Noblesville Star Trails and Snapseed Quick Edits

141 frames each at f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Edited in Snapseed, the southern sky was rather busy facing Indianapolis

Before and after using Snapseed app

Some minor tweaks using Snapseed

Final product in Snapseed, Pleiades and Hyades much more visible

Before and after in Snapseed

First Light in Noblesville, Assessing Light Pollution

I finally busted out my camera and tripod and took advantage of my very own backyard patio to get a lay of the land for our local light pollution.

It was a little hazy, which was no good for stargazing, but perfect to amplify the light pollution. Below are some photos showing the general direction, current horizon line (will change with construction), light domes, and foreground objects.

I'm lucky that my immediate neighbors on 3 sides so far are 1-story houses - whew! - I would hate to be boxed in on all sides by 2-stories.

From my back patio facing South, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Back patio facing ESE, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Back patio facing SE, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Back patio facing WSW, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Front sidewalk facing North, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Roofline facing NW, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Front roof facing SE, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Roofline facing NW, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Pleiades and Hyades, front sidewalk facing ESE, f/5.6, 15 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm

Welcome to Noblesville, Indiana!

We've been in our new house in Noblesville since Friday, and I've already seen a yellow supermoon wreathed in indigo clouds, and a handful of amazing sunsets. Our backyard faces a grass runway airport with the occasional prop plane buzzing overhead, and barely a tree in sight (which is good and bad).

I intentionally chose a south-facing backyard - It's not every day you have a say in which direction your porch faces. We lucked out with a 1-story house directly behind us and immediately to our west, which means I'm at least not completely boxed in.

Now I'm torn between wanting massive mature trees for shade and curb appeal, and wanting no trees at all for an unobstructed view of the night sky. Quite the dilemma!

I have much more to "scope" out in the near future, but for now here is a sunrise from yesterday morning. I woke up at 6:30am and noticed the blinds were orange, so I peaked through another northeast window and saw this... no filter no manipulation, taken with iPhone!

iPhone sunrise at 6:30am on 7/14/2014

July 2014 Indiana Astronomical Society Novice/Urban Observing List

Phil Dimpelfeld from the Indiana Astronomical Society creates a Novice/Urban Observing List each month for newbies like myself with not-so-dark skies and not-so-powerful equipment. Phil splits the list into different levels based on difficulty. Level 1 objects are relatively easy to find, and Level 2 and 3 are fainter and therefore more challenging to spot. To complete the monthly challenge, you must observe at least 6 objects regardless of the difficulty level.

Last month, I observed Saturn through my telescope but didn't photograph it. I also got a shot of the moon with my iPhone hand-held through my 6mm eyepiece. I failed on the rest of the list because we're gearing up for the move AND had a string of rainy unpredictable weather here in Indiana.

The June list should be my first list in a new house with a backyard patio and no reception hall marquee glaring on the horizon. I'm excited for some bright Messier objects to test out my tracking mount for the first time. I'm a little sad and glad at the same time that I've already observed all of the Messier objects on this list previously.

LEVEL 1

Beta Scorpii, “Graffias”, Double Star in Scorpius, 16h 05.4m, -19° 48', mag = 2.6, 4.9, sep = 13.6"

16/17 Draconis, Triple Star in Draco, 16h 36.2m, +52° 55', mag = 5.4, 6.4, 5.5, sep = 3.4, 90 (Easy double star in binoculars/finderscope)

M13, Globular Cluster in Hercules, 16h 41.7m, +36° 28', mag = 5.7, size = 17.0' (One of the BEST Globular Clusters! Look for it in the Keystone.)

Alpha Herculis, “Rasalgethi”, Double Star in Hercules, 17h 14.6m, +14° 23', mag = 3.5, 5.4, sep = 4.7"

IC 4665, Open Cluster in Ophiuchus, 17h 46.3m, +05° 43', mag = 4.2, size = 70.0' (A nice target for binoculars!)

LEVEL 2

M4, Globular Cluster in Scorpius, 16h 23.6m, -26° 32’, mag = 5.8, size = 26’ (Despite its bright magnitude, this globular can be difficult to spot with moderate light pollution due to its low surface brightness.)

M92, Globular Cluster in Hercules, 17h 17.1m, +43° 05', mag = 6.4, size = 11.0'

M6, Open Cluster in Scorpius, 17h 40.1m, -32° 13’, mag = 4.2, size = 33’

M7, Open Cluster in Scorpius, 17h 53.9m, -34 49’, mag = 3.3, size = 80’

LEVEL 3

NGC 6210, Planetary Nebula in Hercules, 16h 44.5m, +23° 49', mag = 8.8, size = 48"

M12, Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus, 16h 47.2m, -01° 57’, mag = 6.8, size = 15’

M10, Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus, 16h 57.1m, -04° 06’, mag = 6.6, size = 15’

Amazing Rainbow over Brownsburg, Indiana on July 1, 2014

When I saw the blinds in the family room turn pale golden yellow, I went out onto the balcony to look at the sunset. I saw what looked like rain falling in sheets between me and the sun, and I saw a man walking his dog looking up over the roofline above my head.

Purple and green sunset with sheets of rain falling between me and the sun

I decided to take my dog out as an excuse to run outside and look the other direction over the roof. I saw an amazing rainbow, with hints of a double rainbow on the far right side. It was the best rainbow I can remember in at least the past few years.

My camera is already packed up in anticipation of the move to Noblesville some time in the next couple weeks. Our closing date was supposed to be yesterday but it was delayed, so we are waiting and ready. I knew I didn't have time to unpack my camera, so I snapped a few more iPhone photos. By the time I took a panoramic photo the rainbow had already thinned in the fading light.

I was a little too late getting the panoramic shot, but you can tell the rainbow was a full arc from horizon to horizon