Blog - Galactic Images

Waxing Gibbous Moon and Upcoming Total Lunar Eclipse May 15th 2022

By John Chumack|2022-05-13T18:44:00+00:00May 13th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, #waxing Gibbous Moon, Moon|

Since the transparency was terrible during the early evening last night, I didn’t bother with any Deep sky objects. Just the moon this time.
Another warm night, this time with a little bit of Fire smoke haze and humidity(moisture), so the moon is not as sharp as it could be, but I grabbed a shot anyway. 6 Inch Newt. Reflector telescope, Bisque MyT mount, QHY183MM Cooled Cmos Camera, 32ms exposure.

Don’t forget the Total Lunar Eclipse this Sunday Night May 15th into Monday early Am May 16th 2022.
For those of us on the Eastern half of the USA “EDT” we will get a great view of the whole event if we have clear skies.

Watch the full moon turn dark, then deep Copper/Orange, see time table for your time zone.

Eclipse Event               UT      ADT            EDT            CDT             MDT              PDT        AKDT
Penumbra first visible 2:00   11:00 p.m.    10:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m.    — — —
Partial eclipse begins 2:28   11:28 p.m.    10:28 p.m.   9:28 p.m.    8:28 p.m.        — —
Total eclipse begins    3:29 12:29 a.m.   11:29 p.m.   10:29 p.m. 9:29 p.m.      8:29 p.m.     —
Mid-eclipse                4:12    1:12 a.m.    12:12 a.m. 11:12 p.m.   10:12 p.m.    9:12 p.m.    —
Total eclipse ends       4:54    1:54 a.m.   12:54 a.m. 11:54 p.m.   10:54 p.m.    9:54 p.m.        —
Partial eclipse end       5:56   2:56 a.m.   1:56 a.m.    12:56 a.m.   11:56 p.m.    10:56 p.m. 9:56 p.m.
Penumbra last visible   6:30   3:30 a.m.    2:30 a.m.    1:30 a.m.     12:30 a.m.   11:30 p.m. 10:30 p.m.

Wishing you Clear Skies and Good Luck,
Best Regards,
John Chumack
www.galacticimages.com

Aurora Borealis In Alaska NCC-1701 The Enterprise

By John Chumack|2022-05-10T18:04:43+00:00May 10th, 2022|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #enterprise, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #NCC1705, #skyatnight, #startrek, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy, Space|

Here is one for all you Star Trek Fans!!!!

Aurora Borealis In Alaska was shaping up to look like NCC-1701 The Enterprise Starship,

I captured this one, and the first thing that came to mind was WOW, that looks like the Enterprise.

Chena Recreational Area, White Mountains of Alaska, Canon 6D DSLR camera, Tokina 16mm Lens, F2.8, ISO 3200, 8 Second exposure

04-01-2022.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Supernova 2022hrs in NGC4647 Spiral Galaxy and M60 Elliptical Galaxy

By John Chumack|2022-04-30T19:10:31+00:00April 30th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #M60, #natgeo, #NGC4647, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #supernova, #supernova2022hrs, #Supernovatype1a, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Space, Virgo|

NGC4647 Spiral galaxy with type 1a Supernova(sn2022hrs) and its neighbor Elliptical Galaxy M60, The Supernova is now shining at Magnitude 12.5,
NGC 4647 is an intermediate spiral galaxy estimated to be around 63 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo.
The Galaxy is 90,000 light years in diameter and shines at magnitude 11.94. What blows me away is that the Supernova (a massive star)
when they explode(thermonuclear) they can outshine the entire Galaxy made up of billions of stars. That is a crazy energy release!!!
The Galaxy NGC4647 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784.
The Larger Elliptical Galaxy on the right is M60 or Messier 60.

Every once in a while a supernova goes off in other galaxies and can be visible across our universe.

My FOV was 22 x 17 Arc minutes, slightly cropped after stacking, 1.0 arc sec per pixel resolution.
6 Inch diameter F5 Newtonian telescope, ZWO 224M uncooled Cmos Camera, ASI Air capture via my Ipad,
176 x 30 second subs, or 88 minutes total integration time on 04-27-2022.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Planetary Alignment/Moon Conjunction on 04-27-2022

By John Chumack|2022-04-27T23:21:41+00:00April 27th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #discover, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #planetaryalignment, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, Planets, Saturn, Space, Venus|

I hope you got to see the wonderful spectacle this morning!
The Waning Crescent Moon had joined the Planetary Parade between 5:45 am until 6:10 am this morning on 04-27-2022.
My wide angle shot shows the Waning Crescent Moon between the neighborhood power lines over my East Dayton neighborhood
the moon was sitting just below the Planets Jupiter & Venus, and above the peak of the neighbors house you can see the Planet Mars
and off to the right of the pole is the planet Saturn.

