#terranovanp — Public Fediverse posts

Amazing what a smartphone can capture in low light conditions. This is a single 30 second shot. Camera held by a clamp holder attached to the arm of a folding chair 😀

#nlskies #astrophotography #TerraNovaNP

Attending #ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP inaugural Dark Sky Festival. After the cosmic trivia event last night, clouds cleared conveniently just in time for a public viewing session. Couple fireballs got some good crowd ooohs and awwwes!

After the public session, captured this fireball at my campsite.

#nlskies #astrophotography #Perseids #nlastro

Capturing a "deep" Image of winter's Orion constellation is a challenge for me. My winter weather is terrible. My access to proper dark sky in winter is impractical. But it's been an objective for many years!

Thankfully, Orion is accessible in Fall, if you stay up late enough. In September I set up a tracker mount w/DSLR just as Orion was rising (~1:30am) . Captured 50 2min images after clearing the horizon (while I slept!).

#TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve
#nlskies #Astrophotography #Astrodon

Playing around with some images captured on a clear dark night late September. One is a single 2-minute tracked image looking over some treetops in #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve.

The other is a stack of 20 of these tracked images (with the tree tops cropped out). Can "push" the processing a lot more with the stack.

Canon 6D (modified), 35mm lens, iso3200 f/2.5

Single image mostly processed in #darktable. Stack mostly in #PixInsight

#Astrophotography #nlskies #nlastro #NewmanSoundCampground

Always trying to improve my processing skills (because there is always lot of room to improve 🤪). Took another stab at this one from August during a Dark Sky #RASC astronomy event at #TerraNovaNP.

Single 25sec image 12800iso 14mm f2.5

Getting a better hang of free/open-source #darktable which has been a great replacement for Lightroom. Final tweaks in Pix Insight.

#Astrophotography #MilkyWay #Nightscape
#nlskies #nlastro

Had a second camera and less-wide lens (35mm vs 14mm) while at Sandy Cove beach in September. Made for a better close-up of the #MilkyWay.

It is outside the #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreseve, and near a small village, but still decently dark @ Bortle 3.

I also recorded some audio. It was quiet with no wind. Just a gentle lapping of some small waves. Had the whole beach to myself (and the dog!). Serene.

#Newfoundland
#nlskies #astrophotography
#nlastro #NightScape

I sometimes try to capture #NightScape scenes in #TerraNovaNP campground (Newman Sound) that folks might find recognizable. And perhaps the park might find useful for promotional purposes.

Pretty happy with how this one turned out. Even captured some #Airglow.

This was captured later in September. Might not have been possible earlier in the season as the park still has work to do addressing #LightPollution generated by "uninformed" campers.

#DarkSkyPreserve
#nlskies #astrophotography
#nlastro

The #MilkyWay over a small brook. Captured during late September's new-moon phase.

Didn't turn out quite the way I hoped (dim foreground). It was so dark nestled between high trees. But it sure was peaceful there.

#BigBrook #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve #nlskies #astrophotography #nlastro

Am I addicted to Milky Way shots?

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No comment.

#astrodon #AirGlow
#MilkyWay #Astrophotography #TerraNovaNP #BigBrook
#DarkSkyPreserve
#nlskies #nlastro

Working on improving my #MilkyWay processing. And learning the ins and outs of #darktable. Still lots to learn on both fronts!

This shot from Sandy Pond 23rd August at #ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP - a #DarkSkyPreserve

Skies were pretty dark but some #LightPollution is visible over the distant hill, from a small town outside the park.

#astrophotography #nlskies #nlastro

A good night at my "local" National Park - Terra Nova. The clouds (mostly) cooperated for some public outreach with telescopes as well as eyeball-only star and #MilkyWay gazing.

We were visited pond side by a young moose who wasn't too bothered at all by the crowds!

#nlskies #astronomy #TerraNovaNP

Another glorious clear and dark night sky at #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve on Wednesday. The park still has work to do addressing #LightPollution within the #campground, but I managed to find some shadows to capture these images from.

Second image is looking up at Cygnus, the #MilkyWay and some red nebulae. Captured with a 50mm lens and the venerable Canon 6D (modified).

#nlastro #astrophotography #Astrodon #nlskies

Finally got back out to a proper dark sky this past weekend. Neighbouring camp site had crazy bright lights left on all night - thus the lit up trees. Localized #LightPollution

Following night found a spot away from camper lights.

Wasn't the best sky transparency but the overall experience ... cathartic!

#nlastro #astrophotography
#TerraNovaNP

Did not get to use my mobile rig so much in 2023. Weather was most uncooperative.

During the summer it was used to capture the Soap Bubble nebula. That thing is very faint! 🤪

It helped that this data was captured from the dark skies of #TerraNovaNP #darkskypreserve

Other images were captured from back yard.

Hopefully there will be better opportunities to use this rig in 2024.

#astrodon #nlskies2023
#nlastro #astrophotography

More 2023 astro musings ...

During the summer, I get to spend some time in my "local" #DarkSkyPreserve - #TerraNovaNP. 2023 did not disappoint.

When conditions permit, I like to use a wide field lens and take in the Milky Way and landscape. And occasionally I corral a meteor or two along the way.

If I get lucky, I sometimes snag some #AirGlow ripples or a #MeteorSmokeTrail (like the one here, captured Aug 12)!

