First day of Spring

Today, the first day of spring starts at March 20 at UT21h24 (local time 22h24).

Capturing Cosmic Rays with DSLR Nikon D7500

I read an article (cosmic rays) on facebook on capturing of cosmic rays using a DLSR. I was wondering if I could reproduce this at home using my Nikon D7500 with CMOS sensor. I set up my Nikon  (see settings) and found some "strikes" in my images which I believe could be linked to cosmic rays and even Muons.

Muons are part of the secundary cosmic rays still having huge energy up to 4GeV. We can expect 1 muon count/cm2/min at sea level. Having a APS-C sony sensor and planning for 10min exposure, this would mean about 30 hits. When analyzing my pictures I see a lot of dots of which some are hot spots. I counted about 40 counts on two images without the hotspots.

The double rings on the image are identified as hotspots. 

To compare, the energy of photons are 4x10exp-19 Joule (3.5eV), muons have an energy (when reaching Earth) of 6.4x10exp-10 Joule (4GeV) or 1.600.000.000 higher. 

Setting:

- Nikon D7500, without lens, but with cap and installed in a carton box

- Camera and thus sensor, horizontal positioned

- Lights: 12x600s, ISO3200

- Software : N.I.N.A. , APP, CS4

Some literature :
- Catching Cosmic Rays with DSLR.

- Capturing Cosmic Ray with a DSLR Camera

Lecture Quantum Computers Maastricht

Together with my collegue Walter, we attended a lecture on Quantum computers at the University of Maastricht (Studium Generale). Professor Lieven Vandersypen from the University of Delft (Netherlands) explained how it works and what we can expect from it in the near future.

Selfie with Prof. dr. Lieven Vandersypen

Some background: 

Imagine you have a toy that can spin in two ways, either up or down. This toy is like a classical computer bit, which can be either 0 or 1. Now imagine you have a different toy that can spin in multiple directions at once, like a top that can spin in many directions at the same time. This toy is like a qubit in a quantum computer.

A qubit is a tiny particle that can exist in multiple states at the same time. It's like a spinning top that can spin in many directions at once, which means it can do many things at the same time. This is called superposition. Qubits can also be linked together in a special way called entanglement, which means that they can communicate with each other instantly, no matter how far apart they are.

This might sound strange and impossible, but it's all thanks to the strange rules of quantum mechanics. Quantum computers are still very new and scientists are still figuring out how to use them, but they have the potential to be much more powerful than classical computers, because they can do many things at the same time. So in the future, we might use quantum computers to solve very difficult problems that classical computers can't handle, like finding new medicines or understanding how atoms work.

Quantum computers represent a major breakthrough in the field of computing. Unlike classical computers that use bits that can only exist in a state of 0 or 1, quantum computers use qubits that can exist in multiple states simultaneously, allowing for exponential growth in computing power. This has the potential to revolutionize fields like cryptography, where quantum computers can easily break existing encryption methods, and materials science, where they can simulate the behavior of complex materials with unprecedented accuracy.

M81 Bode's Galaxy - 3h45m exposure time

Galaxy M81, Bode's Galaxy, located in constellation Ursa Major, about 12 million light years away from Earth.

Setting: TAL200K f/8.5, ASI2600MC, Guidingcamera ASI224MC with 50x240mm guiding scope
Lights : two nights, 45x300s, flats, darks, bias

Software: ASIair Plus, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI

Final picture cropped.

Some reflection is seen on the pictures; probably due to the Moon which was high in the sky.

Venus-Jupiter Conjuction

The Venus-Jupiter Conjunction on March 1, 2023

Setting: Nikon D7500 24mmf/4.5 ISO400 4s

Software: Acrobat DNG converter, CS4

400 Days to go

Exactly 400 days to go.... On April 8, 2024 the next Total Solar Eclipse in the US will be visible.

M81 and Holmberg IX

Galaxy M81 (Bode's Galaxy) is located in constellation Ursa Major and about 11,8 million lightyears away from Earth. Next to M81 we see it's satellite galaxy, Holmberg IX (UGC5336), a dwarf galaxy. 

Setting: TAL200K f/8.5, ASI2600MC, Guiding ASI224MC with 50/240mm on EQ8R

Lights: 25x300s, darks, bias, flats, darkflats

Software: ASIair Plus, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI