Northern Lights

Tromso, Northern Norway, 69 degrees north.

Friday 8th Feb - Soon after arriving at our hotel on the harbour in Tromso, we were amazed to see the lights on our first night.  Unfortunately, having only just arrived, despite having hired a car we didn't yet know our way around to try and find some darker skies, so decided to enjoy the lights as best we could from the harbour wall just by the hotel. We weren't disappointed and although the glare from the buildings was brighter than I'd have liked, we still saw an impressive display. At one point the lights shot across the zenith right over the hotel.

 

Saturday 9th - The website forecast I'd been following suggested the aurora was going to be brighter than the previous night so we were getting excited as evening fell. Unfortunately the clouds rolled in. Despite driving to darker sites away from Tromso, the skies didn't clear beyond a few small breaks and we sadly didn't see any sign of the lights, which was disappointing.

Sunday 10th - patchy cloud throughout the day grew to total cloud cover by sunset at 4.30 so, after evening dinner, we retired to our room and watched for breaks in the cloud on the Tromso all-sky internet webcam. At around 7.30 a small break in the clouds started to appear and I saw a hint of green. The last few nights experience had told me that aurora seen with the naked eye was less bright than shown on the webcam. Nevertheless, as the sky continued to slowly clear, we decided to give it a go, rapidly climbing into our arctic gear and heading for the car. We drove to a small parking area on the other side of the island which we'd previously noted as offering dark views to the north despite it being very close to the airport.

I took a few test images to see if I could see any sign of the aurora, and could just about make out a hint of green, although this wasn't visible to the naked eye. We waited. About 30 minutes later, the clouds miraculously blew over, revealing a clear starlit sky and a pale auroral band to the north.

As we watched, and I started taking images, this suddenly brightened and a bright band grew up from the western horizon to cross the zenith down to the eastern horizon, rippling along the edges. Amazing. After that, the whole sky just erupted, and we didn't really know where to look. Vivid green bands of rippling light danced over the whole sky. Rapidly flickering red and green needles of light began to appear along the edges of the bands. Absolutely stunning.

All images - Nikon D300, Sigma 8mm f5.0, ISO1250, 10 second exposures.
Using an intervalometer I set the camera to take 10 second exposures at 15 second intervals. Here is the resulting short video sequence of a number of these. I now wish I'd taken more between moving the camera to get a longer movie. I guess I'm just going to have to go back and have another go!

Activity on the increase

Sun-spot activity continues to increase towards solar maximum next year.

In a rare gap in the torrential rain and total cloud cover that seems to be the British Summer this year, I couldn't miss the opportunity to try and get a few images last Sunday. Fortunately, active region 1520 was still putting on a show, following the CME that smashed into earth's magnetic field on the 14th.

I was pleased that, following my failure to get the camera settings right during my last imaging session, this time things seemed to go a little better, remembering to set the ISO below 200.

Processing was my usual routine - 20 RAW images, stacked in Registax 5 with tweaks to the wavelets and de-ringing (more by trial and error as I'm far from mastering the various options). In Photoshop CS3 though, I thought I'd be bold and experiment a little. The two images are processed in largely the same manner, differing only in the blend mode applied to a copy of the background layer as output from Registax. I'm not sure which one I prefer.

Blend mode "Lighten"

Blend mode "Multiply"

What a whopper!

Sunspot active region 1476 that is. A rare spell of sunny weather over the weekend allowed me to try and capture AR1476, which is the largest active region so far this solar cycle.

Unfortunately, it's been a while since I've used my camera and I must've been a bit rusty in it's basic operation, leaving the ISO setting on it's previous value of 800. As if I needed that extra bit of sensitivity to record the solar disk! I should've realised things were not right when I found I needed an exposure of 1/5000 to prevent over-exposure, but this clue clearly escaped my attention, so ISO800 it remained. I only realised my mistake when processing the stack of 20 exposures later on Saturday evening.

Considering the noisy settings, the final result is actually not too bad. I presume the stacking in Registax has helped remove much of it, but I still wish I'd had opportunity to repeat the shots at my usual ISO200.

Twilight Parade

I love the beauty of the crescent Moon with the faint Earthshine glowing against a slowly darkening twillight sky. When moving against a backdrop of planets, the view can be magical. And so it was on the night of Monday 26th. The three brightest objects in the sky (apart from the Sun that is!). Venus at the top, with fainter and more distant Jupiter hovering above the branches of the bush. Wonderful.

