dermuehle

Partial Lunar Eclipse 2013 Apr 25

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:57:00 +0000

Partial Lunar Eclipse from Stuttgart

A real visual treat, to the unaided eye and with 12.5*100 scope, maximum contrast with 8mm exit pupil. More in this gallery
Video from Stuttgart Observatory

21:11 MESZ Stack of 2 exposures LUMIX DMC G3 1s, 1/30s f/5.6, f=42mm, ISO 800, blossoming pear tree in foreground

Animated GIF 21:11 MESZ

21:29 MESZ

Partial phase 22:16 MESZ Exp 1/100s and 1/200s ISO200 500mm Soligor lens f/5

Animated GIF 22:29 MESZ

Panstarrs again

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:28:00 +0000

Comet C/2011 L4 - Photo op between rainshowers

19:43 MEZ Lumix G3 42mm f/5.6 8s ISO800 w/ plane trail

Crop

19:44 MEZ Lumix G3 42mm f/5.6 8s ISO800 crop

19:41 MEZ Lumix G3 42mm f/5.6 8s ISO800 crop

Panstarrs vom Fernsehturm

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 16:47:00 +0000

Comet C/2011 L4 Panstarrs observed from Fernsehturm Stuttgart on 2013 Mar 15.

Photos taken with Lumix G3. First success at 19:18 MEZ, on a picture at 19:14 it is not visible.
Two more photographers and about ten comet watchers had gathered here. The easiest way to find it was using live-view at high zoom factor as done by the Canon 600 photographer. About 3 minutes later I saw it in my 7x42 binoculars. It was a pretty sight, especially as the sky got darker.

Here is a series of 26 images between 19:25 and 19:55 MEZ. View as slideshow
Additional photos

19:35 MEZ f=42mm f/5.6 3.2s ISO800

Crop1


Crop2

Fernsehturm Stuttgart

Comet C/2011 L4 Panstarrs

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:12:00 +0000

Finally clear skies in Stuttgart

19h 30m MEZ Lumix G3 1600ISO 1.3 sec

Animated GIF 7 sec apart

Saros 120 Eclipses 1925 1979

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:09:00 +0000

Fig.00 TSE 1925 Jan24 in NYC, eclipse paths by Jubier and Herald

There has been a lively discussion on the Yahoo Solar Eclipse mailing list SEML about the Total Solar Eclipse of Jan. 24, 1925 and the southern limit of the totality zone - observations versus computations using modern software and Google Earth/Maps.

The eclipse happened in New York City in the morning with the sun at 17 deg. elevation.
The southern edge of the totality zone was reported from a dense line of observations to be at 96th St. at the intersection with Riverside Dr. (SEML Msg #16462 #16471) and Edison-Report (PDF)

Fig. 01 pg. 10 from Edison-Report

tomhaeberle #16462 jan.24
As many of you know the 1925 eclipse was well-documented. Astronomers wanted to
use the Manhattan Gridline to help Map the southern limit of the eclipse. It was
determined with the help of a 149 workers of the NY Edison company that the line
crossed between 95th and 97 street centering on 96 street (from the actual NY
Times article).

mzeiler #16471 jan.25
The famous measurement of the observed limit line is described
here http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1925ApJ....61..207F and states that the
limit line was observed to be about the intersection of Riverside Drive and 96th
street. This is about a 1 km perpendicular offset from the modern computed
southern limit line.

The discussion dealt with the plotted path of the southern edge in Google Maps/Google Earth
using data from the 5-millenium atlas by Jubier resp. Espenak. It is displayed 800m south of 96 St.
The line given by Dave Herald's Occult 4.1.0 is even 300m further south (Ephemeris DE414/LE414 with DE423/LE423).
Actually Espenak states: The accuracy of the northern and southern edges of the eclipse path are limited to approximately 1-2 kilometers due to the lunar limb profile.

Circumventing potential projection problems, we can calculate local circumstances. Xavier Jubier's tool V1.0.6 for the intersection 96th St/Riverside Dr. yields 15 sec totality after limb corrections.

Three Saros cycles later an almost identical repetition occurred in Oregon. The southern shadow edge was again determined observationally (OSU Solar eclipse expedition , gallery).
Incidentally at my site north of Madras OR totally lasted about 19 sec, almost identical to the prediction for NYC 96th St.
However for the 1979 event theory and observation match very closely. (Blog)

Further checks were made using Beads Analysis in Herald's Occult 4.1.0.
For the NYC site at 96th St., Occult predicts totality of 14 sec between 14:10:43 and 14:10:57 UTC
in close agreemant with Xubier's local circumstances.

