BRITTNEY MILLER

Location: Arabia Mountain (33.6651° N, 84.1182° W); Decatur, GA (33.7748° N, 84.2963° W)

Date and Time: 2024-10-13, 19:50 – 20:12 EDT; 2024-10-16, 19:42 – 20:07 EDT; 2024-10-19, 19:56 – 20:42 EDT

Sky conditions: Seeing – Good, Transparency – Mag 3

Instrument: (2024-10-16) Apertura 60mm FPL-53 Doublet APO Refractor @ f/6 – Aperture: 60mm, Focal Length: 360mm, (2024-10-19) Celestron C8 SCT @f/10, Aperture 203.3mm, Focal length: 2023, 6.3x reducer

Mount: Advanced VX

Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging + Naked eye observations)

Reticle Device: N/A

Imaging Equipment: Canon T7i, Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6

Image type and sensor: Canon T7i – 1.06″ CMOS sensor

Image capture details: (2024-10-13) 113 frames at 1.3s 110mm f/5, ISO 1600; (2024-10-16) 46 frames at 10s, ISO 800, and 30 each of flats/darks/bias frames; (2024-10-19) 141 frames at 15s, ISO 800. Software: PixInsight, Photoshop

2024-10-13, Sunset 19:05

My partner and I went to Arabia Mountain in Stonecrest, GA to try to get a clear, unobstructed view of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). We got there before sunset, took a short hike to the top, and saw the beautiful view of the Belt of Venus and the 83% illuminated waxing gibbous moon rising behind us.

As the sky got darker, Venus and other bright stars started to appear. I started shooting about 45 minutes after sunset, experimenting with exposure, ISO, and focal length settings. I ended up shooting at 110mm f/5, 1.3 second exposure, and a ISO of 1600 with a Canon T7i and Canon EF 75-300mm lens. It was around this time that our eyes had adapted to the low light setting, and we actually saw the comet with our naked eyes! It was pretty faint, but once found, it was easy to spot. It looked somewhat like the “naked eye” visual from the post below.

EXPECTATION VS. REALITY: Stunning photos of our comet are already circulating around social media. Make no mistake, most of these images are legitimate. But they're also not representative of what most of you are going to see.

While this comet does qualify as "naked eye"… pic.twitter.com/1RquKU1u6Y

— Eric Snitil (@EricSnitilWx) October 17, 2024

I ended up manually aligning and stacking 113 frames in Photoshop. After stacking, I did some final editing to produce the image below.

As the sky got darker and the moon got brighter, it got harder to see the comet. But it helped create this pretty, dream-like gradient that is seen in the final image.

2024-10-16, sunset 19:01

I wanted to shoot the comet from the comfort of home a few days later when it was higher in the sky. I also wanted to use a telescope this time to see if I could capture more detail. So, I set up my Apertura 60mm with my Canon T7i and captured 46 frames at 10 second exposure, ISO 800, and 30 each of flats/darks/bias frames. I calibrated and stacked my data in PixInsight and ended up with two separate images – one comet-less with stars aligned and one starless with comet aligned. I was able to combine them and make my final edits in Photoshop.

I was able to bring out the anti-tail with about 7.6 minutes of total integration time.

2024-10-19, sunset 18:58

I then wanted to shoot the comet again, but several days later so it would be even higher in the sky allowing me to gather more data. This time I used my C8 and a 6.3X focal reducer, and captured 141 frames at 15 second exposure, ISO 800. As with the last image, I combined two images – comet-less and starless – together in Photoshop and made my final edits.

I was able to capture more detail in the tail, and around the coma and nucleus of the comet with around 35 minutes of integration time.

Location: Atlanta, GA (33.7384° N, 84.4234° W)

Date and Time: 2024-03-24, 11:15PM EDT – 2024-03-25, 03:12AM EDT

Sky conditions: Seeing – Average, Transparency – Mag 2

Instrument: Apertura 60mm FPL-53 Doublet APO Refractor @ f/6 – Aperture: 60mm, Focal Length: 360mm

Mount: Star Adventurer 2i

Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging)

Reticle Device: N/A

Imaging Equipment: Canon Rebel T7i, ZWO IR Cut filter

Image type and sensor: CMOS, APS-C 22.3 x 14.9mm sensor

Image capture details:

Before Eclipse: 2024-03-24, 23:18 EDT, Video mode – 70s MP4, Start capture: 23:18 EDT, End capture: 23:26 EDT, Exposure: 1/500s, ISO: 100, best 20% stacked of 2111 frames

After Eclipse: 2024-03-25, 03:12 EDT, Video mode – 70s MP4, Start capture: 03:12 EDT, End capture: 03:23 EDT, Exposure: 1/320s, ISO: 100, best 20% stacked of 2204 frames

Software: Stacked in Siril, processed in Photoshop.