Conjunction 2

The closest approach of brilliant Venus and Jupiter was unfortunately clouded out this evening. Good job I imaged the two brightest planets a few nights ago then, when separated by a little over 3 degrees.



Jupiter & Venus over Willington



Back to the Sun

Sunspot AR1429 has been responsible for recent coronal mass ejections (CME's) which have been battering Earth today, with another geomagnetic storm due to reach Earth tomorrow. Watchers in northern regions have been enjoying some marvellous aurorae, but sadly few have been visible from Bedfordshire. Hopefully chances of seeing the lights from Britain will increase as activity continues to increase towards solar maximum next year.

A while since I've imaged sunspots, so today I thought it was high time I went back to the Sun.

Conjunction

After several months of inactivity on the blogging front - partly due to my PC being out of action - time for a quick update.

Venus is putting on a fabulous show at the moment, shining at a brilliant magnitude -4.1. This is the conjunction with a lovely crescent moon on the 25th March, the two brightest bodies in the night sky being separated by only 3 degrees.



Earthshine



 

Cracking Sunspots

Some of the best sunspots of the new solar cycle so far, taken this morning, 31st July.

Imaged through my normal set-up of D300, 420mm telephoto (300 + 1.4 TC) and Baader solar film. 20 images stacked in Registax and colourized in Photoshop CS3.

Forgot to label the image whilst processing, so - the 3 main spot groups (from bottom to top) are active regions AR1263, 1261 and AR1260. AR1265 is the small single spot to the upper right of AR1260.



AR1263, 1261, 1260 (bottom to top)



Last Voyage of Atlantis

The very final Space Shuttle journey into orbit.

According to CalSky.com there are several solar transits this week, creating some last-chance imaging opportunities. Ideally I wanted to try and image Atlantis as a separate object to the ISS, as it's tricky to reliably identify once it's docked. So, all that was needed was a transit to occur either just before or just after docking, some clear skies for the critical second, and knowing where to set-up my camera gear.

By good fortune, CalSky.com was predicting a pre-docking transit with the centreline crossing England just north of Corby for early afternoon on Sunday. So, armed with camera's, scopes, laptops and a sat-nav, my mate Dave and I headed off in good time to set-up. Using Google maps, we'd identified a convenient entry into a field just north of the village of King's Cliffe, so off we went.

Cloud cover was a major worry and initially hampered Dave's attempts to find best focus through his scope, but as transit time approached the clouds began to clear and the adrenaline started pumping. For those who haven't tried transit imaging, the emotions are hard to describe. The transit was predicted at lasting only 0.56 seconds, so everything had to come together exactly at the right time. No second chance. Camera alignment, focus settings, self-timer settings, exposure settings being changed down to the last second to compensate for varying cloud cover, clock-watching to get the start of automatic exposures timed just right. And of course - would the clouds be clear of the sun for the critical second. Excitement, anticipation, panic, nerves, apprehension.... they're all there.

I'm pleased to say it all came together - here's the results.

Details -

Size of ISS = 60.1".
Distance from camera to ISS = 460km.
Transit duration = 0.59s
Images taken 2h 27m before docking.

Nikon D300 + 420mm telephoto + Baader solar filter.
Continuous exposure settings set to take 5 fps for 20 seconds at 1/1600s and f8. ISO 200, starting at 13.39 and 44 seconds BST.



A field somewhere near King's Cliffe




Worry - will the cloud spoil the day?




ISS at 13.39.56 seconds (2 image composite)




Close-up, passing across a field of sunspots




Atlantis - spot it if you can!




Atlantis 13.39.58 seconds (2 seconds behind and in hot pursuit of ISS)




Close-up! Passing between sunspots AR1249 and 1245




Path of ISS and Atlantis.



More Shadow Chasing

It's only a few days before Endeavour undocks from the ISS and returns to Earth. Unfortunately, there are no solar transits visible from the UK after undocking, so this imaging session was to try and improve on my previous "docked" image. Endeavour is the dark blob situated between the solar panels, which are also better presented compared to my last post. I was chuffed to get 4 images so, overall, I think this is a more pleasing composite than my last effort. Images taken at Maple Cross, Herts. on 24th May.

Due to the resolution limitations of my camera and lens (420mm), I think this is the best I can achieve with my current set-up. In the raw images, the ISS is only about 25 pixels across, so there's not much data to play with! I need to increase the image scale which means getting one of my scopes set-up for solar imaging. Another project to add to the growing list.

