Astronomy
Here are some out of this -world pics I have taken. Many were taken years ago before I had my current equipment which is a much higher resolution.
Google Sites previously allowed clicking to enlarge the image however this is not part of their program. If you would like to see a larger copy that probably could be arranged. These images are small copies of very high resolution images.
The above images were taken at our home in Arthur, WV.
In 2013 I took a picture of Venus and the sun:
12/9/2021 I went up the mountain near Mt. Storm, WV to see if I could see C2021 (Leonard). It was only 22 million miles away!
Here below is Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on various days in 2024:
Here is a crummy cell phone picture of Venus & Jupiter through the trees on 2/28/23 just for fun with 100% saturation of colors.
Total Eclipse 2024 Houlton, Maine 4/8/2024
No, you didn't see a solar flare during the total eclipse — but you may have seen something just as special
By Harry Baker
published 4-10-2024
Several media outlets have incorrectly claimed that explosive solar flares were spotted during the April 8 total solar eclipse. But there were no flares during totality, so what did people see?
During the recent total solar eclipse, you may have glimpsed what looked like explosive solar flares bursting from the sun after its fiery corona briefly came into view. But it turns out this was not the case.
However, what you or others may have seen was equally impressive and just as beautiful.
On Monday (April 8), millions of people across North America watched as the moon temporarily blocked out our home star and its shadow raced along the path of totality between Mexico and Canada at more than 1,500 mph (2,400 km/h). The cosmic event, which was also seen from space, was particularly special because of the length of totality — the period when the sun's light was completely obscured — which lasted for up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds.
During totality, some observers saw red dots around the obscured sun. Detailed photos of these dots revealed they were actually plasma, including a particularly large, fiery plume on the sun's southwest limb. As a result, multiple outlets including USA Today and NDTV reported that these fiery structures were produced by solar flares — explosions on the sun's surface that can launch massive clouds of plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), into space. Lots of observers also took to social media to share their photos of these "solar flares."
But experts weighed in to point out there were no solar flares during the eclipse.
"There are many (incorrectly) reporting that a solar flare was visible during the total solar eclipse," Ryan French, an astrophysicist at the National Solar Observatory in Colorado, wrote on the social platform X. "This is sadly untrue, and the bright feature seen by millions was actually a prominence. These are longer-lived plasma structures, and not explosive like flares."
Here is a video of the eclipse in Houlton, Maine. If it doesn't play here see it on YouTube
Here is the Aurora Borealis as seen in Hardy County WV on May 10, 2024 at 11:39 PM. The sky was bright red to the naked eye.
Here below is the Aurora Borealis as seen in Stonington, Maine on August 30, 2024 at 11:48 PM.
I noticed this out my camper window, opened the ceiling vent, stuck my cell phone outside, and snapped a picture.
iPhone 13 Pro. Wide camera 26mm, f1.5, 2 seconds, ISO 5000
Here below is the Aurora Borealis as seen in Hardy County WV on August 12, 2024 at 2:14 AM.
Here is the Aurora Borealis as seen in Hardy County WV on October 8, 2024 at 1:00 AM.
