String of Flaring Geosats

Twice a year around the equinoxes geostationary satellites can flare in brightness when they are opposite the Sun and reflecting sunlight directly back to the viewer. This captures a string of geostationary satellites flaring near the opposition point, here below Mars this night, as Mars was just past opposition itself. This was October 17, 2020. The string of satellites appear as stationary points as they are fixed in the sky while the stars trail behind them, here in this stack of fifteen 30-second exposures. So the stars are moving from east to west but the geosats are not. Normally, geosats are very dim but when they flare they do get bright enough to see naked eye. While geosats orbit in the equatorial plane of Earth they appear below the Celestial Equator here (which is the projection of Earth’s equator onto the sky) due to parallax from me observing them from my latitude of 51° North. All exposures 30 seconds at f/2 and ISO 3200 with the Sigma 20mm lens and Nikon D750. Stacked in Photoshop. I framed the scene to capture more geosats to the south as the opposition point moved to due south but clouds moved in. This is looking southeast.

String of Flaring Geosats (Annotated)

Twice a year around the equinoxes geostationary satellites can flare in brightness when they are opposite the Sun and reflecting sunlight directly back to the viewer. This captures a string of geostationary satellites flaring near the opposition point, here below Mars this night, as Mars was just past opposition itself. This was October 17, 2020. The string of satellites appear as stationary points as they are fixed in the sky while the stars trail behind them, here in this stack of fifteen 30-second exposures. So the stars are moving from east to west but the geosats are not. Normally, geosats are very dim but when they flare they do get bright enough to see naked eye. While geosats orbit in the equatorial plane of Earth they appear below the Celestial Equator here (which is the projection of Earth’s equator onto the sky) due to parallax from me observing them from my latitude of 51° North. All exposures 30 seconds at f/2 and ISO 3200 with the Sigma 20mm lens and Nikon D750. Stacked in Photoshop. I framed the scene to capture more geosats to the south as the opposition point moved to due south but clouds moved in. This is looking southeast.

Mars, Mira, and the Autumn Constellations

This was a busy sky on an October night! This was October 15, 2020 with Mars at centre just two days past its opposition, and so at its brightest, at magnitude -2.6, in Pisces. In Cetus below, the long-period variable and red giant star Mira (which reaches its maximum brightness only every 332 days) is just past its brightest as well, making it bright enough to be easily naked eye (about magnitude 3.4 here) — it is usually too dim to see naked eye. The name Mira means the “Wonderful”, a name given by Johann Hevelius in 1662, though Mira’s variabilty was discovered in the late 1500s by David Fabricius. Mira is also catalogued as Omicron Ceti. Also in the frame, though faint, are the outer planets Uranus in Aries and Neptune in Aquarius. Both are also near their brightest for the year as both are near opposition as well. Some streaks from geostationary satellites are also visible south of the celestial equator in Cetus, as they flare in brightness for a few minutes near the opposition point as they reflect sunlight back from the point opposite the Sun. The geosats are streaked (even though they are stationary in the sky) because the sky is a stack of tracked exposures, with the camera on a tracker to follow the stars and capture fainter stars and the dim outer planets. Geosats flare in brightness like this only in semi-annual seasons around the equinoxes. The sky is a stack of 4 x 2-minute tracked exposures; the ground is a stack of 4 x 2-minute untracked exposures to keep it sharp, with the two stacks blended and masked in Photoshop. All were at f/2.8 with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 800, and taken from home in southern Alberta. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker. Haze and clouds moving in added the star glows. Half an hour later the sky was too cloudy to shoot this.

Mars, Mira, and the Autumn Constellations (Annotated)

This was a busy sky on an October night! This was October 15, 2020 with Mars at centre just two days past its opposition, and so at its brightest, at magnitude -2.6, in Pisces. In Cetus below, the long-period variable and red giant star Mira (which reaches its maximum brightness only every 332 days) is just past its brightest as well, making it bright enough to be easily naked eye (about magnitude 3.4 here) — it is usually too dim to see naked eye. The name Mira means the “Wonderful”, a name given by Johann Hevelius in 1662, though Mira’s variabilty was discovered in the late 1500s by David Fabricius. Mira is also catalogued as Omicron Ceti. Also in the frame, though faint, are the outer planets Uranus in Aries and Neptune in Aquarius. Both are also near their brightest for the year as both are near opposition as well. Some streaks from geostationary satellites are also visible south of the celestial equator in Cetus, as they flare in brightness for a few minutes near the opposition point as they reflect sunlight back from the point opposite the Sun. The geosats are streaked (even though they are stationary in the sky) because the sky is a stack of tracked exposures, with the camera on a tracker to follow the stars and capture fainter stars and the dim outer planets. Geosats flare in brightness like this only in semi-annual seasons around the equinoxes. The sky is a stack of 4 x 2-minute tracked exposures; the ground is a stack of 4 x 2-minute untracked exposures to keep it sharp, with the two stacks blended and masked in Photoshop. All were at f/2.8 with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 800, and taken from home in southern Alberta. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker. Haze and clouds moving in added the star glows. Half an hour later the sky was too cloudy to shoot this.