#astrodon #nlskies2023
#nlastro #astrophotography

delinquent /dĭ-lĭng′kwənt, -lĭn′-/
adjective
Failing in duty; offending by neglect of duty.

Until this week, I was *delinquent* in not processing this data from last summer! 🤪

Captured in my local #DarkSkyPreserve #TerraNovaNP

If you look closely, just left of center, there is a small faint circle known as the Soap Bubble. It is a bugger to capture, so I am happy with this result!

#astrodon
#nlskies #astrophotography
#nlastro

Another camping season is over 😢
Wasn't much in it for astronomy this year, between incessant clouds and smoke from forest fires out West. 🙄

Did manage to grab some exposures on the Wizard Nebula a couple weekends ago. Not bad considering there was still some hazy smoke hanging around.

About 6 hours total exposure, split between Ha and [OIII] filters with a mono camera.

#astrodon #astrophotography
#astronomy #TerraNovaNP
#DarkSkyPreserve

Here's another version of #StarTrails from #TerraNovaNP - 17 Aug. This one created using #Sequator (~100 frames) with tweaks to colour using #DarkTable

There is enough of an arc in the trails to see what direction the North and South celestial poles are (ie. North is upper right).

#ParksCanada #Astrodon #Astrophotography #nlskies

During the timelapse - I did manage to capture one decently bright #meteor. Looks to be a #Perseids

Here is a crop from that frame.

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #DarkSkyPreserve
#ParksCanada #ParksCanadaNL #TerraNovaNP #nlastro

As previously described, my coyote dodging (in my own mind!) adventure netted me some nice images overlooking "Big Brook" in #ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP near #NewmanSoundCampground.
I've been told by staff that the river bend is known as the "Oxbow".

I turned ~5 hours of images into this #TimeLapse.

For the dark sky nerds, the SQM meter at my campsite peaked at about 21.5 mpsas that night.

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #DarkSkyPreserve

Did a short but eerie solo walk through a wooded trail last night around midnight (there have been coyote sightings recently, and it's bear country). But have been wanting to capture this scene for a couple years now. No guts, no glory (such as it is) - lol.

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP #BigBrook #DarkSkyPreserve

This is a smoke trail timelapse from a #Perseids meteor I posted previously (from Aug 12). Smoke trail can be seen drifting downward from the initial bright meteor.

Used #EZGif with ~50 images to create the timelapse. Pre-processed images using @darktable app to (try to!) colour correct the raw images.

#darktable has been working really well for me - I have cancelled my Adobe subscription.

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #meteor #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve

Been trying out #darktable (free, open source) as a substitute for Adobe Lightroom. Pretty good experience so far. Limitation is my processing skills, not the software 🤪

Used it to process ~1250 images (including above smoke trails) for assembly into a timelapse using Virtualdub2.

Too big to post on Mastodon so here's a link to it on my Flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlskies/53121536160/in/dateposted-public/

~45 meteors + many planes/satellites

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #meteor #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve

Here's a couple more examples of meteor smoke trails from 12 August. Captured with a different camera (with longer 35mm lens).

Each image/frame is 15s. As you can tell from the star rotations, the camera is pointed ~North. Perhaps I should combine these for a star trail ...

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #meteor #TerraNovaNP

Here's an animation of the smoke trail. 25 frames which were each 20sec exposures - so about 8 minutes total timelapse.

Also visible: (vertical) ripples of air glow, moving right to left. Need a dark sky site to view those!

Also sadness .... although I was in a dark sky preserve (Terra Nova National Park), I had to place my camera in a shadow (of a car) to avoid the "city lights" of my campground neighbour 🙄 .

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #Perseids #meteor #TerraNovaNP

Unexpectedly gifted with mostly clear skies last night. Should have tracked my observations more scientifically, but was not prepared 🙄

Observed ~ 100+ meteors over approx 3 hours. ~70-80% were Perseids plus a few Aquariids and Capricornids. The rest I could not confirm identity, or were sparodics.

This is best one I caught on camera. There is an associated smoke trail - hopefully will get time to timelapse it tomorrow.

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy #Perseids #meteor #TerraNovaNP

Cloudy skies briefly relented last night for couple hours of meteor observing. ~dozen in an hour. ~2/3 #Perseids - rest were Capricornids/Aquariids or unidentifiable.

Had 2 cameras going, one captured this decent meteor. Time-lapse shows small smoke trail (over ~4 minutes).

Once cameras were going, it was a pleasure to just lie back in a reclining chair and take in the glorious dark sky spectacle of #TerraNovaNP #DarkSkyPreserve with only naked eye.

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophotography

Aurora Timelapse.

Mastodon might compress/mangle the resolution on this timelapse video. Full resolution available here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlskies/52351717755/in/album-72157714174945456/

#ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP
#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

Always sad saying goodbye to camping season, meteor chair, imaging rigs and all. But can look forward to next camping season. Half-way there already!

With one of my timelapses in September I unexpectedly picked up some #aurora.

#ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP
#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022

It is particularly satisfying to capture #AirGlow in my summer #NightScape pictures. Seen here as horizontal bands of green & purple. Need dark sky location to capture it. Technically, it (& the Milky Way) are natural forms of #LightPollution.

Towards constellation Auriga, you are looking through the Milky Way, but away from the MW center. So, much less stars - but dark patches/nebula are still obvious.

#ParksCanada #TerraNovaNP
#astrophotography #astrodon #astronomy #nlskies2022