Astronomy pictures thread

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Great Video Thank you for posting.

Fun facts
Miramichi Fire of 1827 started in Oct
Great Chicago fire started Oct 8th 1871
Peshtigo fire Oct 8th 1871 (Yes the same day as the Chicago fire)
The great Michigan fire of 1871. Yep, same date as above.
Santiago Canyon fire. Last week of Sept 1889
Cloquet fire Oct 1918
Great fire of 1922 in Ontario. Oct 4th
Giant Berkley Fire Sept 17 1923
Grifith Park Fire Oct 3 1933
The Great fire (Maine) Oct 17 1947

Randal Carlson did a few episodes on the coincidences of all these fires starting in Oct. Of course if you go to wiki for the complete list of wildfires you see they start anytime of the year. Mostly in summer months which makes sense. The only rain we have had in almost 2 months is from Helene remnants. Walking around the property today, this place is a tinderbox.

In regards to the 3 fires on the same date above, Oct 8th 1871. Have to wonder what really happened that day to spark those fires over such a large area.
 
Randal Carlson did a few episodes on the coincidences of all these fires starting in Oct.
One in your list is a September fire.
....and one you missed was the Port Huron fire that was also on October 8th 1871. (That makes four on that date)

Of course if you go to wiki for the complete list of wildfires you see they start anytime of the year.
Because there are only 12 possibilities for a Month a fire could occur in, and when measured over the course of Centuary's, there's bound to have been many fires in any given Month.


Mostly in summer months which makes sense. The only rain we have had in almost 2 months is from Helene remnants.
Also, October makes sense too, if for only that as temps cool off, more people are building fires to keep warm.


Walking around the property today, this place is a tinderbox.
Per my understanding, that's the reason for all those fires in 1871. It was super dry and windy.




In regards to the 3 fires on the same date above, Oct 8th 1871. Have to wonder what really happened that day to spark those fires over such a large area.
Did you look up those fires? The one in NE Wisconsin was said to be started by sparks from a passing train.

The Michigan fire was said to caused by several smaller fires merging into one big fire.

I couldn't find any known cause of the Port Huron fire though.

High winds are said to have fueled all three.
...and we've all heard the story about the O'leary's cow. (High winds in Chicago too, as well as the same dry conditions fueling the fire)
 
Tiangong (Chinese Space Station) solar transit today. I did not have time to set up my telescope for this so here it is with my Canon 100-400mm zoom lens and home made solar filter.




Date: 10/9/2024
Camera: Canon Rebel T8i
Lens: Canon 100-400mm zoom lens at 400mm
Exposure: 1/3200sec at f/7.1 and ISO 200
Filter: Home made Baader white light filter
 
What about an overlapping two-State solution?

Everyone declare the side they want to be on, and everyone obeys that side's rules. We could put blue and red dots on everyone's foreheads so we can all tell each other apart.
 
Still processing an immense about of images and video from the night before last.

This pair of images shows how quickly things changed in just 6 minutes. When I saw the notches form in the green band I suspected it was about to get good and it really did.



6 minutes later (to be read in a silly voice)
 
Indeed, there is a severe geomagnetic storm watch for 10/10-10/11.

I am in a rush to get my data from the last storm all fully processed so I can move it off and make room for potentially another TB of data to process and move off before potentially capturing the comet in the evening starting Saturday night.

No boredom anywhere to be found here!

From https://spaceweather.com/
SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: NOAA forecasters say that severe (G4-class) geomagnetic storms are possible on Oct. 10th and 11th when a potent fast-moving CME is expected to hit our planet's magnetic field.
 
Wow, that looks really awesome! Very nice.

I wish I could see it lookin' like that sometime. It was supposedly visible here too, but only optically.
 
I saw Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) tonight as it has entered the evening sky. Not bad!


Date: 10/12/2024 7:45 PM CDT
Camera: Canon EOS 850D (modified)
Lens: Canon 100-400mm Zoom lens at 100mm
Exposure: 2sec at ISO 3200 and f/4.6
 
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Here is another image this one vertical. The comet was easy to see naked eye and could be easier to see in the coming days/weeks in the West after sunset.


Date: 10/12/2024 7:40 PM CDT
Camera: Canon EOS 850D (modified)
Lens: Canon 100-400mm Zoom lens at 100mm
Exposure: 2sec at ISO 3200 and f/4.6
Processed using PixInsight and NoiseXterminator
 
I was expecting clouds tonight but it cleared just in time for the comet.

All I can say is WOW! This comet is in incredible. I could easily make out 10+ degree tail naked eye. Very easy to see in the sky. Can't miss it.



Date: 10/14/2024
Camera: Canon EOS 850D (modified)
Lens: Sigma 24mm f/1.4 art
Exposure: 4sec at ISO 800 and f/2.5
Processed using PixInsight and NoiseXterminator
 
In Bortle 10 skies ya can.
That's tragic. Can you even see any stars?

Moonlight and twilight kept my sky from being anywhere close to dark as normal and still the comet stood out like a sore thumb. Do you even see the blue glow of the sky in the West at 7:30 PM? Comet was brighter than that.
 
Here are a couple views from last night with a 50mm lens. It shows a little more detail in particular with the anti-tail. An anti-tail is the trail of dust left by the comet along the orbit.




Date: 10/14/2024
Camera: Canon Rebel T8i (modified)
Lens: Canon 50mm f/1.2
Exposure: 2sec at ISO 800 and f/2
Processed using PixInsight and NoiseXterminator
 
It looks amazing on a night sky app.

(Only way I can see it)
 
Yea, some stars are visible. Just not very many.

Any idea what magnitude a comet would need to be, to be plainly visible in bortle 10 skies?

That's the comet I'm waiting on.
 
Yea, some stars are visible. Just not very many.

Any idea what magnitude a comet would need to be, to be plainly visible in bortle 10 skies?

That's the comet I'm waiting on.
Bortle goes up to 9, at Bortle 9 Somewhere limiting magnitude is around 4. The comet is showing at 3 on heavens-above (which is brighter). However, there is daylight and moonlight which would make it even more difficult so you're probably right. Probably won't be able to see it from there but it might be worth trying with a pair of binoculars.
 
Caught a meteor with the comet last night. A shame my still frames cut it off so here is the end of the meteor. I did get it on video though!


Single frame from video:


Video. Eventually will add a higher quality one to youtube.


 
A frame from another camera that I finally just loaded. This one with a 50mm lens which shows a little more detail than the one with the 24mm lens.

Just about time to head out again. Been a fun but exhausting last few weeks. lol

 
The comet was a lot harder to see last night. The comet is getting more faint and the moon very bright. It still looked cool in my 11x70 binoculars.

Date: 10/16/2024
Camera: Canon EOS 850D (modified)
Lens: Sigma 24mm f/1.4 art
Exposure: 4sec at ISO 800 and f/2.5
Processed using PixInsight and NoiseXterminator
 
ISS Solar Transit today. Nice to be able to get one from my yard. I've been known to drive to odd places to get these.


Date: 10/20/2024
Telescope: 92mm f/5.5 triplet (Astrotech AT92) with focal reducer
Filter: Baader white light filter
Camera: Canon Rebel T8i
Exposure: 1/3200 sec at ISO 100
Video mode: 4K 23 FPS
 
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