The Heart and Soul Nebulas with the Double Cluster

This is a wide field image of the region of Perseus and Cassiopeia containing the bright Double Cluster at bottom left, and the large emission nebulas known as the Heart and Soul Nebulas at top. The Heart Nebula at right is IC 1805; the Soul Nebula (aka Embryo Nebula) at top left is IC 1848. The bright detached nebula at right is NGC 896. Also in the image to the right of the Double Cluster is the large scattered star cluster, Stock 2, the Muscle Man Cluster, barely standing out from the Milky Way background here. The compact star cluster above the Double Cluster is NGC 957. Despite the poor sky conditions, the small, reddened Local Group galaxies, Maffei 1 and 2 are visible above centre amid the dark lanes of interstellar dust. This is a stack of 9 x 8-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with the Canon EOS Ra through the William Optics RedCat 51mm f/4.9 astrograph. This was on the Sky-Watcher EQM-35 mount as a test of the combination, and guided with the ZWO ASIAir and ZWO guidescope, which worked fine until the cold killed the iPad (despite it being plugged in). Placing the iPad inside worked for a while but the weak WiFi from the ASIAir made the iPad lose the connection and revert to my home WiFi, again stopping the guiding. However, the small mount guided quite well when the autoguider worked! Clouds were also coming and going and prevented more images and any taking through a nebula filter — these are all unfiltered. Some light cloud in some frames add the star glows, and so I added a mild Orton Effect with Luminar 4 to purposely add a further soft glow “look” to the image, and which also punches up the nebulosity. North is to the top right here, in this image framed at an angle from the usual N-S, E-W orientation to take in the nebulas and clusters. The graduated scale on the RedCat’s camera angle adjuster helped in the framing. Taken from home under duress (equipment and sky issues!) October 12, 2020. Indeed, I was surprised to get even these frames to make a passable image.

Mars Approach in Autumn 2020

Mars at its closest approach to Earth for another 15 years, on October 5, 2020, with autumn aspens. Taken from home with the waning Moon off camera providing the illumination. This is a stack of 8 median-combined images for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky. All 15 seconds at ISO 2500 and f/4 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750. SharpenAI applied to the ground; DeNoiseAI applied to the sky. Diffraction spikes on Mars added with Astronomy Tools Actions. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar 4.

Venus and Regulus Conjunction (Oct 3, 2020)

The close conjunction of bright Venus with the star Regulus in Leo at dawn on October 3, 2020. Light from the Full Moon illuminates the scene, taken from home in Alberta. This is the vertical portrait orientation version that shows all of the Sickle of Leo. There is a matching landscape orientation version. This is a single exposure with the 50mm Sigma lens and Canon 6D MkII. Star spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.

Moon and Mars in Conjunction (Oct 2, 2020)

The nearly Full Moon (a waning gibbous) in conjunction on October 2 just below Mars, then 11 days before a close opposition and very bright. This was from home in Alberta. This is a 6-exposure stack (from short 1/100 sec for the Moon and Mars to long 1 second for the sky so it does not go completely black) blended with luminosity masks all with the tracked Astro-Physics 105mm Traveler telescope at f/6 for 630mm focal length, and Canon 6DMkII. The disk of Mars is just resolved.

Full Moon Rising in Conjunction with Mars (Oct 2, 2020)

The nearly Full Moon (a waning gibbous) rising in conjunction on October 2 just below Mars, then 11 days before opposition and very bright. This was from home in Alberta. This is a 5-exposure stack (from short for the Moon to long for the sky) blended with luminosity masks all with the 135mm telephoto, untracked, and Canon 6DMkII. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar 4.

Harvest Moonrise over Country Road

The Harvest Moon (the Full Moon of October 1, 2020) rising almost due east at the end of a country road in southern Alberta, near home. The horizon was smoky or dusty, so the Moon was very red as it rose, and looking almost like a totally eclipsed Moon. This is a blend of 6 exposures, all 1/2-second with the A&M 80mm f/6 apo refractor (for 480mm focal length) and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400, taken as part of a 460-frame time-lapse sequence, with shots every 2 seconds. For this composite I choose 6 images at 2-minute intervals, so the Moon rose its own diameter between frames. The ground comes from the first image in the sequence when the lighting was brightest. The Moon rose at 7:35 pm this night, about 30 minutes after sunset. A mild Orton glow effect added to the ground with Luminar 4.