So it appears that, aside from the problem connected with projections of the totality zone edges
in 1925 there seems to be a real discrepancy between the reported southern limit from observations and the local circumstances computed for that location using modern eclipse software.

The profile is very sensitive to the solar radius parameter. A value of 0.5" of the white-light emission zone between photosphere and chromosphere has been reported by Sigismondi et. al.
See Jay Pasachof, SEML #16492
Many subscribers to SEML will be interested in "Towards a Unified Definition of
Solar Limb during Central Eclipses and Daily Transits" by Costantino Sigismondi,
Andrea Raponi, Cyril Bazin, and Richard Nugent, http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.2197
and some other papers by Sigismondi at http://arxiv.org, searching on his name.

Update 2013 Feb 03
Simulation with Occult
Parameters:
Correction to solar radius = 0.4" to 0.5" (Fig. 09 to Fig.11)
Altitude = 50m (estimated rooftop height, Fig. 12)

This reproduces the observed edge of the totality zone at 96th St./Riverside Dr. in NYC
and essentially confirms John Irwin's findings in SEML #16512 Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:59 pm
"If we increase the solar radius by 0.05% to allow for this transition
region, and also include a ~50m elevation for the observers, then for the
location at the junction of Riverside Drive and W96th St. (73.97537W,
40.79635N) the true limb-corrected duration reduces from 14.9s to near zero!

In this particular situation, I find the observation point actually lies
outside the umbral outline but the closest-approach distance is only about
10m. I suppose one could vary the solar radius and/or elevation to pin-point
an exact grazing event, but I think we'd then be playing in the noise.
Greatest eclipse (if we can call it that) occurs at about 14:10:50 UT, with
a delta-T of 23.8s (which is close to the actual value of 23.6s).

Therefore with these considerations we can predict a near zero-duration
total eclipse consistent with the observations. I'm not sure the use of a
blackened film can be used to explain the discrepancy as I think that would
increase the duration, not decrease it as required to fit the observations.

John."

Circumstances:
The solar radius was 16', thus 0.05% corresponds to 0.48"
Solar distance r=0.984480 a.u.

Figures

06 comparison Jubier/Maestro w/ Occult/Herald UTC 14:10:41


07 comparison Jubier/Maestro w/ Occult/Herald UTC 14:10:43

08 comparison Jubier/Maestro w/ Occult/Herald UTC 14:10:57

Fig.09 solar radius + 0.40"

Fig.10 solar radius + 0.45"

Fig.11 solar radius + 0.50"

Fig.12 Google Earth

ISS Jupiter Moon

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:19:00 +0000

ISS passing by Jupiter, Moon at 17:17 MEZ

exposures 1/3s at ISO 800

Combination of 12 exposures from this slideshow

Almost total eclipse cruise

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Almost booked and 100 percent satisfied.

In June, 2012 my eclipse buddy Christian found this ad by P&O Cruises which looked like a bargain. He almost completed booking, stumbled on insecure online payment procedures with "Bestcruises".

In hindsight, that saved us a lot of money and annoyance.
"Late arrival wrecks eclipse cruise. A special cruise ship set up to view the total eclipse ended in total disaster"
Cruise Ship Law Blog

Telegraph
Perthnow

Solar eclipse cruise message thread on cruisecritic and here

Total eclipse of a cruise for P&O - Thursday, 15 November 2012

P&O Cruises on Facebook:
"Pacific Jewel and Pacific Dawn were in perfect position to view today’s total eclipse of the sun in northern Australia!"
Actually, from the Pacific Dawn just offshore from Pt. Douglas, viewing conditions were suboptimal, clouds during totality.

ISS passing through Zenith

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:17:00 +0000

ISS passage 19:27 -19:28

Mission Zukunft

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 16:05:00 +0000

Mission Zukunft - Von Baden-Württemberg ins All
2. Raumfahrttag am 05.10.2012 im Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart

More pics

1 List-Saal

2 List-Saal

3 Schülerwettbewerb

4 Rolf-Jürgen Ahlers, Astronaut Reinhold Ewald

Golden Gate of the Ecliptic

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:34:00 +0000

Moon and Jupiter in the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic
together with airplane trail

Animated gif, 4 exposures 5 sec each

2012 Oct 05 01h 16m MESZ

Exposure 5 sec, ISO 1600, Lumix G3

Der Ahnert

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:47:00 +0000

Heute und damals - Paul Ahnert 's Astronomisches Jahrbuch


Druckfrisch , mein Twittergewinn von Sterne und Weltraum

1988, 40. Jahrgang zum 90. Geburtstag von Paul Ahnert

1988

1989, Redakteur Reiner Luthardt

1989, Vorwort Luthardt

Anaglyphs of Gale crater canyon

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Simulated views of the canyon in Gale crater, ultimate destination of MSL Curiosity.
HIRISE DTM DTEEC_009149_1750_009294_1750_U01.IMG processed with Microdem

Real stereo images expected soon
"This stereo pair taken about 33 feet (10 meters) apart will provide three-dimensional information about distant features and possible driving routes."

