Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[Borg]

Today's APOD has an awesome Red Sprite!

This time in high definition.

 

[bruha]

Saturn (I think one of my best attempt) and Jupiter ( ) by eyepiece camera...

 

[collinsmark]

The Veil Nebula, imaged from my back patio Aug-Sep 2023. West is "up" in the image (North is to the left).

Figure 1. The Veil Nebula (Western half of the Cygnus Loop).

The "Veil Nebula" is generally considered to be the western half of a larger structure called the Cygnus Loop (see below for clarifications), but sometimes refers to only the brighter parts of the Cygnus Loop, including the "Eastern Veil Nebula (not shown in the image).

The Veil Nebula itself (western half of the Cygnus Loop) contains several parts such as:

• The Western Veil (a.k.a. NGC6960, "The Witch's Broom," "Lacework Nebula," "Filamentary Nebula"), which is in the upper-center of the image, directly under the really bright star (52 Cyg). I prefer calling that the Witch's Broom, personally.
• Pickering's Triangle (a.k.a. "Pickering's Triangular Wisp," "Williamina Fleming's Triangular Wisp") shown in the left-center of the image.
• Other nebulous regions such as NGC6979 and NGC6974, shown in the lower-left of the image.

Some consider the Eastern Veil Nebula (a.k.a. NGC6992, NGC6995 -- not shown) to be part of the Veil Nebula. It's certainly part of the Cygnus Loop; no argument here. But personally, if I'm referring to the Eastern Veil Nebula, I'll specify "Eastern." By the way, the Eastern Veil Nebula contains the "Bat Nebula" which you can see if you scroll back to one of my posts from last year. In the image above, the Eastern Veil Nebula would be just below the bottom of the frame.

So, as you can see, the common naming of the Veil Nebula and its parts are shrouded somewhat in a veil of ambiguity.

Figs 2 and 3 are crops of the above image.

Figure 2. Crop showing the Western Veil (a.k.a. NGC6960, "The Witch's Broom," "Lacework Nebula," "Filamentary Nebula").

Figure 3. Crop showing Pickering's Triangle (a.k.a. "Pickering's Triangular Wisp," "Williamina Fleming's Triangular Wisp").

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

Oh, I almost forget to mention, the Cygnus Loop, including the Veil Nebula, is a supernova remnant.

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight
-- RC-Astro plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 34×400s + 41×480s = 9.24 hrs
Hα: 87×480s = 11.60 hrs
Oiii: 77×480s = 10.27 hrs
Total integration time: 31.11 hours.

The Cygnus loop, as seen from Earth, is bounded by the Bat Nebula (not shown here) to the East, and the Witch's Broom to the West. Happy Halloween season!
.

 

[timmdeeg]

I had the chance to stay a good week at the Astrofarm Kiripotib in Namibia - what a breathtaking Milkyway!
Fortunately it was possible to rent a mount which I was familiar with, otherwise it wouldn't have made sense.
Without filter except Helix Nebula, SQM ~ 21,6 each night.

Lacerta 200 Fotonewton on Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Sony A7III unmodified
Auto guiding with StarAid Revolution B
DeepSkyStacker - Siril - LightZone

M20 M8 - 09/13/2023 - 4x300s ISO 400 - 7x300s ISO 6400

NGC 253, the Sculptor-Galaxy is a starburst galaxy 11 MLj away, a crop - 09/13/2023 - 15x300s ISO 400

M16 a crop, the pillars of creation - 09/14/2023 - 28x300s ISO 400 - 9x300s ISO 1600

NGC 1365 accompanied by galaxies farther away - 09/17/2023 - 27x300s ISO 800

NGC 1365 is a double-barred spiral galaxy about 56 MLj away from us, a crop.

NGC 4744, the Pavo-Galaxy, about 30 MLj away - 09/13/2023 - 24x300s ISO 400

NGC 7293, the Helix-Nebula, a crop - 09/17/2023 - 24x300s ISO 800 - Filter Optolong L-eXtreme

 

[chemisttree]

I had the chance to stay a good week at the Astrofarm Kiripotib in Namibia - what a breathtaking Milkyway!
Fortunately it was possible to rent a mount which I was familiar with, otherwise it wouldn't have made sense.
Without filter except Helix Nebula, SQM ~ 21,6 each night.

