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Mars, Uranus and the Pleiades
July 16, 2024

This image with the planets Mars and Uranus near the Pleiades star cluster, all in the constellation Taurus, was captured on July 16, 2024, from Carranza Field in Wharton State Forest, NJ. The two planets were at formal conjunction in geocentric right ascension on July 15 at 5 am EDT and were at their apparent closest to each other (appulse) at 10:28 am EDT, 32 arc minutes (0.53°) apart, but clouds precluded observing yesterday morning. Since then, Mars has moved eastward (down and to the left in this view) at a faster rate then Uranus. As a result of that differential rate, and regardless of their current proximity, Uranus reaches opposition on November 16, 2024, but Mars won't until January 15, 2025.
The stars labeled in the upper right quadrant of the image (mouseover for labels) were guides in recent years for finding Uranus quickly with binoculars. Around 3:30 am, Mars (magnitude 0.9), Jupiter (-2.1) and Saturn (0.9) were visible with unaided eyes, while Uranus (5.8) and Neptune (7.9) were visible with 8x42 binoculars, despite the hazy sky. So, five of the seven non-Earth planets were visible. Mercury and Venus are visible after sunset now.
This snapshot, looking roughly east-northeast at 16 to 22° altitude, is from a single raw frame taken at 3:22 am EDT with a Canon EOS RP DSLM and a Canon 200 mm, f/2.8L telephoto lens on a fixed tripod. It was exposed 2 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 6400, tungsten white balance. Modest processing was applied with Canon's Digital Photo Professional 4. It was not cropped yielding a field 10.2° wide x 6.8° high. Astronomical twilight would begin at 3:48 am. Here's the alignment on July 19, 2024 (same exposure settings).

Fire in the Pines
Wharton State Forest, July 10, 2024

On July 10, 2024, after afternoon clearing at home, I went to Carranza Field in Wharton State Forest, NJ, to look at comet 13P/Olbers in a darker sky. There was a fire in that area that made the news the previous week, closing the nearby Batona Trail and Campground, but I thought it was now history. The main sand road to the field, across from the monument, had no warning/prohibition signs that I could see, but 100 yd farther down Carranza Rd at the Batona trail, I saw some blue barrels at the entrance, so I drove down for a look. The barrels had signs indicating the Batona Trail was closed to Rt 532, but it looked like someone had pushed the barrels out of the way, so I took that route back to the field(this is little more than a skinny, sand two-track, but it has few dips, unlike the main road; here's a picture of it snow-covered in January 2024).
Going down the trail, I saw a small patch of flames just off the side of the trail/road, but when I got to the field itself, there was blue smoke wafting over the western end, and as I rounded the southwest corner, I could see some substantial flames in the trees to the south. There was no firefighting in progress. This snapshot of those flames was taken at 8:40 pm, twelve minutes after sunset, with a handheld iPhone 11. It was exposed 1/30 second at f/1.8, ISO 800. The only processing was a slight adjustment of the color balance. Click here, or the picture, for a larger version.
A warning: With the recent hot, dry weather, and likely truck traffic from firefighters when they were active, the sand road passing the campground became really sugary. My RAV4 groaned a little on the way in with the default 4WD setting, but on the way out, I used the "sand" setting and it passed through with aplomb. I'd be concerned about trying to drive a non-4WD/AWD vehicle through it.
BTW, the astronomical viewing was a bust as clouds had moved in by time it got dark, so 13P was out of the question. I did see a nice crescent Moon early on, and around 9:40 pm, I noticed a bright satellite pass intermittently through cloud openings, moving from the SW to the NE. Back at home, I checked Heavens-Above and it was the ISS as I suspected, peaking at 72° altitude, magnitude -3.6.

The Crescent Moon & Mercury
Collins Lane Park, July 7, 2024

On July 7, 2024, the 2.1-day-old, 4.6% illuminated Crescent Moon was 2.8° above the planet Mercury at 9:18 pm EDT when this image of them was captured from Collins Lane Park in Maple Shade, NJ. Taken with a Canon RP DSLM camera and a Canon 400 mm, f/5.6L telephoto lens on a fixed tripod. It was automatically exposed 1/25 second at f/5.6 , ISO 12,800 using 4800 K white balance (the directly illuminated crescent is greatly overexposed). The only processing was a little boost in Mercury's brightness, and cropping this portrait orientation to a 3:4 ratio for a field about 3.2° wide x 4.2° high. Mouseover for labels.