Lunar eclipses happen twice a year and occur when at least some part of the moon moves into at least part of the Earth’s shadow. They occur only when the moon is in full phase. The types of lunar eclipses and their meanings are:

• Penumbral Eclipse – The moon only slightly darkens. From anywhere on the moon you would see the Earth partially cover up the Sun.
• Partial Eclipse – Part of the moon becomes very dark, part of it remains bright. If you were on the moon in the darkened part, you would see the Sun completely covered by the Earth. From the bright part of the moon, the Earth would cover only part of the Sun.
• Total Eclipse – The entire moon becomes dark. From anywhere on the moon, the Earth would completely cover the Sun. Lunar eclipses can be rated as to how dark they really get. The ratings are the Danjon Scale.

• L0 – Very dark: Moon is almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
• L1 – Dark: Moon is dark gray or brownish, very hard to see details.
• L2 – Deep red of rust, dark center, edge is brighter.
• L3 – Brick red, rim is brighter and yellowish.
• L4 – Bright copper-red or orange, rim is bright and bluish.

Observe a lunar eclipse. Note the type and exact dates and times of: start of partial eclipse, start of total eclipse, end of total eclipse, and end of partial eclipse. Also include your estimate of the rating from the Danjon Scale if it is a total eclipse.

I got the opportunity to observe and image the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on Monday March 25, 2024. Since penumbral lunar eclipses are more subtle due to move through the faint, outer part of Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra, I wanted to compare the full moon before the eclipse to the full moon at maximum eclipse.

I first observed the full moon at 11:18 PM on March 24, 2024. I took a 68 second video through my telescope (video below) for stacking and processing.

I then took a 71 second video during the maximum eclipse on March 25, 2024 at 3:12 AM for stacking and processing. I was surprised to see how well defined the shadow appeared on the moon (video below).

During processing, I put the two images side-by-side for comparison, as seen at the top of this page. Below are the noted times of the eclipse phases.

Penumbral Eclipse begins: 12:53 am

Maximun Eclipse: 3:12 am

Penumbral Eclipse ends: 5:32 am

Location: Atlanta, GA (33.7384° N, 84.4234° W)

Date and Time: 2024-01-13, 11:25 – 11:55 EDT

Sky conditions: Seeing – Good, Transparency – Average

Instrument: Apertura 60mm FPL-53 Doublet APO Refractor @ f/12 – Aperture: 60mm, Focal Length: 360mm, Daystar White-light Universal Lens Solar Filter

Mount: Advanced VX

Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging)

Reticle Device: N/A

Imaging Equipment: ZWO ASI 174MM mini, 2x Barlow, ZWO UV/IR cut filter

Image type and sensor: CMOS, Sony IMX249 1/1.2″ sensor

Image capture details: 31s AVI capture, Start capture: 11:26 EDT, Exposure: 1 ms, Gain: 140, best 20% stacked of 516 frames
Software: ASIAIR, Planetary System Stacker, Photoshop

Sunspots are slightly cooler locations on the sun that are places where strong magnetic field lines emerge from the surface. They can be observed using the projection method or with proper solar filters for your telescope. Never look at the sun without proper filtering, it can damage your eyesight permanently. The projection method involves using either a very small telescope, or a piece of paper with a pinhole in it. In either case, sunlight passes through and is projected onto a white piece of paper. You then look at the image on the white paper. Observe the sun and make a full-disk sketch of the sun showing all visible sunspots. At least one sunspot is required. Note the umbrae and also the penumbrae that are visible. Record the date and time of your observation. If you are interested in further study of sunspots, check into the AL’s Sunspotters Program.

When I opened up SpaceWeatherLive, the first thing I thought was, “Man…that’s a lot of sunspots!”. I set up my telescope and with okay seeing I was able to observe almost all of the named sunspots. On the larger sunspots, AR3545 and AR3549, I am able to make out the umbrae and penumbrae. I can also see faculae along the east and west limbs

After stacking and processing, I was able to bring out surface granulation and nearly all of the named sunspots as seen in the comparison below.

I also used the ASI120MM-S to capture some close ups of the sunspots. With the narrower field of view, I was to see two light bridges within AR3545, and the umbra and penumbra of the smaller sunspots.

After stacking and processing, I was able to see surface granulation and bring out more detail around the smaller sunspots. The following images are stacks 20% best frames of 716 frames at 1ms exposure and 25 gain. I’ve included labeled images to denote the North and West directions as well as the solar features I was able to observe.