Lacerta 200 Fotonewton on Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Sony A7III unmodified
Auto guiding with StarAid Revolution B
DeepSkyStacker - Siril - LightZone

M20 M8 - 09/13/2023 - 4x300s ISO 400 - 7x300s ISO 6400
View attachment 333232

NGC 253, the Sculptor-Galaxy is a starburst galaxy 11 MLj away, a crop - 09/13/2023 - 15x300s ISO 400
View attachment 333233

M16 a crop, the pillars of creation - 09/14/2023 - 28x300s ISO 400 - 9x300s ISO 1600
View attachment 333234

NGC 1365 accompanied by galaxies farther away - 09/17/2023 - 27x300s ISO 800
View attachment 333235

NGC 1365 is a double-barred spiral galaxy about 56 MLj away from us, a crop.
View attachment 333236

NGC 4744, the Pavo-Galaxy, about 30 MLj away - 09/13/2023 - 24x300s ISO 400
View attachment 333237

NGC 7293, the Helix-Nebula, a crop - 09/17/2023 - 24x300s ISO 800 - Filter Optolong L-eXtreme
View attachment 333238

Love the diffracts on the stars!

 

[chemisttree]

Today’s eclipse from just west of San Antonio, TX. Afocal with my IPhone through an 80mm Astrotech ED with a TV 12mm Nagler.

 

[collinsmark]

The Cave Nebula (Sh2-155, Sharpless 155, Caldwell 9), imaged from my back patio in San Diego, Aug-Oct. 2023. the Cave Nebula is a diffuse nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It lies approximately 2400 lightyears away.

In my childhood neighborhood, there was a nearby city block built on a hill. The houses at the top of that hill lied on a small plateau having level yards, leisurely strolling back to a steep drop-off. The properties at the bottom were likewise flat; their backyards resting up against the bottom of a tiny strip of veritable forest on a steep incline. The area in between the backyards -- where an alleyway might have been in a normal neighborhood -- was a narrow escarpment packed to the hilt with trees and brush: a no man's land concealing mystery and the unknown. We could barely peer into the foreboding entrance of the wooded void as we hiked the adjacent city street. We called it "The Creeps."

And "hiking" that street frequently, we did. In the wintertime, that steep road was our primary playground for sledding. It was too steep for most cars to climb the icy snow packed concrete anyway, so we children claimed it as our own for the season. Oh, what fun we had racing head-first down the ice at speeds faster than any child could experience without adult supervision, only to intentionally wipe-out as a method of decelerating before we reached the danger of the cross street at the hill's bottom. We'd ritualistically heal our bruises by wiping/patting the snow-pack off our thick, winter coat-armor. Of course that worked, but for reasons known only to children. Then, with one hand pulling the sled and the other hand outstretched for balance, we'd trek back up the arduous hill, slowly but surely, being careful not to slip on the steep ice. That is, until we reached the mid-way point, where staring us in the face was the terror of The Creeps.

Upon reaching The Creeps any thoughts of caution would vanish and we would just start running up the street, relying on the dynamic friction of our sliding snow boots to propel us. "Best not to turn our heads and look," we would say to ourselves as we awkwardly scrambled up the hill. But sometimes we accidentally looked, turning our heads to get a glance. Even in the wintertime The Creeps were dim. The bare tree branches alone were enough to block out the sunlight. It was cold and dark in there.

In the summertime, The Creeps were even worse. That street with the sledding hill was on one of the routes to the public swimming pool. We'd usually avoid that route though, and take a different one on our mile walk to the pool. But on the way back, sometimes we'd forget to make the necessary turn, and have no choice but to walk up that hill by The Creeps. And sometimes, convincing ourselves that the hot sun provided safety, we'd peer into the entrance. The leaf pocked timber and thickets formed a solid canopy concealing the pitch blackness of the abyss. We'd step no further.

It wasn't until I was almost 12 that my neighbor friend and I decided to venture inside. To be clear, there were several false starts. We'd get as far as the entrance, look inside, then suddenly realize that some homework needed to be redone or the pet goldfish needed some affection. Only when all the excuses were exhausted did we make it into the dark mouth of The Creeps.

As already mentioned, the entrance was itself a steep hill. To get inside we each grabbed a sapling with our hands, ensuring that our footing was solid by placing a heel in-between the dirt and the trunk of another sapling. Then, carefully, we would release one hand and extend it over to a branch or root, followed by the other foot to wedge against anything solid. Slowly and meticulously, we crawled forward in this fashion, into The Creeps. The soil was fresh, not quite like familiar dirt, but rather like when leaves decay, but haven't yet finished. Worms and insects were plentiful, and there was a certain smell that accompanied this isolation. Perhaps the soil there hadn't ever seen bright sunlight.

Inside was dark, but not as dark as we had imagined. We could look back and barely make out the light from the entrance. Above our heads, a beautiful dance of sky peered through in ever changing speckles as the breeze blew. The continuous rustle of leaves and branches sang a lullaby, protecting us in a dome of silence from the outside world.

The sap stung a little in the scratches on my hands. My only regret was not bringing gloves. But it didn't bother me. I was at peace with the world. Never before had I experience such natural beauty. It was then, that this place that I had feared throughout my childhood had become my favorite place on this Earth: and only in the span of a few minutes at that. "Should we turn back or keep going?" My friend asked.

