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No blog entry this Sunday...maybe I'll get one up later this week.I was away overnight and have been working a lot.
Sorry to disappoint my 'fan club' :D

-Al C

Ripped Off By #Narcity

   What is Narcity? What right do they have to steal photos?
   
    I was browsing Twitter last night and came across this article that was posted under the #northernlights hashtag : http://www.narcity.com/halifax/12-best-places-see-northern-lights-nova-scotia/
   
   Interestingly,my photo was used for the Liverpool section.Not only was it used without my permission,it was also credited to 'pinterest'. I don't even use pinterest so how they got credit for MY photo is baffling to me.

   Here is the original photo I shot with photo data below:

   I don't mind my photos being used anywhere....it's only a hobby and I have thousands of them containing a wide range of subjects.....BUT credit to the photographer should be given.Those of us that do this type of photography spend our hard earned money on equipment and brave the cold,dark nights to capture these shots.A little recognition would be appreciated.

  

   Having said that,when one of my photos was used some years back in the booklet 'Lost In Nova Scotia' I was required to sign release forms allowing the publisher permission to use my photo prior to it being included and published.

   

   To me,publishing someone's photo without permission/credit is similar to what went on in this article from today's (Oct 26th,2016) Chronicle Herald:

    I hope the Narcity Halifax people correct their faux pas.....

    ......and in the future,all of my photos will be watermarked before being posted online.

- Al C

  

Back To Normal Weather / One Meteor

   Things are returning to normal here.We've had a couple of rains and all have helped to recover from the drought.However,the 'big storm' that was forecast for yesterday was not as predicted.We did get some rain and wind but had no flooding here in the southwest part of NS.

   Some more rain and normal temps are expected this week.

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   Haven't had much time or clear skies over the past week to do any sky imaging but did manage to catch one possible meteor with the A-610:

   Weather permitting,here are a few things to look for this week: http://earthsky.org/

Not As Dry Now / Odd Object In The Sky

   Finally!! We had some significant rainfall last Sunday and Monday.Actually,there was too much in the eastern part of NS with widespread flooding and damage. ( read ) .Here,we had just the right amount and the dry wells are recovering.Mine went from about a foot of water to over 4 ft in two days.
   The rest of the week was mostly sunny and dry with generally above normal temps.
   More rain is on the way this week and it's all welcome here.

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   As those that read this regularly know,I operate a sky cam here that is snapping away on most clear nights basically looking for meteors or other 'strange' objects.Well,the camera found an oddity early Saturday morning.....not sure what this is...maybe the vapor trail from a satellite being repositioned? Anyways,the object was visible in the Northwest sky for a number of hours.If anyone else saw it,please comment below or send me an email.

   Larger version of the same video is here .

   Nothing like that appeared in last night's session of the same area of the sky but the camera did catch a small meteor late on Saturday evening:

   The Northern Lights outburst that was expected was a bust here but the ISS was a nice sight in the bright moonlit sky.

ISS coming into view

ISS fading into the Earth's shadow

 
   Some things to watch for this week,weather permitting can be found by visiting http://earthsky.org/

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

Still Dry - Need Rain / Draconids

     Weather:

    The dry weather continues.

    Everytime the forecast calls for rain we get nothing.Initially Hurricane Matthew was expected to make it's way here by now and deliver some but that didn't happen....it only made it as far north as the Carolinas ,has now been down graded to a depression and is drifting east and out to sea.

    And while the southeastern US was getting the storm,yesterday was like a summer day here with temps into the +20°Cs with sun and it remained very warm and dry overnight.Currently the temp from the AGRG station across the street from here is +17°C / 63°F.....that is way above normal.

    Some rain is actually expected here today from a small system moving up the coast but the meteorologists can't give specifics on it and issued the following statement:

'A trough of low pressure passing over the Maritimes today will intensify tonight as it draws upon tropical moisture from the south.

Significant rainfall is expected over most of Nova Scotia beginning tonight with rainfall amounts totalling near 30 to 40 mm before ending by Monday afternoon.

At this time there remains some uncertainty in the exact positioning and intensity of this system, and a slight shift in either could result in higher rainfall amounts, possibly exceeding the warning criteria of 50 mm.

Environment Canada meteorologists will continue to monitor the development of this system and will update forecasts and possibly issue rainfall warnings as further information becomes available.'

As for how low rainfall has been,see the circled area in this graphic from Saturday's local newspaper:

The forecast for this week...maybe a little rain:

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  Astronomy:

     The annual Draconid meteor shower occurred last week,peaking on the 7th.My unattended camera picked up a few of them:

A small Draconid

Draconid w/ the Andromeda Galaxy above

Things to look for in the night sky this week,weather permitting:

All for now.

Have a great week!

-Al C

The Dry Weather Continues

So....it's still dry here.We have had a few showers but rainfall is well below normal and the drought conditions continue.The forecast is showing some rain for today but ,up to the time of this post, there has been none yet.The long range 10 day model is showing only very slight amounts through to the 11th.Temps are also remaining warm with daytime readings near +20°C.Currently,at 5:15AM, my thermometer is showing +13.4°C....that's very warm for here at this time of the year and day.
The weather forecast for this week:

I read an article about Hurricane Mathew impacting our area by next weekend.That article went on to say that it would be similar to Juan some years ago that did significant damage here.Personally I think that person was 'fear mongering'. The storm is currently well south of Cuba and has a lot of travelling to do to get here.At this time,no one can say for certain if it will even make it this far north so I would hold off on predicting flooding and hurricane force winds for here at this point.

The current graphic:

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We had a some Northern Lights activity early last week.There was also a prediction of a large outburst mid-week but that did not happen here.As it was,I did get a few pics last Monday night from my favorite viewing location:

The sun has gone quiet again and there is no aurora activity expected here this week.

Some other things to look for in the night sky for this week:

That's all for now.

Have a great week!!

-Al

Is the drought over?

Is the drought over?
It might just be.We've had a little rain and there's more coming this week.
Here's the forecast from Environment Canada:

So...I did  little night shooting last week with the A-610.That old 5mp camera is always shooting the night sky,unattended,weather permitting...looking for meteors or other 'anomalies' in the sky.Nobody  says those 'streaks' are definitely meteors but those of us that know....know.It's actually quite amusing that some bloggers say you can't get pics of meteors......umm....wrong!! 

Two things to know about night sky photography:

a)learn how to use your camera and 

b) learn how to use your camera. 

As for equipment...depending on what what you're looking to do,cheap cameras work as well as 'big bucks' setups if you follow the rules above and use some good photo editing programs.I may comment on some of them over the next few weeks.I have my favorites and they are not hard to use at all.

The following pics are taken with the old Canon A-610 running CHDK software ....

The Milky Way...ISO1600 at 40 secs (unguided)

The Milky Way and maybe a meteor...ISO1600 at 40 secs (unguided)

Anyways.....some things to look for this week if the sky permits:

Have a great week!!!

- Al