Harvest Moonrise Composite (Sept 30, 2020)

The rising of the nearly Full Moon, the Harvest Moon of 2020, on September 30, from a site near home in Alberta, looking just south of due east this night. Refraction distorts the disk and atmospheric absorption reddens the disk toward the horizon. This is a multiple exposure composite of 6 images with the Canon 6D MkII through the 80mm A&M apo refractor at f/6 without field flattener. Taken as part of a time-lapse sequence with images every 2 seconds. The frames for this blend were taken 2 minutes apart, so selected from every 60 frames out of the sequence. All were at 1/8 second at ISO 100. Images stacked in Photoshop and blended with Lighten mode. The ground comes from the first image.

Aurora and Mars

A 180° panorama of a display of Northern Lights to the northeast, the first in many weeks for us in a Kp4 level display, with bright Mars amid clouds to the southeast, at right. Mars was near opposition and so nearly at its brightest at this time. The Big and Little Dippers are at left to the north; the Pleiades is right of centre to the east. Moonlight from the low gibbous Moon off frame to the southeast provides the illumination. Taken from home, Sept 25-26, 2020, in a stitch of 6 segments, all 20 seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 with the Sigma Art 14mm lens and Nikon D750. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

The Heart and Soul Nebulas in Cassiopeia

The Heart Nebula (at right), aka IC 1805, and the Soul Nebula (at left), aka IC 1848 but also known as the Embryo Nebula, all in Cassiopeia. The small patch of nebulosity at upper right is NGC 896; the small and hard to distinguish star cluster above centre is NGC 1027. The loose star cluster at the heart of the Heart Nebula is Mel 15. The dust-reddened and small galaxies Maffei I and II are in the field at bottom right. This is a stack of: — 10 x 6-minutes at ISO 800 without a filter, — 4 x 12-minutes at ISO 2000 with an Optolong L-Enhance filter, — and 3 x 8-minutes at ISO 3200 with an IDAS LPR v3 filter … Taken as part of a series testing various filters. The IDAS did nearly as good a job as the L-Enhance. All were through the Borg 77mm f/4 astrographic refractor with the Canon EOS Ra camera, and autoguided with the new Lacerta MGEN-3 stand-alone autoguider, using its dithering function to shift the images a few pixels between each exposure so when aligning any thermal noise specks average out. It worked very well. All taken without LENR or dark frames though this was a cool night, this first night of autumn, Sept. 22-23, 2020. Taken from home on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. All stacking, aligning and blending with Photoshop 2020.

Zodiacal Light with Venus and Mars

The Zodiacal Light before dawn on September 21, 2020 with Venus bright in the Zodiacal Light at left of centre, and Mars bright at far right. Orion and the winter stars are at centre. The Big Dipper is at far left/ This is a panorama of 6 segments, each untracked for 25 seconds at f/2 with the 14mm Sigma Art lens on the Nikon D750 at ISO 1600, and stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

NGC 281, the Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia

This is the fairly bright emission nebula NGC 281 in Cassiopeia near the star Alpha Cassiopeiae, or Schedir, at right. NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula, an obviously modern name but quickly becoming dated! This is a stack of 8 x 8-minute exposures with no filter, blended with 5 x 12-minute exposures with an Astronomik CLS broadband nebula filter, all with the Canon EOS Ra, at 1600 for the unfiltered shots and ISO 2500 for the filterered shots due to the filter factor. All were through the venerable Astro-Physics Traveler 105mm apo refractor at f/6. And on the AP Mach1 mount. Clouds prevented more filtered shots. Guiding was with the new Lacerta MGEN3 stand-alone autoguider, using its function of also controlling the camera shutter and performing “dithering” to shift each image by a few pixels at random so thermal noise averages out when the images are stacked and aligned on the stars. For the test, I did not use Long Exposure Noise Reduction or any dark frames, to test the effectiveness of the dithering in averaging out the thernal nouse. It seemed to work fine! And the MGEN guided very accurately. In this case, all stacking and alignment was with Photoshop 2020. The Lacerta MGEN3 is made in Hungary and sold thru 365Astronomy in the U.K. where I bought it from.