"We keep going," I replied. "But you go on ahead. I'm going to stay here. This is my home now. It is in this alcove with the worms and bugs that I shall build my kingdom."

Securely holding an exposed root, he looked at me, a little dumbfounded. "But don't you have model rockets or something you want to launch?" He was right. I couldn't just give up everything and form a new life in The Creeps. Plus my mom would worry. I couldn't put her through that. We had to move on.

And that we did. Branch by branch, root by root, we progressed further into The Creeps. To my surprise, little by little, it became less of The Creeps. The incline gradually became shallower and trees gradually started thinning. Soon enough, the yards at the top of the hill met up with the yards at the bottom of the hill, with no trees in between at all. Backyards had mowed lawns and met in the middle. The hill was nothing more than a gradual slope. And with a quick jump of a small fence or two we were back on a street on the opposite side of the city block. It was a familiar location. I had been there many times before. I looked back to see nothing looked unusual in the slightest. It was merely peoples' back yards on a city block. In the distance there were some trees, but it had never occurred to me that that group of innocuous trees in the distance hid The Creeps in plain sight. I honestly had never noticed. The Creeps had no "exit" after all; it just gradually, little by little, ceased to be The Creeps.

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

To this day, sometimes I go on Google Street View and virtually visit the entrance.

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

In case you're wondering why I'm bringing all this up, we didn't have any actual caves where I grew up. And The Cave Nebula (Sh2-155) kind of reminds me of The Creeps. So there's that.

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 96×480s = 12.80 hrs
Hα: 102×480s = 13.60 hrs
Oiii: 105×480s = 14.00 hrs
Total integration time: 40.40 hours.
.

 

[neilparker62]

Orion: 2023/10/21 / 04:43:32

 

[collinsmark]

It's Jupiter time again!

Jupiter is at opposition this week, so anytime around now would be a great time to observe it.

We've been having some pretty lousy seeing conditions in San Diego all this last week, and this is best I've been able to get. It's not for lack of trying. So, yes, it's a little blurry. I've tried to sharpen it up, but I can only do so much.

Figure 1: Jupiter and its moon Europa, 2023 Nov. 02, 8:46.7 UT.

Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF
TeleVue 2x PowerMate
Astronomik RGB filter set
ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC)
ZWO ASI290MM monochrome camera

Software:
FireCapture
AutoStakkert!
PixInsight
WinJUPOS
Topaz Labs Sharpen AI

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego
Atmospheric Seeing: On the crappy side of "meh."
Nine, 1-minute videos alternating RGB filters
50% of frames stacked, 1.5x Drizzle
De-rotated in WinJUPOS

 

[DennisN]

Figure 1: Jupiter and its moon Europa, 2023 Nov. 02, 8:46.7 UT.

Wow, what an amazing shot with the moon!
From the color I would have guessed it was Io.
You got a better resolution of that moon than I got of Mars (using my old equipment).
Though I haven't tried shooting Mars yet with my Sky-Watcher Capricorn 900mm.

Meade 10" LX200-ACF
TeleVue 2x PowerMate

Internet says your telescope has the focal length 2500 mm so with the TeleVue 2x Powermate you get an equivalent focal length of 2 x 2500 = 5000 mm, is that correct?
That is a serious focal length!

Have you tried shooting some non-astro thing at day with that setup just for fun, I wonder?
(I wonder what the minimum focus distance would be... pretty long I suppose. )

 

[collinsmark]

Wow, what an amazing shot with the moon!
From the color I would have guessed it was Io.
You got a better resolution of that moon than I got of Mars (using my old equipment).
Though I haven't tried shooting Mars yet with my Sky-Watcher Capricorn 900mm.

Thanks! But in this case, don't attribute much resolution detail in Europa to good optics. In reality,

• Europa was automatically cropped/trimmed a bit via software in the de-rotation process.
• Anything that looks like surface detail is more likely an artifact of that night's below-average atmospheric seeing combined with limitations in the telescope's optics, plus sharpening artifacts.

Internet says your telescope has the focal length 2500 mm so with the TeleVue 2x Powermate you get an equivalent focal length of 2 x 2500 = 5000 mm, is that correct?
That is a serious focal length!

Have you tried shooting some non-astro thing at day with that setup just for fun, I wonder?
(I wonder what the minimum focus distance would be... pretty long I suppose. )

Yeah, that's around the actual focal length. It's roughly 5000 mm focal length at around f/20 in that configuration.

The thought of using that scope for terrestrial photography has crossed my mind, but I can't think of situation that would be worth hauling the thing around. Portability is not its strong suit.

