Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Oct 2017 recap

We had decent weather all through October.Temps were warm and rainfall was minimal.Thanksgiving weekend was warm and the day of the dinner was spent socializing in the front yard at the homestead in the country before the feast.....ya gotta like that! ! Hallowe'en night was comfortable for the 'Trick or Treaters' ....no need to bundle up with temps around 7°C during the evening.
The leaves are dropping more now but mid-month the trees were colorful and full.Still a lot of green leaves then,too. Here's a couple taken along the Mersey in the Trestle Trail / Pine Grove Park area on Oct 14th.




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Not a lot happening in the skies over Oct.The annual Orionids were a bust here.The automated camera that shoots all night only picked up a few over a couple of nights......nothing at all like was advertised and expected.






I did capture a really bright Iridium flare:


and an evening pass of the ISS almost intersecting with a plane to make a somewhat interesting shot:


That's all for now.
Cheers!!

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Iridium flare

Nice and clear last night.Northern Lights were weak while I was out but did get a nice shot of one of the Iridium satellites flaring over Liverpool,Nova Scotia.


Sunday, October 1, 2017

Sept 2017 recap

   Sept was a 'slow' month for sky imaging here.Clouds were an issue for 3/4 of the 30 days due mostly to Hurricanes Jose and Maria.Neither storm had any significant impact here other than a little rain,some wind and a number of days and nights of very warm and humid conditions.All that is behind us now and the month ended,as it began, with clear skies.Temps are now returning to 'normal' with daytime highs in the 20°C range and cool nights in the upper single digits.

   I did have the automated Canon PowerShot A-610 set up for a few nights and caught a few stray meteors:







That's all for now.

Cheers,
Al ( https://twitter.com/AL_in_NS )





Sunday, August 27, 2017

August meteors

Summer is winding down.With that comes cooler nights and clearer skies so hoping to capture more meteors in Sept with the A-610.

We have one clear night left for this month according to the forecast:

Besides the Perseids I posted previously,here's a couple of more small August meteors.The camera was looking West when it captured these:



Cheers,
Al

Monday, August 21, 2017

The 2017 solar eclipse.

Just a partial eclipse here.Had to leave home before the peak but shot a few pics at the beginning...
taken with an Olympus E-PL1 set at ISO 50,F-stop at 22 and 1/2000 sec exposure using the stock M.Zuiko 14 to 42mm lens.The 'solar filter' is comprised of 2 exposed 35mm negatives.It worked OK.First pic is at 14mm,second at 42mm.Both are cropped.



Cheers,
Al

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Perseids

Some Perseids over the past few weeks....unfortunately we were under the clouds during the peak.
The camera is currently shooting away.Maybe we'll catch a meteor or two tonight.






Cheers,
Al

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Back to better weather...and clear skies!

  Haven't posted for a while....working 2 jobs and doing a few other things are taking up a good deal of my time.

  Anyways,the weather has changed for the better...almost in the blink of an eye.One week ago it was cold,raining and windy.A day or so later and summer weather arrives with lots of sunshine and temps in the 30°Cs for highs.It's a little cooler today at 22°C and low humidity.One could call this a perfect day....the light breeze is an added bonus.
  As with everything,all good things must end.Some rainy weather is on the way starting tomorrow evening.Temps will still remain warm.

  Some pics I took over the past little while on the clear nights.Most have details included in the image:













  Hoping for more clear skies throughout the upcoming summer nights.

-Cheers,
Al C


Thursday, April 27, 2017

A meteor or a flare

Taken with my Canon A-610 running CHDK...1st one is original with time stamp edited (clock was off by 1 hour),last 2 photos in the series are for reference.



A couple more shots taken over the past week or so:




And one taken while out chasing the Northern Lights....there may be a tinge of red but that may be from the terrestrial lights:


Later....


Thursday, April 6, 2017

One Week Ago - The Ice Storm

We had a major ice storm here a week ago.There were major power failures that were mostly caused by downed branches and trees.We had three outages here with the longest being about 10 hours.
Here are some pics.Most were taken when the storm was over and the sky was clearing.








Still waiting for Spring to arrive here.....maybe it will show up this weekend.

