Monday, December 28, 2020

My Astronomical Highlights 2020

A rather stange year due to the Covid-19 pandemic but still, I was able to got out and watched the sky. Some of my astronomical hightlights in 2020 and astronomical "wow" moments are listed below :

#1 Attending live the launch of Space-X Falcon 9 (CRS-20) from Cape Canaveral SLC40
#2 Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 visible with the naked eye and I could capture both dust as plasma tails
#3 Planet Saturn was observed a couple of days after opposition in almost perfect conditions. Also Mars and Jupiter were observed.
#4 In the evening of July 5th, an impressive sky with NLC covering the sky up to 40°
#5 Making progress in Deepsky photography with M31, M51 and Horsehead nebula in H-alpha


Worth mentioning :

#6 Supernova SN2020jfo in M61. My first supernova which I could track (100days) and making detailed pictures.
#7 My fartest Deepsky objects so far: 3 quasars of which HS 0624+6907 is located at distance of 4.56 billion ly away from Earth.
#8 Communication with NOAA weather satellites and ISS station (ARISS SSTV)
#9 The Sun is awakening with some big sunspots at the end of the year. I was able to see the sunspots with the naked eye... first time ever and remember: don't do this at home
#10 Finishing my Moon sequence from full moon till new moon