Introduction and Monthly Reminders
February has been a mixed bag for Utahns as far as the weather is concerned. We have experienced days that reached almost 70°F, although windy, while others reached temperatures in the mid-20s. The wind helped keep the inversion at bay but also brought clouds and unstable conditions for setting up any observing gear. Even with these conditions, I could still see four of the seven planets in the planetary parade and look at the bright constellations of the winter sky. The Moon was also breathtaking during the early part of the month as it increased in brightness as its phase moved closer to "full."
Observers may still view the winter constellations and the planets that make up the planetary parade. If a clear night occurs and a dark sky can be obtained, the Zodiacal light may still be viewed this month. While this light is noticeable with the unaided eye, an image of just 30 seconds will significantly enhance the view. Don't forget that now is a great time to view most of the Messier objects as Utah approaches the best date of the year for a Messier Marathon.
Best of 2024
I captured many more images during 2024 than I did in 2023 and would love to share them! I purchased a new telescope in 2024 that can image the Sun (with proper filters), the Moon, deep sky objects, and stars. It is a very compact telescope, and I was able to take it on many trips throughout the year, including my eclipse trip to Texas in April.
As mentioned, I was able to travel to Texas to see the eclipse on 08 April 2024. I created a post with a full write-up of my experience and photos, but here are the best taken from my phone.
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| Eclipse through the leaves. |
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| "Diamond Ring" at the end of totality. |
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| Eclipse reaches totality. |
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| Taken during totality, notice the visible planets and stars. |
In addition to these phone photos, I created a timelapse of the entire eclipse with my new telescope. The first video found here is my original, unedited color video. It's over five minutes long and is kind of shaky due to the wind. My second video is the same but in black and white which kind of adds a little bit, especially leading up to, during, and after totality.
Below are several images of the Moon. I couldn't choose just one favorite!
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Moon from 18 April.
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| Moon from 11 October. |
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| Moon from 24 October |
The Sun was a hot topic for 2024 due to the eclipse and the Northern Lights being visible. I took several images of the Sun with my new scope throughout 2024, but I will share only a few of the best ones with a large number of sunspots.
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| Sunspots on 19 April. |
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| Sunspots on 03 May. |
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| Sunspots on 11 May, the day after Northern Lights were visible over Utah. |
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| Sunspots on 11 August. |
Due to the active Sun, the Northern Lights were visible over Utah. Here are the best images I took on 10 May from my home.
Over the Labor Day weekend, I traveled to Fish Lake, Utah, and captured several decent images with my phone and DSLR cameras.
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| Stars through the trees taken with my smartphone. |
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| Western sky after sunset. Taken with my smartphone. |
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| Milky Way over Fish Lake. Taken with my smartphone. |
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| Cloudy Milky Way over Fish Lake. Taken with my smartphone. |
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| Meteor over Fish Lake. Taken with DSLR camera. |
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| Meteor and Milky Way over Fish Lake. Taken with DSLR camera. |
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| Milky Way over Fish Lake. Taken with DLSR camera. |
During my first night at Fish Lake, I set up my DSLR camera to take a timelapse of the Milky Way. That was also when I caught the image of the bright meteor above. Here is my timelapse video.
I was also able to capture many deep sky objects with my new scope. The telescope is able to track and stack several images to help bring out the detail of the target. While I did capture several different DSOs, I will only share the ones that turned out the best. Aside from stacking, no other editing has been done on these images. Enjoy!
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| M57, the Ring Nebula. |
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| M13, the Hercules Cluster, with a satellite trail. |
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| M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, with a satellite trail. |
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| M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. |
I aim to capture and share the entire Messier Catalog of objects. I hope that 2025 will be as eventful, if not more so, than 2024, and I will have plenty more images to share!
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| Now get outside and look up! |
