November 2021

November 29^th 0630 GMT Moon

The month ended with a dawn Moon shot. For some strange reason, I found focussing difficult and got an "almost" shot but felt it was a disappointing end to a difficult month.

   

November 27^th 2335 GMT Betelguese and Meteor Hunt

It was clear after a cloudy and wet day but very cold. I saw Betelguese and compared it with Procyon, Rigel and Aldebaran. It was about magnitude 0.3.

I then set a camera to take 6 second exposures at ISO 6400 and 18mm focal length.

I stacked ten early shots to show Orion and Canis Minor.

At 2350 GMT, I caught a bright meteor with a short trail and deduced that it was probably a Northern Taurid.

I stacked a later set of 10 images where Gemini had joined Orion and Canis Minor.

 At 0049 GMT, I caught a mystery object near Castor and Pollux in Gemini.

 I stacked another set of frames to show  Gemini with Canis Minor.

                             

November 26^th  Moon  Reprocess                           

I reprocessed another shot from November 3rd 2020.

November 25^th 0600 GMT Moon

I snapped the Moon in the morning before going to work, using my DSLR at 300mm  focal length, ISO 100 and 1/160 second exposure.

November 23^rd 0700 GMT Moon

I snapped the Moon in the morning before going to work, using my DSLR at 300mm  focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure.

       

November 22^nd 2130 GMT Moon

The clear day turned into a cloudy evening but I managed to catch the evening moon using the same settings as for the morning shoot.

November 22^nd 1700 GMT Venus

Before leaving work, it was deep into twilight and I photographed Venus at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure. The phase change since my last photo was obvious.

                                    

November 22^nd 0725 GMT Moon

 

I arrived at work and the Moon was still high in the west. I snapped it with the same setup as the evening before.

November 21^st 2000 GMT Moon

You may have noticed that four days had passed since my last photo or observation and I had not done any reprocesses. For those unfortunate enough to suffer my books, I updated my "Webcamming" booklet but did not feel totally happy with it. I decided that it needed some information about processing. I did not feel quite in the right headspace for that but did a lot on my annual summary "2021 An Astronomer's Year", which I hope to release in January.

So, reading my last entry for Nov 17th, the Moon was the only credible object. I used the usual settings of 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure. Even though it sounds big-headed, I thought "that'll do".

                                                                

November 17^th 2215 GMT Moon 

 

The day was clearer than the day before but a mackerel sky accompanied the sunset and evening. I snapped the Moon at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure, as the evening before. I could not see Betelguese and there was no chance of seeing any meteors. The Moon was the only credible object.

November 16^th 2235 GMT Moon and Betelguese

 

After a cloudy and wet day, it finally cleared somewhat to reveal a waning gibbous moon. I snapped it at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/200 second exposure.

 

 

Procyon was not visible but I was able to see Rigel, Aldebaran, Pollux and Capella. It was hard to discern whether Betelguese was as bright as Rigel, due to the difference in elevation. Nevertheless, I estimated its magnitude at 0.2.

November 16^th Moon Reprocess

It had been 5 days of hurt with no live actions so, I reprocessed a lunar image from February 2nd 2020.

November 15^th Sun Reprocess

With  persistent cloud continuing, I reprocessed a solar image from December 1st 2020.

November 14^th Moon Reprocess

With another few days of persistent cloud, I reprocessed a lunar image from December 1st 2020.

November 11^th 1930 GMT Moon and Jupiter

The Moon and Jupiter were visible in the night sky in hazy conditions, I caught the Moon on camera but the result was poor.

I used a wider field of view (70mm focal length) and two different expoosues to catch the Moon with Jupiter.

November 11^th Jupiter's Moons Shot Reprocess 

With another day of thick cloud, I reprocessed a shot of Jupiter's moons from September 1st 2020.

November 10^th Moon Shot Reprocess 

 

I processed a lunar shot from September 1st 2020. as I had a few days of bad weather.

November 7^th 1050 GMT Sun

 

Conditions were hazy but a large sunspot was visible on the Learmonth images.

I increased my exposure time with my DSLR and filter to 1/500 second.

November 5^th 1050 GMT Sun

There was some thin cloud around but I had a go at photographing the Sun 

anyway with my DSLR and filters, using my normal settings.

November 4^th 2300 GMT Betelguese

 

Before bedtime, I saw that Orion had cleared the horizon. Procyon was not visible, so I used Rigel, Aldebaran 

and Capella to estimate its brightness, so arrived at a magnitude of 0.3.

November 4^th 2015 GMT Meteor Hunt

I was planning to spend some time with my wife, so tried a different approach. I set my DSLR at 18mm focal length, 

ISO 800 and 30 seconds exposure. I aimed at Perseus, as the evening before, with the hope of getting one or 

both Taurid meteoroid streams.

I processed the first shot to show Cassiopeia and Perseus.

Unfortunately, I was unable to capture any meteors

November 4^th 2000 GMT

 

I did a short photo shoot at 300mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 2 seconds exposure.

 

Targets were:

 

Jupiter’s Moons

 

Pleaides (M45)

 

Melotte 20

November 4^th 1220 GMT Sun

 

I snapped the Sun with my DSLR and filters at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/2000 second exposure.

November 2^nd 2041 GMT Meteor Hunt

I went for my usual meteor hunting set-up of 18mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 6 seconds exposure, set on repeat.

I processed a single early frame to reveal several winter constellations in their entirety and parts of others.

At 2240 GMT, I saw a "guest star". I zoomed in and found it looked like a broken trail. It is difficult to speculate what it was.

After the Earth rotated, Taurus was fully visible and I processed a shot.

November 2^nd 1230 GMT Sun

 

The Learmonth and Big Bear images were showing some small sunspots. I tried to catch them with my DSLR and filter set at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/2000 second exposure. However, I did not detect any.

November 2^nd 0555 GMT Moon and Beletguese

 

I revisited the Moon and Betelguese, having followed them at times during October.

 

The Moon was a thin waning crescent and I photographed it at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/250 second exposure.

Estimating the magnitude of Betelguese was rather tricky. Superficially, it was slightly fainter than Procyon but much brighter than Aldebaran. It seemed a little brighter than Rigel but Rigel appeared fainter than Procyon, mainly due to extinction near the horizon. I settled for an estimate of 0.4.