 

[Devin-M]

The thought of using that scope for terrestrial photography has crossed my mind, but I can't think of situation that would be worth hauling the thing around. Portability is not its strong suit.

Birds

 

[chemisttree]

Birds

… or the Eagle Nebula.

 

[neilparker62]

It's Jupiter time again!

Jupiter is at opposition this week, so anytime around now would be a great time to observe it.

We've been having some pretty lousy seeing conditions in San Diego all this last week, and this is best I've been able to get. It's not for lack of trying. So, yes, it's a little blurry. I've tried to sharpen it up, but I can only do so much.

Great pic!

 

[neilparker62]

Canis Major at zenith 2023-11-05 04 19 16

Johannesburg:
Lat:itude:-26° 11' 42.9''

Wezen:
Ra/Dec -26° 25' 34.6"

What's going on with Sirius - maybe just a camera artefact but otherwise a very noticeable halo extending several stellar diameters out to the left / up?

 

[neilparker62]

Sirius zoomed:

 

[DennisN]

The thought of using that scope for terrestrial photography has crossed my mind, but I can't think of situation that would be worth hauling the thing around. Portability is not its strong suit.

I completely understand.
Internet says the weight is 88 lbs (40 kg) (including tripod). Not something you put in your back pocket.

 

[chemisttree]

Sirius zoomed:

View attachment 334856

Definitely a lens abberration. Looks like a bit of a ghost reflection and some coma?

 

[DennisN]

Definitely a lens abberration. Looks like a bit of a ghost reflection and some coma?

I think so too.

 

[neilparker62]

Definitely a lens abberration. Looks like a bit of a ghost reflection and some coma?

Ok thanks - will try again another day. Did not get anything like that in a previous pic (following). Nor with other bright stars such as Rigel and Betelgeuse in Orion.

Sirius: 2023-11-02 02:25:02

 

[chemisttree]

Coma is worse the nearer the edge you go. If you place the bright star near the center of the field, you should see coma become less of a problem.

I think the coma is for the ghost itself? I don’t believe ghost images are corrected in lens designs. Those are usually controlled by antireflection coatings. Could also be due to one or more dirty or fogged lenses in the optical train. Bright stars against a black background is the most severe test of optics.

 

[collinsmark]

Good News! I figured out the problem with my ZWO ASI585MC when using it with FireCapture. (The problem was it would crash when selecting a user defined ROI and the frame rate was capped to something like 27 fps)

The reason was that FireCapture hasn't been updated in years, and the ASI585MC is comparatively new camera. To solution was to download the developers' SDK from ZWO's website which has a .dll file that developer's are supposed to use to interface with ZWO's camera driver. Then go into FireCapture's install folder and replace the old ASICamera2.dll file with the new one of the same name. 'Worked like a charm.

If anybody's having the same problem, let me know and I'll walk you through it.

The seeing conditions were much better on the 5th of November, compared to my last Jupiter image. If last time was, "On the crappy side of 'meh'," this time was, "Well, hmm. I suppose it could be worse."

I also didn't use the Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC) this time. With Jupiter so high in the sky in my latitude, the ADC isn't really necessary so long as Jupiter is near the meridian.

Figure 1: Jupiter, timestamp: 2023-11-05 07:08.3 UT

I made an animated gif showing the time-lapse of about 2 hours, from the time that Jupiter rose above my building until the fog rolled in. That's not a "fade" effect at the end of the gif, it's actually fog that rolled in over my back patio.

You can see the changing seeing conditions over the course of the two hours.

(PF won't embed the animated gif, but here's a link to it:)
http://www.shadycrypt.com/PF/BeautifulUniverse/Jup_2023_11_05_SmallForPF.gif
Figure 2: Jupiter with Io transit from 05:26 to 07:32, 2023-11-05 UT

Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF
TeleVue 2x PowerMate
ZWO ASI585MC one shot color (OSC) camera

Software:
FireCapture
AutoStakkert!
PixInsight
WinJUPOS
Gimp

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego
Atmospheric Seeing: Well, hmm. I suppose it could be worse.
Data was segmented in 1 minute videos (approx 100 fps).
Each video processed in AutoStakkert! to produce an image (60% frames kept, 1.5x Drizzle).
Each image sharpened and adjusted in PixInisght.
Five sharpened/adjusted images were de-rotated and stacked with WinJUPOS per frame, in a rolling window.
Gimp was used to combine the frames into an animated gif.

 

[neilparker62]

Coma is worse the nearer the edge you go. If you place the bright star near the center of the field, you should see coma become less of a problem.

I think the coma is for the ghost itself? I don’t believe ghost images are corrected in lens designs. Those are usually controlled by antireflection coatings. Could also be due to one or more dirty or fogged lenses in the optical train. Bright stars against a black background is the most severe test of optics.