Canon 6D DSLR Camera on a tripod, Canon 24mm-105mm lens, Set to 44mm, at F9, ISO 400, 1.3 second exposure.

Now for the close-up shot shows the Moon with the planets Jupiter & Venus you need to keep watching them,
over the next few days they will appear to get closer together with Jupiter overtaking Venus and passing it,
this is something you can watch with just your eyes each clear morning.

Canon 6D DSLR Camera on a tripod, Canon 24mm-105mm lens, Set to 98mm, at F9, ISO 400, 1.3 second exposure.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Aurora over the heated Mongolian Yurt and Snowmobile

By John Chumack|2022-04-27T13:47:57+00:00April 27th, 2022|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy|

Aurora over the heated Mongolian Yurt and Snowmobile in the White Mountains of Alaska, note the faint glow of the Great Andromeda galaxy on the right just before the tree. Image #4258

I captured this one with my Canon 6D DSLR Camera, Tokina 16mm lens F2.8, ISO 3200, 6 second exposure on 03-31-2022.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Hydrogen Alpha Sun – Full Disk & Large Sunspot Group on 04-22-2022

By John Chumack|2022-04-24T16:59:05+00:00April 24th, 2022|Tags: #ChumackObservatories, #discover, #GalacticImages, #HASun, #JohnChumack, #lunt, #natgeo, #Prominence, #QHYCCD, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #sunspot, #Universetoday, Astronomy, Sol, Space, Sun, Sunspots|

Full Disk Hydrogen Alpha Sun with Large Sunspot Groups AR2993, AR2994(right), these active regions are crackling with M class flares on 04-22-2022, AR2995, AR2996 are closer to the limb. All around the Sun’s Limb are some Decent Prominences, with many fainter ones as well.

Lunt 60mm/50HA solar scope, QHY5 IIIL Cmos Camera, Fire-Capture SER File, exp. 24.5ms exposure, 543 frames Stacked in Registax6. Captured from my backyard Observatory.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Awesome Colorful Aurora in Alaska on 04-01-2022

By John Chumack|2022-04-20T11:32:49+00:00April 20th, 2022|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy, Space|

Here is one of my shots from last night 04-01-2022, Awesome colorful Alaskan Aurora Display from last night…one of the best in color that I’ve seen over the last 32 years. Canon 6D DSLR, Tokina 16-28 mm, set to 16mm at 2.8, ISO 3200, 10 second exposure.

Chena Recreational Area / White Mountains of Alaska.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Aurora Borealis In Alaska – Photography Workshop Crew 2022

By John Chumack|2022-04-19T00:02:11+00:00April 18th, 2022|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy, Space|

The nights have been absolutely Awesome up here in the White Mountains / Chena River Recreational Area of Alaska. Our crew and I captured some of the best Aurora shots, with amazing colors all night long until sunrise the last two nights. Crazy displays, the live rapid actions and colors were so nuts! Here is a shot I captured of 1/2 of our crew aiming up the mountain, while the other half of our crew were pointing down range toward the Crazy streamer display over the heated yurt.

I absolutely love our workshop crew this year, we all Gel so well, and have so much fun together, all day and all night shooting! 04-01-2022

I captured this with my Canon 6D DSLR, Tokina 16-28mm F2.8 AF Lens, (set to manual at 16mm) ISO 3200, 8 second exposure.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

The Aurora Curtain dances above Spruce Trees

By John Chumack|2022-04-16T14:59:05+00:00April 16th, 2022|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #SolarActivity, #solarstorm, #Universetoday, Alaska, Space|

The Aurora Curtain dances above black Spruce Trees North of Fairbanks, Alaska on 03-27-2022

Canon 6D DSLR Camera, 14mm lens F2.8, ISO 3200, 10 Seconds

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com

Aurora Borealis – The Northern Lights

By John Chumack|2022-04-15T14:38:57+00:00April 15th, 2022|Tags: #Aurora, #auroraborealis, #ChumackObservatories, #GalacticImages, #JohnChumack, #natgeo, #northernlights, #skyatnight, #Universetoday, Alaska, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Space|

Off to a great start!!!…Just after Midnight the Clouds cleared off north of Fox Alaska,

A KP-3 last night 03-27-2022, the Aurora Raged until morning with many Reds, Purples and Greens, Streamers & Ribbons, and curtains flowed, what a great display, So happy to be up in Alaska again after two years of not going due to Pandemic restrictions.

BTW it got up to 40F today in Fairbanks, all week temps at night will not drop below 15F …its like way better than the normal -20F at night.

Canon 6D DSLR, 14mm F2.8 (set to F4) Lens, ISO 3200, 10 second exposures, Camera on a tripod.

Best Regards,

John Chumack

www.galacticimages.com