Nebulosity in Cepheus

This wide-field image frames the prominent emission nebula IC 1396, at left, and the faint arcs of Sharpless 2-129 at right, in southern Cepheus. IC 1396 contains the dark Elephant Trunk Nebula at about the 3 o’clock position in the nebula. At the top edge of the nebula is the orange giant star Mu Cephei, aka Herschel’s Garnet Star. The dark nebula at top left is Barnard 169-70-71. The dark nebulas at the bottom of IC 1396 are B160, B162 and the snake-like B365. A small blue reflection nebula below and left of the Sharpless complex is VandenBurgh 140. This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered shots, all with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrographic refractor at its native f/5 and with the Canon EOS Ra: 6 x 8-minutes at ISO 1600 without the filter and 4 x 12-minutes at ISO 5000 with the Optolong L-Enhance filter, which reduces light by about 2 to 3 f-stops but really makes the H-alpha nebulas stand out. All stacked, aligned and blended in Photoshop. LENR employed on all frames on this warm summer night to ensure the most accurate dark frame subtraction of thermal noise but at the cost of doubling the capture time.

Cocoon Nebula and Clusters

This area in Cygnus that contains the circular Cocoon Nebula, aka IC 5146, located at the end of the long dark nebula called the Dark Cigar but officially is Barnard 168. The nebulas are flanked by two open star clusters: NGC 7209 at far left just over the border in Lacerta, and Messier 39 at far right. NGC 7209 barely stands out amid the rich starfield here, just below an orange star, while M39 is bright but sparse at right. The clusters and dark nebula stand out well in binoculars but the Cocoon Nebula is a challenge to see in telescopes. This is a stack of 6 x 6-minute exposures with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrographic refractor at f/5 and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800 with LENR on as it was the warmest night of the summer, August 18, 2020. Aligned, stacked and median combined in Photoshop to eliminate some satellite trails. Autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and ASI120MM guide camera with the RedCat on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No filters employed here.

Altair, Tarazed and Barnard's E

A wide-field image of the area of sky around blue-white Altair, bright at centre, flanked by Alshain (Beta Aquilae) at bottom and orange Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae) at top. Above Tarazed is the dark nebula known as Barnard’s E, named for E.E. Barnard who first photographed and cataloged dark nebulas. The E consists of B143 (the darkest component) and the less prominent B142 below. B334 is at top right, while B340 is left of Tarazed. This is a stack of 6 x 6-minute exposures with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrographic refractor at f/5 and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800 with LENR on as it was the warmest night of the summer, August 18, 2020. Aligned, stacked and median combined in Photoshop to eliminate some satellite trails. Autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and ASI120MM guide camera with the RedCat on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No filters employed here.

The Scutum Starcloud with the Wild Duck Cluster

This is the bright region of the Milky Way known as the Scutum Starcloud, in the constellation of Scutum the Shield. The bright Messier star cluster. M11, aka the Wild Duck Cluster, is embedded in the starcloud at left. This is a wonderful area to scan with binoculars and this field of view with the little RedCat astrograph is similar to what binoculars would show. The mass of dark dusty nebulosity at top is Barnard 111 and B110. The dark nebula at right is B103. The smaller Messier open star cluster M26 is at bottom. At lower left is the small globular cluster NGC 6712 with the tiny (on this scale) cyan-colored planetary nebula IC 1295 beside it at left. At lower right beside the orange star Alpha Scuti is the star cluster NGC 6664 with smaller Trumpler 34 to the left of NGC 6624. Above M11 is the small open cluster NGC 6704. This is a stack of 6 x 6-minute exposures with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrograph at f/5 and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800 with LENR on as it was the warmest night of the summer, August 18, 2020. Aligned, stacked and median combined in Photoshop to eliminate some satellite trails. Autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and ASI120MM guide camera with the RedCat on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No filters employed here.

Nebulas and Clusters Around the Small Sagittarius Starcloud

This is an impressive area of sky rich in bright and dark nebulas and open star clusters in Sagittarius and Serpens. This is closeup of the Small Sagittarius Starcloud, aka Messier 24, at bottom right, with the field extending north to include the nebulas M17, the Swan Nebula, and M16 at top right, the Eagle Nebula. Between M17 and M24 is the small star cluster M18. Patches of red and blue nebulosity at bottom right below M24 are IC 1283 and the blue reflection nebulas NGC 6589 and 6590. The prominent dark nebula at the right (west) edge of the Starcloud is Barnard 92 with its lone star embedded in it, with smaller B93 above it. At the left are the star clusters M25 (bottom) and NGC 6645, with the large dark nebula B312 above. This is a stack of 3 x 6-minute exposures with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrograph at f/5 and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800 with LENR on as it was the warmest night of the summer, August 17, 2020. Aligned, stacked and mean combined in Photoshop. Autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and ASI120MM guide camera with the RedCat on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No filters employed here. Clouds thwarted more exposures.

