Solar Eclipse 2017 Sequence

Sequence of the 2017 Solar Eclipse - Great American Eclipse. Pictures taken in Rexburg Idaho with Nikon D7500 and TS/TL APO80 480 f/6 with settings ISO100 and exposure time between 1/4000s and 1/15s using Solar Astrofilm from Baader ND5. Raw pictures are converted into DNG format using Adobe DNG converter and edited using CS4.

Meteor Crater Flagstaff

Meteor Crater 14km from Interstate 40 

When driving 60km east from Flagstaff on the Interstate 40 you have the chance to visit a real meteor impact crater. It's the famous and well preserved Meteor Crater (other common names are Canyon Diablo Crater and Barrington Crater).

Panorama of the Meteor Crater 

At the bottom of the crater previous mining activities are still visible aswell as a astronaut plaque

The crater is the result of an impact 50.000 years ago by an object (asteroid) of 50m, a weight of 300.000 tons and a speed of 12km/s.  The result is enormous : a crater 1,2 km in diameter and a depth of 170m. The rim around the crater is 45m above the ground level.

Holsinger Meteorite - 639kg - Visitor Center Meteor Crater

The biggest piece found of this Ni-Fe meteor is a meteorite called the Holsinger meteorite and has a weight of 639kg and can be seen in the Visitor Center of Meteor Crater.  Last year I visited Adler Planetarium in Chicago which shows a smaller fragment of 460kg of the same meteorite.

Fragment of Meteorite - Meteor Crater - presented in Chicago Adler Planetarium

Removing Nikon D60 CCD sensor

Removing CCD (10MP) sensor from Nikon D60 (left) - and IR blocking filter (right)

I always wanted to remove the IR blocking filter to get a full IR spectrum (700-1200nm) for astropictures. Since my Nikon D60 can not be repeared it was now time to exercise. If this can be done succesfully I could decide bying a second hand Nikon D60.
Unfortunately, it's not that easy. And after removing the first set of screws, I already damaged the card connections. Anyway, I continued and got the CCD sensor out together with the IR blocking filter.
It's still very impressive even when you compare with my new Nikon D7500 IMX321 CMOS sensor from Sony.

Fast movement of Venus

Observing Venus each morning it's clear the planet "moves" fast across the sky. The star Regulus is now a couple of degreed north of Venus.

Start of Astronomical Autumn

Today, September 22, at 20h02 (UT) or 22h02 locat time, the astronomical autumn starts. It's the moment the plane of the Earth's equator passes through the center of the Sun's disc. It's also the moment the Sun's apparent geocentric longitude is exactly 180°00'00" and this is called Equinox. Equinox meaning Equi Nox, equal day and night. The autumn period will last 89days and 10hours.

Venus south of Regulus

This morning with a clear sky, Venus shining bright south of Regulus star.

Double Rainbow

Very bright and beautiful double rainbow above Averbode.