Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14204
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8415 times
Been thanked: 8161 times

Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by Carbon60 »

July 11th and a wonderful evening for some solar reflections.

I almost didn't bother going out for a look, but when my wife came in the house after feeding our visiting hedgehogs in the garden she told me that the moon was beautiful and clear and that I should take a look. She was right. It looked wonderful and I knew there and then that I needed to set up and grab some data.

First up a full moon as a two pane mosaic using the natural focal ratio on a Basler acA2440-75um.

Image20190711_Moon_fd by Stuart Green, on Flickr

Then (a bit excessive) I made a 21 pane mosaic with a 2.5X Powermate on the same camera. I was determined not to miss any gaps, so the overlaps were probably a bit generous. Anyhow with ICE stitching it has come out at 41.7 Mega Pixels and it's my personal highest resolution image of the moon.

Image20190711_Moon_Mosaic by Stuart Green, on Flickr

Here's one of the panes representing one of my favourite regions of the lunar surface. The south polar region with its spectacular rugged terrain, dominated by the Clavius crater.

Image20190711_Moon_1 by Stuart Green, on Flickr

Another favourite of mine is the Apennine mountain region.

Image20190711_Moon_2 by Stuart Green, on Flickr

By now there was a little haziness creeping in, so I was ready to pack up. It was around 11:00pm. As I was doing so, my wife said she thought she could see noctilucent clouds across the opposite sky. We had been out a few evenings last week looking for them with no luck, so she was especially keen to spot something. Our view to the north west/north is pretty poor with large trees in the way, so we could only glimpse through the gaps for a look in that direction. It was enough, though, to confirm they were there!!

We quickly packed the scope, mount and other paraphernalia, grabbed the DSLR/tripod and hopped in the car to drive to a better viewing spot a couple of miles into our village.

What a rewarding view.....and it's thanks to my wife on both counts; the moon and NLCs.

Here's what we saw:

Image20190711_NLC by Stuart Green, on Flickr

And I even managed to make a little movie as darkness crept in.

ImageJuly 12, 2019 by Stuart Green, on Flickr

This was taken over the period 11:15 pm to 11:30 pm British Summer Time (BST).

All in all a very satisfying evening of solar reflections and it's all thanks to my wife, Julie.

Thanks for looking.

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
pedro
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 12256
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 8:26 pm
Location: Portugal
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 6573 times
Contact:

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by pedro »

Beautiful Moon images Stu. Yesterday I was tempted but the mosquitos were biting...


User avatar
MAURITS
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 8507
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:37 pm
Location: Belgium
Has thanked: 2412 times
Been thanked: 4786 times
Contact:

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by MAURITS »

Very nice images Stu.
Just like elephants on the bottom of the movie.


Regards,
Maurits

Vista del Cielo Observatory

www.vistadelcielo.be
Starry Jack
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 783
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:44 pm
Location: Vista, CA
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 240 times
Contact:

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by Starry Jack »

Lovely


Explore Scientific 152mm f6.5 achromat
Aeries D-ERF
Quark Chromosphere f27 native, (f14 when focal reduced)
Mallincam .5x focal reducer (large format)
12nm Filter
ZWO174 (IMX249 chip 5um)
Huge Sense of Adventure Viewing Creation
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42269
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10242 times
Contact:

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by marktownley »

Super shots Stu! I've had a couple of views of the NLC myself this year too.


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14204
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8415 times
Been thanked: 8161 times

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by Carbon60 »

Many thanks Pedro, Maurits, Jack and Mark.

I'm hoping for another glimpse of some NLCs before the end of this extraordinary season, weather permitting!

Cheers

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
MapleRidge
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 10199
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:58 pm
Location: Cambray, ON Canada
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 4340 times
Contact:

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by MapleRidge »

Superb lunar image Stu :bow

Your NLC cloud shots are beautiful too. I've only saw them once and didn't realize it at the time and didn't take any pics.

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34558
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17648 times
Been thanked: 8787 times

Re: Reflected Sunlight- Moon and NLCs

Post by Montana »

Absolutely fantastic lunar shots Stuart, really crisp and full of detail :bow and to see the NCLs too :hamster: hip hip hooray for your wonderful wife :hamster: I am glad she is taking good care of your little hogs too :)
I hope it will be clear tomorrow night for the eclipse. After a total cloud out weekend, today is annoyingly beautiful blue sky, I am sure the weather does this deliberately :(

Alexandra


Post Reply