Sirius at zenith 20231110 031532 - right in the centre of the view field. Looks quite 'normal' which confirms what you say.

 

[chemisttree]

Sirius at zenith 20231110 031532 - right in the centre of the view field. Looks quite 'normal' which confirms what you say.
View attachment 335104

You are obviously using a high quality lens. That minor abberation was not too significant.

 

[neilparker62]

(PF won't embed the animated gif, but here's a link to it:)
http://www.shadycrypt.com/PF/BeautifulUniverse/Jup_2023_11_05_SmallForPF.gif
Figure 2: Jupiter with Io transit from 05:26 to 07:32, 2023-11-05 UT

Well worth viewing!

 

[DennisN]

(PF won't embed the animated gif, but here's a link to it:)
http://www.shadycrypt.com/PF/BeautifulUniverse/Jup_2023_11_05_SmallForPF.gif
Figure 2: Jupiter with Io transit from 05:26 to 07:32, 2023-11-05 UT

Very, very cool!

 

[neilparker62]

You are obviously using a high quality lens. That minor abberation was not too significant.

Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera.

 

[collinsmark]

The Fireworks Galaxy (a.k.a., NGC 6946), viewed from my back patio from August-October 2023.

Figure 1. The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946).

The Fireworks Galaxy is a face on, intermediate, double-barred spiral galaxy straddling the boundaries of the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus.

Looking at NGC 6946, I can’t help but recall the foolishness of youth and the Demon Squirrel Incident of ’92. (Disclaimer: The following story depicts irresponsible behavior and dangerous misuse of fireworks. While based on true events, I may have misremembered various details of that night, over thirty years ago. Check your local laws.)

We blamed the incident on the box of fireworks. We didn’t have to. Nobody was seriously injured (luckily). No property was seriously damaged (that we know of). We could have scapegoated any one of us, and nobody would have objected, even the scapegoat. But blame invites gossip, and the incident was best forgotten, immediately. We blamed the empty box of fireworks because the box was mute. Simple.

I won’t name names, but here’s the gist of it: On the outskirts of a town in the middle of Kansas, a young woman – a close friend – came to keep an eye on her parents’ house while they were away for the weekend. It was far enough outside of town to circumvent the light pollution. The night skies were fabulous. She invited us over for an impromptu gathering, but not for stargazing; we didn’t bring telescopes or binoculars. No, rather than enjoy the night sky, we were going to spite it with a load of fireworks.

Well, a modest box of Missouri fireworks. I’m guessing they were from Missouri. Everybody from America’s heartland knows that if you want good fireworks, you’ll have to take a covert road trip to Missouri. One of us must have done so. None of us had money back then, however, so the box was pretty sparse: an assortment of Roman candles, bottle rockets, etc., maybe one or two larger items, but that’s about it. Nothing too fancy, but at least we had plenty of the basics. I’m getting ahead of myself.

We early arrivers greeted the host and surveyed the front yard, preparing to help her get things set up. Yes, there was plenty of space. The location was not what I would call “rural” Kansas, but it was a place right next to it. Neighboring houses were still in earshot, but we hoped their occupants wouldn’t complain. An old, intriguing edifice stood across the street, but was unoccupied, so we were good to go on that front. We cracked open a few cans of beer while we pondered the music situation.

Cranking up a car’s stereo in the driveway worked as a temporary solution until somebody brought a boom box. Or better yet, we could bring the Hi-Fi up from the basement and put it on a folding table in the yard. Oh, yes, the latter was the better solution. A few more cans of beer, some furniture hauling, and the music situation was solved as more people showed up.

Skinny Puppy played through the tower speakers, now in the front yard, when the guy with the fireworks appeared, clad in a dark t-shirt and black jeans, lugging the box from his trunk and carrying it over to the folding table, just in time for dusk. The host of the party ran over to investigate the haul, “Oh, good! You got bottle rockets,” she grinned widely. “Let’s shoot some to go off over there.” Her index finger gracefully slipped out of her black leather jacket’s sleeve of her extended arm, pointing to an old and empty, yet rather ornate building across the way on the other side of the street. “The people that used to be in that place,” she hesitated with her words, “they always pissed me off when I was a kid.”

It was about that time, when reaching into the box for bottle rockets, that we realized that we didn’t have any bottles. We had been drinking out of cans the whole while. We had to improvise.

We tried launching rockets out of empty cans, but they lacked stability; the cans would fall over before ignition, and the bottle rockets would skip across the ground randomly. One popped as it hit somebody’s knee. That wasn’t going to do. The host made a few quick phone calls to then-absent latecomers to solve the bottle problem. Of course, she had to use her parents’ landline telephone since cellphones weren’t a thing yet.