Download and view in full size with red/green viewer.

line of sight from current MSL position, 100m up

view into the canyon from 500m up, 100m contour lines

view into the canyon from 1000m up

More Curiosity site mapping

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 17:20:00 +0000

Supplementing the new images by MSL of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater and the discussion,
here are some visualizations created using Microdem and the MOLA DTM.

1 The crest in the direction of the secondary peak is 37 km away from MSL and at 6 deg elevation angle

2 - MOLA DTM with contour lines 200m apart
range circles at 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 km from MSL

3 Perspective view from 100m above MSL landing site

Original size 2400x600 here

5 Google Mars view with Microdem overlay

6 Google Mars view

7 Google Mars view

8 Google Mars view

Google Mars and Curiosity Update

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:08:00 +0000

Scenes created using an overlay of the color-enhanced view presented yesterday
The slope map by Tesheimer is here

The 360 degree high-res panorama has been added to Google Mars already.
Google Mars updated! from 2009, scientific use, still interesting.

ISS and Perseids

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 10:04:00 +0000

Streaks in the night sky

ISS passage 22:05 - 22:14 MESZ animated slideshow

Perseid at 00:24 MESZ, Aug 12 in Andromeda
4 minutes earlier there was one brighter than the ISS in the same direction leaving a smoke trail

ISS passage

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:12:00 +0000

ISS passage from Stuttgart at 21:30 MESZ
Animated gif 4MB, individual exposure times 1 sec

Google Mars - Curiosity

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:15:00 +0000

These Google Martians are fast! Highres coverage of the MSL site freshly added since yesterday.
Intended to create an overlay from the ustream screenshot below, not necessary anymore.

pedestrian view, line towards hidden summit of Aeolis Mons

from JPL press conference 9:00 PDT, intended to create an overlay

Mars Landing

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:07:00 +0000

Google Mars scenes with the Curiosity touchdown site and Aeolis Mons in Gale crater.
The mountaintop is not visible from the MSL landing site at 137.44deg East 4.59 deg South

Arianespace TV

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:26:00 +0000

50th Ariane5 launch
Why is the altitude decreasing for several minutes after reaching about 160 km?
Look here "The imperative is to gain speed, even at the expense of some altitude"

City Star Party 2012

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 11:41:00 +0000

City Star Party am 28.07.2012, Schwaebische Sternwarte Stuttgart

Gallery 25 pics

Festvortrag RZBW

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:43:00 +0000

Festvortrag am 18.07.2012 von Prof. Hans-Peter Röser zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des Raumfahrtzentrums Baden-Württemberg

Moon_Jupiter_Venus

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 11:53:00 +0000

Scenes at dawn 45 minutes after the occultation of Jupiter

05h 01m MESZ

05h 02m MESZ

05h 05m MESZ

TSE1991 Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:54:00 +0000

The Big One on the Big Island - 21 years ago photo gallery

photo through 5" Newtonian by Christian Wolter

Observation site

RZBW Inside

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 12:42:00 +0000

Guided tour inside the newly opened Raumfahrtzentrum Baden-Wuerttemberg on Jun 30, 2012
Tag der Wissenschaft, Uni Stuttgart More pics: Gallery

Vortrag Nachhaltige Energiewirtschaft: Aufbruch zu neuen Ufern!
PD Dr. Eberhard Goering, MPI für Intelligente Systeme
Charts
* Regenerativ geht und reicht in jedem Fall
* Mit dezentralem Puffer ud dezentraler "smarter Kraft-Wärmekopplung"
können wir uns Netzausbau fast schenken

Venustransit 2012

noreply@blogger.com (dermuehle) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:04:00 +0000

Simulation of the Transit of Venus 2012 Jun 06 with good old Redshift 4.
Heliocentric view, 415000 km north of solar center, magnification 300x, starting at 00:30 UTC, 1 minute intervals