoise AI for noise reduction.

Comet C/2020 M3 Atlas

Currently a Comet (Comet C/2020 M3 Atlas) is "visible" in constellation Orion. It's about 13.5 magnitude and so it's not visible with the naked eye.

Picture was taken yesterday with setting : Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5; ISO6400 and exposure time 60s. DigiCamControl was used to control my Nikon camera and Stellarium was connected with my AZ/EQ6 mount to find the comet. Editing was done using CS4 and noise reduction with DeNoise AI.

Mars

During the day, the weather was perfect and forecast was looking good. Clear sky and a temperature near freezing point. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough and seeing was not good at all. Mars moved up and down on my screen and humidity was terrible. My best picture is shown below. 

Sunspot AR2781 Details with IR Cut

The sun today, november 7th, 2020 and sunspot AR2781. The overal picture is taken with solar baader film ND3.8. The inserts are taken with ND3.8 and IR cut filter and ND3.8 with Solar Continuum filter.

Sun and Sunspot AR2781 (ND3.8 - Solar Continuum)

This afternoon some high clouds but still good enough to take some pictures of the Sun. Sunspot AR2781 is still a very complex spot. Pictures are taken with ND3.8 and ND3.8 with Solar Continuum filter.

Sun with Sunspot AR2781 and AR2782?

This afternoon the Sun was covered with a very complex sunspot (AR2781). Also in the northern hemisphere I could observe a sunspot, but much smaller (AR2782?).

The picture is a combination of two pictures : ND3.8 and ND3.8 with Solar Continuum filter. Both pictures taken with Nikon D7500 and TAL200K f/8.5. Stacking and editing using CS4.

Mars Jupiter Saturn 2020 Compilation

A compilation of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. All pictures taken this year, 2020. 
Setting : ZWO ASI224MC, TAL 200K f/8.5, ADC and Barlowx2. 

Mars and Mars Mapper

Mars, November 4th, UT21h20 compared with Mars Mapper. 

Picture taken with ASI ZWO224MC on TAL200K f/8.5, ADC and Barlowx2. Samples of 60s (127fps), and stacking with AutoStakkert! and final editing using CS4.

Mars this evening with an open sky. Seeing was good but towards UT22h00 conditions changed with moderate to bad seeing.

Picture taken with ZWO ASI224MC on TAL 200K/f8.5 and ADC and Barlow X2. Stacking with AutoStakkert and final editing using CS4.