The Young Crescent Moon
Bishops Gate, July 6, 2024

On July 6, 2024, I went to Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ, to look for the planets Venus & Mercury, comet 13P/Olbers and the young Crescent Moon. New Moon was on July 5 at 6:57 pm EDT, so at sunset on July 6, 8:32 pm, it would be 25 hr 35 min old. Arriving a little late, I spotted Venus just above the distant treetops at 8:44 pm with 12x50 binoculars. One minute later with the 12x50s, I found the sublimely thin lunar crescent 4½° above Venus when it was just 25 hr 48 min old and 1.3% illuminated. At 8:56 pm, I spotted Mercury with the 12x50s about 10° from the Moon at the 10 o'clock position. As twilight deepened (but thin clouds were increasing), I found comet 13P/Olbers at 9:37 pm with my 35x115 spotting scope. In the meantime, I checked Corona Borealis with the 12x50s; I could see all the stars that make up the constellation's semi-circular stick figure, but there was no sign of the recurrent nova, T CrB.
This snapshot of the thin crescent was taken at 9:04 pm when the Moon was 26 hr 07 min old and 4.8° altitude, afocally through one eyepiece of the bino viewer on the 35x115 spotter using a handheld iPhone 11. It was exposed 1/30 second at f/1.8, ISO 800. The only processing was cropping and a slight adjustment of the color balance.

Thompson's Beach
July 1, 2024

On July 1, 2024, I went to the parking lot of the nature observation platform at Thompson's Beach, NJ, on the north shore of the Delaware Bay, about 2 miles east of East Point and the Maurice River Cove. My primary objective was to spot Venus, Mercury and comet 13P/Olbers, and to follow-up on the recurrent nova, T Coronae Borealis. These observations were successful, starting with Venus at 8:29 pm EDT, a minute before sunset. Before that, and continuing during twilight, I used my Swarovski 115 mm (4.5 inch) spotting scope with the 35x binocular eyepiece module to observe the Osprey over the marsh on the west side of the parking lot. Ten adults (five pairs) were seen, including a pair at the nest in the picture above (plus a chick in the nest) about 100 yd away. They were a splendid view in the scope. The birds are evidently accustomed to nearby humans as I could periodically see the adults closing they eyelids to take a nap. I discovered they (the adult and the chick) defecate the same as the Bald Eagles (adult and fledgling) back home in their nest on the cell phone tower at the Pennsauken Country Club (link at the top of the page).
This snapshot of the scene, looking west-southwest, was taken at 8:30 pm with a handheld iPhone 11. The scope's objective is to the right, with the sliding lens hood extended, The ribbed section near the middle is the focuser (it focuses like a typical telephoto camera lens). The 35x binocular eyepiece module is at the left end. I also have a 30 to 70x zoom eyepiece module (they attach via a bayonet mount) . The top of the this module includes a forehead rest and a short aiming tube (which I don't often use, especially after dark). Dangling below is the lens cover (mouseover for a view from the rear). The scope is mounted on a Foto-Pro gimbal head, the vertical arm of which can be tilted for better access to high elevations. As shown, it's at the 45° setting, so I can tilt the scope enough to observe the zenith. The mount sits on a heavy-duty Benro carbon fiber tripod.

The Moon and a pair of Moon Dogs
Bishops Gate, June 20, 2024

On June 20, 2024, I went to the field at Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ, to look for comet 13P/Olbers. Unfortunately, clouds along the northwestern horizon foiled that attempt, but about 10:30 pm EDT, as I sat under the open hatch at the back of my car facing southeast, I saw the nearly-full Moon (it would be full at 9:08 pm on June 21). Then I noticed a Moon Dog (paraselene) in a cloud to the right of the Moon. Shortly after, as another cloud moved into position, a second Moon Dog appeared on the left, so a pair of Moon Dogs (paraselenae) flanked the Moon, 22° on either side (checked with an outstretched thumb and little finger). Mouseover for labels.
This snapshot of them was captured at 10:34 pm with an iPhone 11 handheld while resting atop my spotting scope, which in turn was locked in place via its mount on a tripod. The EXIF data indicated it was exposed 1/2 second at f/1.8, ISO 1000 (although the exposure period was clearly longer than 1/2 second). Except for size reduction, no processing was applied or adjustments made. The turquoise dot left of the greatly overexposed Moon is an internal camera reflection. The star well above and a little left of the Moon is second magnitude Sabik (Eta Oph). To the right of the Moon, and a little higher in the contrail shadow, is first magnitude Antares (Alpha Sco).
At the time, the Moon was 14.6 days old, 99% illuminated, 18.3° altitude, 158° azimuth (SSE) in the very southern part of the constellation Ophiuchus (just east of a line between M19 and M62). The Moon's ecliptic latitude was –5.4°, about as far south as it gets, so it would transit (12:13 am on June 21) at just 21.7° altitude for this nominal 40°N-75°W location.

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