Starship Asterisk*

I moved. Fires here are caused by a variety of circumstances, and easily become out of control because of hot, arid conditions. Human activity causes most of them, but also lightning as well. Here is a statement directly from Cal Fire: https://twitter.com/CAL_FIRE/status/905088132512530433 (It's Twitter, I know, but I can't find anything more official than that.)

And yes, climate change is playing some kind of role.

Well, now that I have this nice new scope and mount I got just for the eclipse, thought I should get some more use out of it. Here's the Sun a few minutes ago (UT 17:24 2017.09.06). Lots going on considering how inactive it's been the last few years. (Be sure to zoom in to full size.)

Nice conjunction this morning between a thin crescent Moon and Venus.

Ann

Caught a very new Moon this evening- a challenge to pick out even when I knew where to look. Just one lunar cycle after the eclipse, at a phase of 3.8% when I made these shots. One through the telescope, the other with a telephoto just before it disappeared. A tree ornament!

Really pretty clouds a few days back. I'm pretty sure that clouds like this are made up of ice crystals. (I know you can get icy clouds any time of year, but our surface temperatures are finally starting to get cooler and more autumn-like, so these clouds seem right in form.)

Wasn't looking for it, but just happened to notice it. Full moon rising in the middle of the Belt of Venus.

The Dragonboat Festival falls on the 5thday of the fifth lunar month. On this day, we eat pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice.

Walking Bojo last night we happened to get a nice sunset. A good photographer might have done better with such a nice setting but the results are often quite serendipitous. Good light, willing subjects, and modern photographic equipment sure make for fun play.

Nice conjunction this morning. Too many houses in the way for me to easily photograph but I'm sure many others will.

There was a nice Moon out some ten minutes ago. It's disappeared behind some clouds now.

Ann

Last night's "super moon" rising behind Castle Mountain.

I had the same idea but I over-exposed mine. What camera settings are for best for rising full moons? It all changes so fast as the moon begins to appear.

Fred the Cat wrote:What camera settings are for best for rising full moons?

Not much is tougher than a rising full Moon. As a rule, what I find best is to shoot it the night before it's full. Visually, there's no difference in the shape of the Moon, but it's rising in a lighter sky which means you don't have all that dynamic range to deal with. Otherwise, all you can do is shoot different exposures and try for some kind of HDR processing.

Chris Peterson wrote:

Fred the Cat wrote:What camera settings are for best for rising full moons?

Not much is tougher than a rising full Moon. As a rule, what I find best is to shoot it the night before it's full. Visually, there's no difference in the shape of the Moon, but it's rising in a lighter sky which means you don't have all that dynamic range to deal with. Otherwise, all you can do is shoot different exposures and try for some kind of HDR processing.

I've been trying to photograph the rising moon (with the communication towers in the foreground) for quite some time now but conditions, the right time of year, and skill levels haven't caught up with each other yet. Even though it'll even be darker tonight, the "time of year" should be right. I'll try your suggestions. Thanks!

Chris Peterson wrote:

Fred the Cat wrote:What camera settings are for best for rising full moons?

Not much is tougher than a rising full Moon.

Now that you say it, I can admire your picture more, Chris. It is indeed beautiful.

Ann

Just to followup I messed up again. I thought the azimuth needed, for the moon rising, was 65 degrees so I captured the rising moon (camera attached to my 4 inch Celestron this time) coming up the hillside. When I double-checked my records, it needed to be 69 degrees. Good news is - that's the azimuth when I look at the January 31st full moon. Now if only the weather and everything else goes right that night.

This morning, just pre-dawn, I saw Jupiter leading the crescent Moon in the east. The Moon wasn't just a crescent though, it was well illuminated by Earthshine. A little ahead of them, invisible through the city haze, my app tells me were Mars and Spica, while just below the horizon there was a crowd arriving, Mercury and Venus to rise just before the Sun with Saturn just after. A lop-sided Solar System this morning, which may explain how I'm starting the day.

Rob

It's winter solstice, and we are having one of our rare semi-sunny December days here in Malmö. The local time here, as I'm writing this, is 12.37 p.m., but I went to my balcony about half an hour ago to judge the height of the Sun near noon. It cleared the four-story building perhaps some 50-70 meters away from the building where I live, on the top floor. But it didn't clear it by all that much.

The Sun stays above the horizon for 7 hours and 1 minute in Malmö today. Almost all of Sweden is even darker.

Ann

Fred the Cat wrote:Just to followup I messed up again. I thought the azimuth needed, for the moon rising, was 65 degrees so I captured the rising moon (camera attached to my 4 inch Celestron this time) coming up the hillside.

When I double-checked my records, it needed to be 69 degrees. Good news is - that's the azimuth when I look at the January 31st full moon. Now if only the weather and everything else goes right that night.

I guess it'll be a fun date in the Gem state!

There is a really really nice conjunction between Jupiter and Mars this morning!

Ann

Pretty new Moon setting behind the Sun tonight.

About Seven Sisters but while looking at it last night I wondered if any of the constellations were clusters (formed together)

Fred the Cat wrote:but while looking at it last night I wondered if any of the constellations were clusters (formed together) :?:

Well, "constellations" refer to regions of the sky. I expect you're talking about asterisms here, like the Big Dipper (or the Pleiades). It has been suggested based on proper motion that most of the stars of the Big Dipper are associated with a largely dispersed open cluster. I'm sure there are other asterisms with this feature, as well.

Couldn't quite catch the moment of moonrise tonight because of clouds. This is a bit later, late twilight, with some pretty clouds in front. I've got plans to shoot the eclipse tomorrow morning, total just before sunrise. But we have a lot of funny cloud cover that comes and goes, so I'm not sure the weather will cooperate. It's not cold, at least.

Chris Peterson wrote:

Fred the Cat wrote:but while looking at it last night I wondered if any of the constellations were clusters (formed together)

Well, "constellations" refer to regions of the sky. I expect you're talking about asterisms here, like the Big Dipper (or the Pleiades). It has been suggested based on proper motion that most of the stars of the Big Dipper are associated with a largely dispersed open cluster. I'm sure there are other asterisms with this feature, as well.

Scorpius, Lupus and Centaurus are largely dominated by the Sco-Cen association of massive stars. I think Crux may be a part of it, too.

Ann