Longneck bottles were on the way (and more beer in them too!), but what to do in the meantime, we pondered. It would take time for the bottles to arrive. They had to travel all the way from town. We looked around the yard for any hollow, cylindrical object that might work. The only thing we found was a narrow, metal pipe under the crawlspace that was packed with dirt on one end and hollow at the other, albeit rusted and craggy. We dropped a lit bottle rocket inside, but it just got stuck. I have to say, it did make a neat sound that resonated with reverb when it popped. Novel sound aside, it wasn’t the same. And it was kind of a waste of a bottle rocket too, since you could just drop in a ladyfinger for the sound.

The guy who originally brought the fireworks -- I’ll call him “Fireworks Guy” -- finally said, “Screw it. We don’t need bottles.” With a lighter in one hand and the bamboo dowl of a rocket in the other, he lit the wick, bent his knees, and with a long, arcing swing of his arm he lobbed the bottle rocket straight up into the air.

We all gasped, hoping it would ignite before it turned around and pointed toward us. Our fears were alleviated when it did ignite just fine and seamlessly streaked straight up. We collectively sighed with relief and even a little awe. It was so elegant. I fancied myself as having lots of bottle rocket experience as a child, but that was the first time I witnessed someone launching one freehand. I was impressed.

Several of us tried to reproduce the feat. The thing is though, Fireworks Guy was tall, and albeit lanky, was coordinated. My bottle rocket, conversely, hit the back of my calf on my swing up, then just tumbled out of control. One girl, after lighting her bottle rocket, panicked, and it zipped off horizontally, right into somebody’s chest. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it was loud, popping so close to our ears. It was the kind of thing that could cause ear damage if we weren’t careful (not to mention burns and blindness and whatnot). But for whatever reason, it was at that moment we collectively decided that that was exactly the risk we wanted.

Someone cranked up the music volume and we all proceeded lob lit bottle rockets at each other. “Our leather jackets will protect us,” we said to ourselves. (They didn’t.)

As if on cue, the longneck bottles of beer arrived. We each chugged one, leaving us each our own bottle, thus facilitating better aim when we shot at one another.

The Roman candles came out right as the mosh pit was forming. If you’re not familiar with Roman candles, they’re cardboard tubes that periodically spew fireballs. The Roman candle wielders were mostly courteous though, not aiming at anybody’s faces (mostly), but rather shooting the arcing fireballs into the air, providing well needed aerial lights for the mosh pit. As a matter of fact, they were about the only source of light at all. Each of us would circulate between beer, moshing, and dutifully shooting fireworks at or near the pit.

So, there we were, drinking and slamming into one another to the heavy bass of the screaming music, all while dodging bottle rockets and fireballs, under the night sky in the middle of Kansas. We felt fearless and invincible. Hell, we *were* fearless and invincible. (We weren’t.) OK, we were having a blast. And yes, it was all fun and games until somebody decided to light up the Twirly-Flying-Squirrely.

The Twirly-Flying-Squirrely was one of the bigger items in the fireworks box. It was not particularly high-end, not like those professional items that blast nearly into the stratosphere, producing a beautiful bouquet visible from a mile away. No, not like that. It was much simpler and cheaper. But it must be said it was a solid step up from our bottle rockets and Roman candles.

Presumably, if lit/launched as directed, starting from a solid, flat surface, and a fair distance away from any onlookers, the Twirly-Flying-Squirrely would rise relatively slowly, emitting a consistent shower of colorful sparks in all horizontal directions, thus producing a colorful, swirling paraboloid of sparks as it rose many tens of meters into the air. And it would whistle as it rose. Lots of sparks and whistling. Miniature versions of this item were far more common, but they shot up quickly and lasted only a second or two. The Twirly-Flying-Squirrely was the scaled-up version of this: It was bigger, rose higher and lasted longer. That about sums it up -- if launched as directed, that is. But as I’m sure you’ve deduced by now, that’s not how it went.

I shall henceforth refer to the Twirly-Flying-Squirrely as the “demon squirrel.”

Ministry was blaring from the Hi-Fi, as I recall. Then all hell broke loose. I don’t know who lit the demon squirrel, or more importantly in what way. But it wasn’t as directed, that’s for sure. Nothing about any of it went as directed.

Without any announcement or warning, a shrieking howl came out of nowhere – a deafening, ghostly howl – louder than the Ministry -- louder than the thoughts in our heads, accompanied by what can only be described as a lightning-fast wagon-wheel of flame and damnation, encircled the mosh pit, startling us out of our skins as it corralled us together. Most of us were deer in the headlights, but some fled in a panic, only for the demon squirrel to loop around in a figure-eight, herding us back together.