North America Nebula NGC 7000 in Cygnus

The often-photographed (certainly by me) area of the North America Nebula, NGC 7000, near the bright star Deneb, which is in the frame at right, in Cygnus. The Pelican Nebula, IC 5067/70 is right of the North America, in the “Atlantic Ocean” so to speak. The nebulosity at bottom is the “Cygnus Arc,” IC 5068. The small patch of blue reflection nebulosity at top is IC 5076. The patches of dark nebulosity above the North America Nebula are B352 and B356. This is a stack and blend of: four exposures without a filter, each 8 minutes at ISO 800, and four exposures with an Optolong L-Enhance nebula filter to bring out the faintest nebulosity, each 16 minutes at ISO 1600. These are blended in with a Lighten mode. All were with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrographic refractor at its native f/5 and Canon EOS Ra camera, the factory filter-modified camera capable of recording this type of hydrogen-alpha emitting nebulas. Guided with the ZWO ASIAir and ASI120MM guide camera, on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. Taken from home on a perfect summer night on August 15, 2020.

M24 to M16 in the Milky Way

A closeup of the Small Sagittarius Starcloud, aka Messier 24, at bottom, with the field extending north to include the nebulas M17, the Swan Nebula, and M16 at top, the Eagle Nebula. Between M17 and M24 is the small star cluster M18. Patches of red and blue nebulosity at bottom are IC 1283 and the blue reflection nebulas NGC 6589 and 6590. The prominent dark nebula at the right edge of the Starcloud is Barnard 92 with its lone star embedded in it, with smaller B93 above it. My framing was just a little too far west to properly include the M25 star cluster at lower left. This is a stack of 12 exposures, of 4- and 8-minutes with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrograph at f/5 and the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800. Aligned, stacked and mean combined in Photoshop. Taken on a perfect night from home on August 15, 2020 with this area just above my treetops. Autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and ASI120MM guide camera with the RedCat on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No filters employed here. I shot frames with and without Long Exposure Noise Reduction to test the difference on this warm summer night but saw little difference. But then again, thermal noise specks would be lost in the stars here! But LENR was not needed in this case.

Winter Stars Rising at Dawn in August

The stars of the northern winter sky rising at dawn on the morning of August 14, 2020, from home in southern Alberta. The waning crescent Moon is overexposed here, shining above bright Venus , then in southern Gemini as a bright “morning star” in the east. Mars is also bright and reddish, to the south at upper right. Orion is rising over the ripening wheatfield at centre. Above Orion is Taurus with the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. The bright star to the left and above the Moon is Capella in Auriga. Castor and Pollux are rising at far left. This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to smooth noise and 1 image for the sky, all with the 14mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.5 and Nikon D750 at ISO 800 for 25 seconds each. I added a mild Orton Glow effect with Luminar Flex.

Comet NEOWISE at Columbia Icefields (July 27, 2020)

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) on July 27, 2020 from the Columbia Icefields (Jasper National Park, Alberta) from the Toe of the Glacier parking lot, looking north over Sunwapta Lake, formed by the summer meltwater of Athabasca Glacier. So this is a portrait of ice in the sky and icy water on Earth. This was my parting shot of the comet, as it was fading rapidly at this time receding from Earth, though it was still naked eye. Plus the waxing Moon was going to be lighting the sky much more in the following week. So this was the night! While it was pale to the eye, the long expposure of the camera did pick up the blue ion and white dust tails very well. The ion tail extends about 15° and the dust tail at least 10°. The tails are certainly more prominent than in 99% of any comets we see any given year! So this was still a nice comet! Red and green bands of airglow, some faint magenta aurora on the horizon, and some lingering blue perpetual twilight at his northern latitude all tint the sky. The Big Dipper stars are at top. Arcturus is at far left. The orange star at bottom is Tania Australis, here made a little larger by it shining through some thin haze. This is an exposure blend of a stack of 4 x 4-minute untracked exposures for the ground, with 4 x 2-minute tracked and stacked exposures for the sky. Stacking the images smooths noise. Tracking the sky prevents star trailing in the long exposures required to reveal the faintest stars and the subtle comet tails. The camera was on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. For the ground shots I simply turned the tracker motor off. All with the 24mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 1600 for the ground and ISO 3200 for the sky. Topaz Sharpen AI applied to the ground; Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky. In camera LENR employed on all shots on this warm night. The foreground is lit in part by lights from the Icefields Centre buildings off camera to the right.