BRITTNEY MILLER

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.

Location: Mansfield, GA (33.4689° N, 83.7353° W)

Date and Time: 2023-11-03, 20:55 EDT

Sky conditions: Seeing – fair, Transparency – Mag 5

Instrument: Celestron C8 SCT @f/10, Aperture 203.3mm, Focal length: 2023

Mount: Advanced VX

Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging)

Reticle Device: N/A

Imaging Equipment: ZWO ASI 224MC, ZWO UV/IR Cut filter

Image type and sensor: CMOS, IMX224 1/3″ sensor

Image capture details: 30s AVI capture, Start capture: 20:55:17 EDT, End capture: 20:55:47 EDT, Exposure: 20ms, Gain: 85, best 20% stacked of 1503 frames
Software: ASICap, ASIVideoStack, Photoshop

The first thing that comes to a person’s attention when looking at the disk of the great planet Jupiter is the striated clouds of its turbulent atmosphere. Fascinating and compelling, even a modest telescope reveals a good amount of detail but always leaves you yearning for more. Through the years a system of nomenclature has been applied to the alternating dark and light areas called belts and zones, respectively. Coupled with the giant’s fast rate of spin (Jupiter’s bulk rotates once in a little under ten hours) even the casual observer can notice something new. Below is a detailed list of the main cloud bands. Not all are always present all of the time. Jupiter’s dynamics are too complicated for that. 

Below is a diagram of the main cloud bands. How many can you see? Make a sketch or image, and label those parts that match the accompanying diagram. Include observation data and impressions. Don’t worry about a lot of detail – Jupiter rotates so rapidly that features may move if you take too long to work on details. Note the East-West direction of your sketch or image.

Watching Jupiter’s cloud belts is fascinating. Since the planet can make a full rotation in around 10 hours, there is always something new to see. You can see how fast Jupiter’s rotation is in the 1-hour and 17-minute timelapse animation I made for the Jupiter Satellite Shadow Transit project.