Later,
Al



Thursday, March 9, 2017

A Clear Sky??!!

    Well....we finally had a clear night sky on March 6 to 7.That's hard to believe after months of clouds.I set up the CHDK modded Canon A-610 and shot 252 sequential shots from 8:45PM to 5:18AM.Picked up a few possible Lyrid meteors and the early morning ISS pass.

                                                                      A possible Lyrid


                                                                                Another possible Lyrid


                                                                                                 The ISS

                                          All shots were 1 minute @ ISO 1600, 7.3mm


A timelapse of all 252 frames.






That's all for now.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

A better week ahead

After two significant snowstorms only days apart last week it looks like this week may be somewhat better and maybe some of the meter deep snow will melt.


In the meantime,I have my backyard buddies to keep me entertained.




That's all I have for now.
Have a great week.
-Al

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Batten Down The Hatches

Big snowstorm on the way.Looks like tonight and tomorrow will be a bit nasty.

4:28 AM AST Sunday 12 February 2017
Blizzard warning in effect for:
  • Queens County
Blizzard conditions with gusty winds and persistent visibility near zero in snow and blowing snow are expected or occurring.

A low pressure system will form south of Cape Cod this evening and rapidly intensify overnight as it approaches Nova Scotia. Snow at times heavy will develop in the far west of the province near midnight tonight then spread northeastward reaching northern and eastern regions Monday morning, and Cape Breton near noon on Monday. Very strong east to northeast winds will accompany this storm with gusts between 90 and 110 km/h expected, which will give extensive blowing snow with frequent whiteout conditions. Total snowfall amounts by Monday evening will range from 30 to 60 cm for the western portions of the province, 20 to 30 cm for northern and eastern regions and near 10 cm in Cape Breton. Additional significant amounts are likely Monday night and into Tuesday morning for northern and eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Storm on the way / Penumbral eclipse

So...another storm is on the way.The models are showing the possibility of 70cms of snow from this one starting in the wee hours of Monday morning and persisting all day.Not looking forward to that but IT IS winter.

Last night we saw a penumbral eclipse.Unbelievably,it was relatively clear and viewing wasn't bad at all....except it was a bit chilly outside.That's why they make winter coats,though,and you can't beat a Columbia for winter wear!!




A short post but that's all I have for now.
Cheers,
Al


Sunday, February 5, 2017

Still cloudy / Opteka 500mm lens

    Although it has not been very cold and snow amounts are little to none here it remains cloudy most of the time.The clouds have really impacted my asrophotography.....we probably haven't had more than a week's worth of clear nights over the past 3 months.
     More clouds are expected this week with the possibility of a little snow and some rain.



Anyways,I bought an Opteka 500mm lens for my Olympus E-PL1 a few weeks ago.The main reason was for an enhancement to my wildlife photography but,a few nights ago during a brief break in the clouds,I tried a moon shot.The results were adequate considering the conditions.In my opinion,this is a decent lens plus it is quite affordable.

                                                   Opteka 500mm mounted on the E-PL1


                                                     A cardinal shot at about 50 feet distant

                                                               Crescent moon - 1/500 sec at ISO 1250

   That's all for now.Have a great week.
-Al

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Iridium 34 flare ..plus...

The weather has been very unforgiving in getting any clear skies...it's been clouds,clouds,clouds and more clouds.On the upside,it has not been cold here as in other parts of the country...however,this is a big country and we are located in the southeast part,on the Atlantic ocean.....the same ocean that will freeze our feet off in the summer but keep us warmer than most of the rest of Canada in the winter.

So...for the next 10 days the models are showing that the temps will be on the plus side of freezing during the daytime along with a few chilly nights.Rain on the way for later this week.

No one is complaining..


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We did have a brief period of clearness early last night.Just long enough to capture this Iridium flare with the A-610 modded with CHDK.That's the first time in weeks that I set it up to do some unattended shots.Needless to say,it wasn't long after this pic that the skies began to cloud over so the gear was packed up until the next time.

All for now.
Have a great week.
-Al


wx

Special weather statement in effect for: Queens County Potential storm over the Maritimes at anytime this Fall and Winter . A storm will lik...