Jupiter Mars

Jupiter Mars

Jupiter Mars conjunction on the morning of June 6th, 2022, and compared with a planetarium program, Celestron's SkyPortal, at approximately the same time.

Shot with iPhone 6 Plus and NightCap Camera at 1 second exposure. Visually, through intense and massive urban light pollution, only Jupiter and Mars were visible.

The Apple iPhone NightCap app brings out more stars in Aquarius, Pisces and Pegasus constellations.

The original image is processed with multiple software programs to suppress grain and bring out additional stars.

Left: The additional planetarium view shows stars at a smaller image scale for more easy identification.

NightCap is $2.99. NightCap Camera 4+ is a night and low light camera from Realtime Dreams Limited. The app review: Do you find your photos and videos dark and grainy in low light? NightCap will help by unlocking the full potential of your iPhone or iPad's camera.

AI camera control makes it easy by automatically setting optimum focus and exposure for a brighter, clearer shot. All you need to do is hold steady and tap the shutter. If you prefer manual control then instant gesture based adjustment is always available, and special camera modes give you DSLR like results. You can even shoot photos, videos and time lapse in black and white if you want to. Try Long Exposure mode for amazing motion blur effects and reduced image noise in low light. NightCap has an ISO Boost feature that allows 4x higher ISO than any other app, producing much brighter low light photos with low noise in Long Exposure mode!

Light Trails mode preserves moving lights - ideal for moving traffic at night, fireworks or light painting. These modes are stunning when combined with HD or 4K time lapse! There are 4 dedicated astrophotography camera modes. Stars Mode is ideal for a starry sky or Northern / Southern Lights (Aurora), or leave your device capturing in Star Trails Mode and watch the stars paint circles in the sky! There are also modes for easy photography of the International Space Station (ISS) and meteors (shooting stars).

Visit nightcapcamera.com for tutorials. Features:

• Video recording with special Night Mode and full manual control.

• Time lapse recording with adjustable speed, long exposure and light trails support and up to 4K resolution on iPhone 6s or newer or 1080p HD on older devices.

• Aidie, a fully automatic AI camera operator chooses the optimum camera settings for you automatically, meaning brighter, clearer photos in low light with less risk of blurring the shot. All you need to do is hold steady and tap the shutter.

• AI enhanced focusing in very low light for fast, reliable focus.

• Automatic camera modes for Meteors (shooting stars), ISS (International Space Station), stars and star trails make these difficult tasks easy.

• Innovative manual camera controls designed for photographers: intuitive gesture-based control of exposure, ISO, focus and even white balance. Simply swipe to adjust.

• Long Exposure mode: Capture detailed, noise-free low light shots.

• Light Trails mode: Perfect for light painting and even astronomy: photograph star trails with unlimited exposure time!

• ISO Boost allows up to 4x higher ISO than any other app.

• Light Boost instantly boosts brightness while preserving image detail.

• Noise Reduction Mode helps reduce image noise.

• 8x Zoom control (camera-style for easy, smooth zoom).

• Full Apple Watch support with live preview and control of the main app features.

https://www.nightcapcamera.com/

Violet Filter W47

Violet Filter W47
Check your spectral charts for the W47 filter as they vary from various filter manufacturers.

A W47 filter allows violet light to pass but also allows a small amount of Infrared light right at the other end of the spectrum to pass. It is most useful in observing Venus because of its ability to reveal dark shading in the upper atmosphere. Its low transmittance makes it suitable (in general) for larger telescopes above 8" of aperture.

A W47 filter allows violet light to pass but also allows a small amount of Infrared light right at the other end of the spectrum to pass. 

The spectral transmission curve for the Wratten 47 deep blue filter.

This is a representative Wratten transmission curve in a general article on color filters. It is not an actual transmission curve for any specific product that we sell. AgenaAstro. The chart stops at 700nm. The #47 near-IR leak starts at about 700nm, so the leak is apparently just off that chart.

Here are imaging examples with a Nexstar 6SE. (Nexstar 6se, ASI1600mm, UVenus filter, no Barlow. Used 1291 out of 4400 frames. Second out of five consecutive attempts. Others were a bit worse, mainly tracking pushing Venus out of the small capture window I was using to maximize framerate at about 80/second.)

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/562488-small-bore-challenge-venus-w-6-or-less/page-2

Sucker Clouds at Sun Baked Observatory

Sucker Clouds at Sun Baked Observatory

When the temperatures rose to over 90-degrees F. in the shade (averaging 120-degrees in direct sunlight), water vapor evaporated and the sun made an appearance in the morning of Thursday, June 2, 2022 - rain momentarily stopped, then sucker holes in the clouds began to appear. How long this will last in unclear as the weather reports rain for the rest of the day.

Parts are slated for ordering to increase the resolution and capacity of Sun Baked Observatory. Improvements are being made to the mounting, guiding, and tracking system. Solar prominences along the sun's limb are being tuned to spectral wavelengths and numerous tests are being performed.