Within the chaos, people collided like marbles in a blender, all without the comradery and wherewithal usually found in a mosh pit. It was almost impossible for those within to see. The only light came from the demon squirrel itself, and nearly everybody was dressed in black. Then there was the smoke. Although not an advertised feature of the Twirly-Flying-Squirrely, the demon squirrel belched out a continuous and copious cloud together with its flaming devil-howl. One lucky soul -- who was coming back from the toilet -- witnessed the turmoil from a short distance and was able to (in the aftermath) describe the chaos as, “an entropic goth/punk stew of mayhem.”

The demon squirrel circled us several times, deciding whom to attack and in what order. It made its move and dashed directly into the crowd. It ricocheted off one black jacket and into another and another. With surgical precision, the demon squirrel tripped at least two fleeing victims by kicking their Doc Martin’s until they fell face-first into the boot trodden, beer mud.

The possessed squirrel-devil then regrouped itself, momentarily hovering at eye level, and punched the ground twice, and back up to eye level – not bouncing, but rather like a silverback Gorilla pounding its chest, it pounded the ground with deliberation, as a show of dominance. The demon squirrel then torpedoed toward the head of its final victim -- a girl with long, curly hair -- before immediately going dark. In the pitch blackness of night, there was only a bone-chilling scream.

The music went quiet, but the screaming continued as we scrambled in the darkness to figure out what was happening. The host turned on her parents’ floodlights, allowing us to see as we gathered our senses. The girl with the long hair was beside herself, arms flailing, as the fog cleared around her.

We soon deduced that although the demon squirrel’s propellent depleted – and not a moment too soon -- its burning hot plastic and carboard devil-corpse became twisted in her long hair via residual angular momentum alone. She had succeeded in whacking it out of her hair and away to the ground. She was OK, although still visibly shaken up. Fortunately, there were no significant burns, but she had felt the heat of the demon squirrel as she slapped it away.

The evening’s revelry took on a more somber tone after that. Some suddenly felt the need to start cleaning and began picking up empties and removing cigarette butts from the lawn. The music was turned back on, but the selection was more mellow. The girl with the curly hair cheered up, and was even able to laugh about the event, albeit with a bit of trepidation. A conversation about career goals sprang up at one corner of the yard, while proper study habits were being discussed at another. Risk avoidance underpinned themes.

Some partygoers were sobering up, and a small handful didn’t drink, so getting people back to town safely wasn’t an issue. By the end of night there were just a few of the host’s close friends left.

Much of the furniture was put back in its proper place, and the porch lights were turned off. The Milky Way was visible, arching across the sky. We lounged by the front steps and a low-sitting folding chair that was left out.

Using a bottle propped up on a brick and some rocks, we launched a few of the remaining bottle rockets in the direction of the ornate, vacant building across the way on the other side of the street, for good measure. The distance to the building was farther than the rockets’ range, but their popping might have been annoying had anybody been there.

The host was about to launch the final bottle rocket when she stopped short. She grabbed the longneck bottle and placed it vertically on the level brick. She looked to the unoccupied building, “That’s enough for them, tonight,” she said with a long sigh, presumably referring to some old memories, “I think they’ve learned their lesson for now.” After a pause she turned to face us with a smile and flicked her front lock of hair away from her eyes, “this one’s for us,” she grinned. She lit the fuse and together we all watched the bottle rocket shoot into the air above, high into the sky.

(Back to the image for a moment)
Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF fork mounted on an equatorial wedge.
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera.
Optolong broadband filter set.
Optolong L-Pro filter
Optolong 3 nm Hα filter
ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro main camera.

Software:
Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A.)
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

Integration:
San Diego, California
Aug-Oct 2023
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 3×3
R: 273×2 min = 9.1 hrs
G: 281×2 min = 9.37 hrs
B: 362×2 min = 12.07 hrs
L-Pro: 457×2 min = 15.23 hrs
Hα: 59×10 min = 9.83 hrs
Total integration time: 55.60 hours

Epilogue:

Some time after the demon squirrel incident – although I can’t remember if it was a week or a year – the host of that get-together gained permission (on the up-and-up) to access the inside of that interesting looking building across the way on the other side of the street. She invited me and another friend to go with her. She (the host) and I brought our cameras to photograph the interior architecture.

Here's a photograph of the building’s interior that I took with my trusty Minolta loaded with black-and-white film during that outing.

Figure 2. Photograph of interior architecture. Camera: Minolta X-700. Film: T-Max 100.

 

[neilparker62]

Southern Cross 2023-11-14 03-49-06

I am just trying to take pics of easily visible constellations in our Johannesburg night skies.

 

[collinsmark]

Io transits Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) time-lapse (2023-11-12)



Time-lapse of Jupiter with it's moon Io, captured with my backyard telescope. 2023, Nov. 12th, from 04:50 to 08:59 UT.

Jupiter rotates with a period of about 10 hours. Io orbits Jupiter with a period of about 1.77 days. They just happened to line up when I imaged them with the telescope, about a week and a half after Jupiter's opposition.

