April 2024

April 30th 1100 GMT Sun

 

The sky was full of moving cloud of several layers and thicknesses. Fortunately, there were odd gaps and I saw what appeared to be three sunspots near the western limb and soon to rotate off. The professional images showed that the two larger "sunspots" were groups of smaller sunspots that I was unable to resolve in my binoculars.

April 29th 053o GMT Sun 

 

The Sun was low in the east and I attempted another solar shot, as the evening before.

April 28th 1800 GMT Sun 

 

After a cloudy and wet weekend, it cleared in the early evening. I photographed the Sun with my DSLR camera at 300mm focal length, ISO 109 and 1/500 second exposure.

April 26th Lunar Reprocess

My blog was up-to-date, so was my photo album, Normally, I would be out viewing or photographing the night sky. Yet, with wall-to-wall cloud, I revisited shots from my dim and distant past. I reprocessed a lunar close-up from August 7th 2004 but I did not get much more detail than the original.

   

This one, showing Plato and the lunar Alps, showed a lot of contrast after processing.

The original  shot from October 7th 2004 was over-exposed. My modern photograph processing techniques brought it to life.

 

A close-up of the southern craters on October 8th came out quite well.

I ended with a photo from September 8th 2004.

April 21st 1945 GMT Moon 

 

I snapped the Moon with my DSLR camera at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/1000 second exposure.

April 21st 1100 GMT Sun 

 

I didn't have time for a proper solar shoot, so I snapped the Sun with my DSLR and filter at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/4000 second exposure. I did not nail the focus but detected some sunspots.

April 20th 2200 GMT Moon 

 

The Moon was approaching its full phase and there was some cloud scattering its light. Under those conditions, there is only one thing to do - photograph the Moon.

I did the formula Moon shot with my Mak telescope and DSLR camera at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

 

I tried a different method from the night before and used Barlow lens to increase the focal length to 4.62m focal length. As the image was fainter, I lengthened the exposure to 1/50 second.

April 20th 1115 GMT Sun 

 

It was much clearer than expected. I went out with my Mak telescope and DSLR camera and filter, set at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure. 

 

I then changed the focal length to 4.62m and the exposure to 1/50 second and took a series of close-up shots.

April 20th 2320 GMT Moon 

 

I went out again with my Mak and DSLR. I took a few shots of the Moon at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/1000 second exposure.

 

I changed to the Mak and WiFi Electronic Eyepiece and did a few imaging runs before cloud moved in.

April 19th 2100 GMT Moon 

 

There was some cloud around but the Moon was in a patch of clear sky. I snapped it with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/1000 second exposure.

April 19^th 1735 GMT Sun

 

After a rather mixed day, weather-wise, I bin scanned the Sun and the sunspot pattern had changed quite considerably in about 31 hours.

April 18^th 1300 GMT Sun

 

There was a brief window of clear sky when I scanned the Sun with my binoculars and filters. I spotted three sunspots.

April 17th 2000 GMT Moon and Betelguese 

 

I popped outside for a quick Moon shot and took several photos with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/800 second exposure.

 

Despite the bright twilight and the Moon, several stars were visible and I estimated that Betelguese had brightened to magnitude 0.5. That was somewhat surprising, as it had been fading over most of the winter.

April 15th 1930 GMT Moon 

The Moon was high in the dusk sky.

 It was at first quarter phase. I photographed it with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, 1/500 second.

April 15^th 1200 GMT Sun

 

I bin scanned the Sun with my binoculars and filters. There was a large sunspot close to rotating off the solar disc, accompanied by a smaller one. A small sunspot had just rotated onto the solar disc.

April 14th 2110 GMT Moon 

 

It was slightly clearer than earlier in the day. I photographed the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure.

April 14th 0820 GMT Sun 

 

There was thin cloud but I decided to proceed with a solar photo shoot anyway. I took multiple images of the Sun with my Mak and DSLR with filters at 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure. The stack did not work but it gave me a chance to try out my new intervalometer. I was not able to show any faculae, probably due to the haze. At least I captured the sunspots.

April 12th 2025 GMT Moon 

 

Conditions were hazy, without many objects visible. I snapped the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/400 second exposure. The final result was hardly a classic but OK for the conditions.

April 11th Moon Reprocess

As it was cloudy, I reprocessed some Moon shots from 2004. The first was September 3rd.

The next one was a close-up of the southern region from the same evening.

The next one was a full disc shot from September 4th 2004.

Next was a close-up of the southern craters.

The final photo was September 5th.

April 11^th 1220 GMT Sun

 

I bin scanned the Sun through thin moving cloud and saw three sunspots. A fainter one was on the professional observatory images may have been visible in clear conditions.

April 10th Moon Reprocessed

I reprocessed a shot of the lunar crater Plato from September 1st 2004, originally taken using my Maksutov telescope and compact digital camera.

I processed one of Tycho from what was a rather poor original.

I reprocessed a full disc shot from October 2nd 2004.

April 9^th 1730 GMT Sun

 

At last, it was possible to see the Sun after work, although it was quite low down by the time I saw it. I checked it out with my binoculars and filters and saw what appeared to be a single sunspot but the professional observatory images showed to be a double one. 

April 7^th 1130 GMT Sun

 

The weather patterns of the preceding winter carried over into spring. It had been the wettest winter in England since records began and it seemed that the wettest spring could follow. The thin, moving cloud allowed me enough time to see the Sun with my binoculars and filters. A single large sunspot was visible, although two fainter ones were recorded on the professional observatory images.

April 1st 0925 GMT Sun 

 

There was an unexpected clear spell and I photographed the with my Mak and DSLR at my usual settings of 1.54m focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure. The solar disc appeared blank through my camera viewfinder.