ISS/Endeavour at 10h55m and the all important 24seconds.... (and sunspot 1216)

A very fuzzy Endeavour

Shadow Chasing - Endeavour crosses the Sun

After yesterdays disappointment, the weather today was forecast to be worse, but I checked out a favourable spot anyway to try and image the ISS and Endeavour transit, predicted for this morning at 11.43 and 38 seconds. I've only got 3 attempts left to try and image Endeavour before it's pensioned-off, so I had to try and hope for better luck than we had yesterday.

When I arrived at my chosen site near Pulloxhill, Beds, I parked up in a convenient field ......and it started to rain. "What am I doing here?" I asked myself. As the wind was blowing the cloud along at a fair pace I thought I'd stick it out and hope for the best. Fortunately, 10 minutes before the transit started a big patch of blue blew across the sun and everything was looking good.

No other mishaps, and I started my 100 exposure sequence 10 seconds before the predicted start, at a rate of 5 fps, using my laptop on the car seat to get an accurate time fix.

Back home, I was delighted to have captured 3 images which are composited here. The other dot on the sun is the sunspot AR 1216. The enlargements show some detail - one of the sets of solar panels is very clear, though I'm not 100% sure which bit is Endeavour. I suspect it's the dark blob near the centre.

Duration of transit only 0.57 secs. Shadow ground speed 7.5 km/s

Diameter of ISS = approx 65.4 arc seconds

In a field somewhere, with my DSLR and 420mm lens



Nice cuppa, shame about the cloud

Would you believe it.

My pal Dave and I set-up our gear in his garden, in glorious sunshine, and awaited the ISS transit predicted for 9.45 this morning, with DSLR's and webcams at the ready. With about 1 minute to go, the only cloud to cover the sun during the whole morning slowly moved across the solar disk and we were plunged into shadow. I started exposures as I'd planned anyway - starting 10 seconds before the transit - in the hope that a break in the cloud at the crucial second of transit might appear. Sadly, no such luck and, as if to poke fun at us, the cloud slowly moved away from the disk 10 seconds after the end of the transit! The sun appeared on only the last few frames of my 100 exposure sequence. "Oh dear, never mind" we said to ourselves!

Oh well, the cuppa helped calm the stress and frustration at having missed the event.

Dave's superb observatory with my modest DSLR in front

The offending fluffy stuff

Peekaboo - 10 seconds after the end of the transit!



The one that got away...

Motivated by my previous ISS transit success, I thought I'd have another try today. The centreline was predicted to pass through a local nature reserve (Paxton Pits for those that know it) so if I was clouded out at least I could try and photograph some interesting wildlife.

With 30 minutes to go, things began to look dodgy. I rattled off 15 images to check my exposure settings and then waited impatiently. To my dismay, the clouds won the day and with 15 minutes to go there wasn't a patch of blue anywhere to be seen.

This image was taken from the 15 test images and shows some minor sunspot activity and a bit of faculae, so all was not lost.

Oh, and I didn't get any bird pictures either. Some days are like that, aren't they? Anyway, trying again tomorrow, as there should be an ISS transit visible from my friends back garden....weather permitting. At least we can have a cuppa while we watch the clouds roll in!



No, not the ISS - just a few sunspots.



ISS Transit ID

Following some searching on the web, I've tried to identify the different parts of the ISS that (with a small stretch of the imagination!) can be seen in my image of a few days ago. The solar panels can be rotated to suit the sun's position relative to the station, and are shown at a slightly different angle between the two dates.

As a rough guide to image scale, the area covered by the four sets of solar panels is 361 ft wide x 240 ft long.  The station was imaged at a distance of around 250 miles. As best as I can estimate it, the theoretical resolution on the original image works out at roughly10ft per pixel.

ISS Solar Transit - 13th May 2011

First time I've tried to image the ISS crossing the sun. Seen lots of great images on the web, but naiively thought I'd need more sophisticated gear than I currently have.  Anyway, while browsing the web last night, I happened to check the ISS transit programme on CalSky just for interest. I was surprised to see that the centreline of the next transit was today, a mere 3km from my house. Too good to be true I thought, so I decided to give it a go and hope for the best. The total transit duration was predicted to last only 0.5 secs, so my timing needed to be pretty accurate.
Anyway, here's the result. I have to say I was dead chuffed. The close-up clearly shows the solar panels, with the station modules lying between, at an orientation of what looks like approaching end-on.

Details - 420mm telephoto with Baader solar film. 1/1250s at f8. 100 images taken at 5fps starting 10 seconds before the predicted start of transit.



Composite of 3 images taken 0.2 seconds apart