Earth's atmospheric seeing (well, the portion of atmosphere above me), was not good at all that night, which is why it's so blurry. Santa Anna winds brought in some more turbulence. But, that's what I had to work with.

Equipment:
Meade 10" LX200-ACF fork mounted on an equatorial wedge
TeleVue 2x PowerMate
ZWO ASI585MC one shot color (OSC) camera

Software:
FireCapture
AutoStakkert!
PixInsight
WinJUPOS
CyberLink PowerDirector

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Acquisition time interval: 2023-11-12 04:50 UT to 2023-11-12 08:59 UT
Atmospheric Seeing: slightly nauseous.
Raw data was segmented in 1 minute videos (approx 100 fps).
Each video processed in AutoStakkert! to produce an image (60% frames kept, 1.5x Drizzle).
Each image sharpened and adjusted in PixInisght.
Five sharpened/adjusted images per frame were de-rotated and stacked with WinJUPOS, in a rolling window.
PowerDirector was used to combine those frames into the video you see here.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Finally, some clear nights- it's been about a month. Even better, the combination of shorter days and daylight savings means my observation time tripled, from 2-3 hours to 6-8 hours per night. Good views of M31 (Andromeda galaxy) and NGC 891:

Nikon D810+ 800/8 mounted on a Losmandy GM-8, 15 hours integration time. Images stacked in AstroPixelProcessor. Here's a closeup of the center:

NGC 891:

Same setup as above, but 6.5 hours integration time. A 1:1 closeup of the galaxy:

And this odd smudge (lower right) that doesn't appear in Simbad/2MASS/Gaia catalogs:

Here's a better view from Aladin Lite (ignore the blue cross):

Any guesses?

 

[DennisN]

Another night, another moon:

Gear: Sky-Watcher Capricorn-70 EQ1, Sony A7R, Rollei wireless intervalometer
Settings: 1/2000 s exposure, ISO 800
Software: PIPP, Autostakkert (548 photos taken, the best 25% stacked), Photoshop (levels & fixes)

It was cold, so cold outside. But I guess the atmosphere conditions were really good.
I had gloves on, but I had to take them off now and then to fiddle with the camera.
And sometimes my finger was so cold I couldn't really feel the camera buttons.
But no pain, no gain .

By the way, I've actually got two hand warmers with internal rechargable batteries,
but I didn't use them this time. Next time I will. They are nice to put into the gloves when it's cold.

Hand warmers:

More gear I recently got:

Dew Heater Strip (link)

Variable adapter for eyepiece projection (link):

Thank you, Amazon!

 

[collinsmark]

The North America Nebula (a.k.a. NGC 7000) captured from my back patio, Sept-Oct 2023. NGC 7000 is an emission nebula about 2590 light-years away. When viewed from Earth, the North America Nebula can be found in the constellation Cygnus, not too far away (angular wise) from the bright star, Deneb.

The North America Nebula gets its name from its resemblance to the North America continent here on Earth. If it helps, North is to the left (this is true not only in the actual nebula, but also the figurative comparison Earth-map). The blue/aqua region is what you want to concentrate on (well, what appears blue/aqua in my narrowband image). The large, dark, goblin-looking dust lane in the upper center corresponds to the Gulf of Mexico. The detailed bird corresponds to the coastline from the southern Mexican coast and south through several Central American countries to Panama.

It should be noted that the North America Nebula is way, way, bigger than North America here on Earth. And it's much older too. Although geological time is mind boggling from a human's perspective, it doesn't hold a candle to astronomical time.

As such, since the North America Nebula came first (and is so much larger), I propose we change the name of the North American continent to be named after the nebula, and not the other way around. Since the North America Nebula already has a name, we can leave it as it is.

Thus I propose changing the continent's name from "North America" to "North America Nebula Landmass Thingy."

Equipment:
Explore Scientific 80ED-FCD100
Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Off-axis guider (OAG) with guide camera
Baader 3.5/4nm Ultra-Narrowband filter set
ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro main camera

Software:
N.I.N.A.
PHD2 guiding
PixInsight with RC-Astro plugins

Acquisition/Integration:
Location: San Diego, USA
Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies
All subframes binned 1x1
Stacked using the drizzle algorithm
SHO mapping
SII: 94×480s = 12.53 hrs
Hα: 88×480s = 11.73 hrs
Oiii: 96×480s = 12.80 hrs
Total integration time: 37.07 hours.

 

[berkeman]

captured from my back patio

Beautiful.

I keep forgetting that you live on top of Maunakea...

 

[timmdeeg]

View attachment 336918Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies

Bortle class 7 (maybe 8 ) skies - unbelievable that you obtain such an image!? Congratulations!